I like how we humans form our own little families.

On Thursday night, I watched as my friends from Louie's Bar & Bites won an award from the Sawyer County Chamber of Commerce as best new business at the annual dinner.

Louie's is within a couple hundred feet of where I live and quickly became one of my new watering holes after moving a second time here in Hayward. It helped that my friend Kellie already bartended there -- and they have excellent bar food. (Try the Mexican burger on Monday nights.)

The bar won the award at the Steakhouse and Lodge, where I've stayed during several of my homeless -- no address -- periods. And it's the place where I enjoy my Wisconsin Friday night fish fries every single Friday for 18 months. The place serves haddock, which I think tastes better than cod. I eat the fish fry just for the halibut.

What, you want me to shut up over that joke? 

You shut up.

So my little family from Louie's won an award and I joined that group back at their bar to celebrate.

Then my little family from the Steakhouse joined us for some more drinks and celebration, stupid commentary and the contest to play the most obnoxious music on the jukebox (I won).

Two of my local families -- I have more -- drank and laughed and enjoyed each other.

I've always been pretty lucky in terms of finding made families in my many locations. A "made" family is one not from physical connections but circumstance. We have more choices in the latter.

But as I've grown older, the celebrations of made families becomes even more sweet. 

I'm a pretty lucky cat.

Peace unto Ukraine and peace and family unto you my brothers and sisters.