Monday, February 23, 2015

Three Beautiful Things 02/22/15: Clearing Snow, Growler and Gill, New Friends and Boston Sports

1.  Overnight, several inches of snow fell and so Jack and I went out and he helped me knock the snow of of Adrienne's car and our Sube.  Not only was Jack a great help, he had all kinds of directions to give me about what snow should be knocked off first and what next and next, etc., and he knew what parts of the car he could work on what parts to delegate for me to do.  He's a great workmate.

2.  Over in Nanuet, there's a superb tap house and beer shoppe called Growler and Gill.  I fell in love the second the Deke and Jack and I walked in the door with the shelves of manifold beers covering one of the walls and more, the din of happy beer drinkers, and, as I made my way to the tap counter, the great list of  16 beers on tap.  I also liked that they had a variety of glass choices, starting with the pint glass on down to a taster.  I ordered an amber from New Jersey (can't remember the name or brewery).  Later I had a Founder's All Day IPA.  After pizza, I closed out my tab with the perfect after dinner beer, and one of my very favorites of all beers, Flying Dog's Festina Peche.  I held off on this beer until I was done eating thin crust cheese pizza and also some pepperoni/bacon.  I asked when I first arrived if that keg was in pretty good shape and the most helpful woman at the counter said it was in great shape, so if I waited I wouldn't risk having the keg blow.  As I settled my bill, I remarked that I didn't think I'd see Festina Peche this time of year and she told me it was a keg they'd had for a while and I smiled, remarking on my good luck that I could have one of these fruity and slightly sour ales "out of season".  This was a totally unexpected pleasure.

3.  We had dinner with Dave and Phyllis.  Phyllis and Adrienne work together at the Salvation Army. The Deke had had dinner with Phyllis and Dave and Adrienne and Jack on one of her earlier visits.  I was very happy that we hit it off right away and soon I learned that not only is Dave a Bostoner, her's a devoted fan of the Boston sports teams.  Me, too.  We had an especially great time reminiscing about the Red Sox and enjoying the successes the Pats, Celtics, Bruins and Red Sox have had in the last fifteen years.  This, too, was a totally unexpected pleasure.

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