Every Sunday night (unless some holiday falls on Sunday), all year 'round, I have 4 hours scheduled at what is now called either "Clubhouse" or "Men's Club". It is outdoors (sheltered by the roof of a large tool shed/workshop) and it has an old cast iron stove. It is at the end of my good friend, Hal's driveway out in a semi-rural area not far from our county airport. It has been 200 hours per year of cheerful political/news/scientific/general life talk, Scotch, Coffee, Trail Mix, Peanuts, Salsa and Chips, and, oh, maybe an herbal remedy now and again, for almost 20 years. Every Sunday night. Rain, shine, 15° below, 90° in the shade – doesn't matter. The core group is 3 of us. Hal, Al, and me (or as my brother-in-law, an occasional 4th member, calls us Daryl, Daryl, and Little Daryl, based on how we look in the dead of winter dressed for below-zero temperatures. Let's just say I have a rather comical, but extremely warm fur-lined hat with ear-flaps...
Hal and Al both dated my wife in high school (that was 1963-68). Al has always been a very liberal guy. Hal converted from moderate Democrat to very liberal only 10 or so years ago. We know almost everything about one another. Hal and Al grew up together. I only met them 20 or so years ago, so I'm the newcomer. Still, since I showed the dedication to show up EVERY Sunday night, they took me in. We have biked together. We have camped in tents in the winter together (one time with our wives). We do see each other outside of Sunday nights and these guys would do anything for you (Oh, and the tools they have!).
If the temperature is below 70°, we haul out the stove and make a fire. A roaring fire in the winter, a more moderate one if it is above 50°. The clubhouse is actually Hal's workshop. It has a garage door that faces west. We have three old upholstered chairs (if you are an occasional visitor, you get a portable chair). We pitched in about 15 years ago and bought a gas-powered hydraulic log splitter. We have enough wood on hand by September to make it through the toughest winter. Both Hal and Al were tradesmen before they retired, so they know how to dress for all weather. I had to learn, but I did (If your feet get really cold or wet, you are done).
A lot of the other guys I know would give anything to be "regulars" at clubhouse and come over only now and again. They feel constrained by their wives, their adult children, their work schedules (those that still work, like me). What they (and their wives and children, etc.) don't understand is that "Clubhouse" is cumulative. The healing effects are multiplied, but they are transitory. If you only watched General Hospital once a month, you would never achieve the same "internal balance" you'd get by watching it every day. My wife is the best woman ever put on earth to care for a man. She regards "Clubhouse" as a link in the chain that forms my sanity, good cheer and charity. My own mother understands. No family gatherings are EVER scheduled for Sunday night.
Good friends, good conversation, a nice fire. Not a bad way to spend every Sunday evening.