Three Beautiful Things 01/16/15: Mom Is A Cyclone, Charlie Don't Surf, Darrell at Daft Badger

1.  I had much better luck with the Swiffer today as I moved Mom's bed out from against the wall and Swiffered the dust that had gathered and, thanks to all things holy, I remembered to put a Swiffer pad on the Swiffer.  So, Mom's bedroom is cleaned, the TV room is cleaned; I got the downstairs bathroom cleaned and the living room vacuumed, including sucking the gunk that that had gathered in the crevice between the arm of the couch and the cushion where Mom sits.  Mom is feeling better after her shot and when she feels better, she goes back, as best she can, to being the house cleaning cyclone she was in her younger days.

2.  I drove to Coeur d'Alene to spend some time chewing the fat and trying out some untested beer places with Byrdman.  We started in Hayden and enjoyed a pint at Rusty's and then walked around the corner to the Mad Bomber for a couple of delicious double IPAs called "Charlie Don't Surf", which has moved to the top of my informal rankings as best name for a beer ever.  At some point, while we were quaffing Charlie, a guy who used to work at the Lucky Friday and lived in the Silver Valley made his way around the horseshoe bar to tell us tales about work and dope and how he'd never lived in a place as lawless as the Silver Valley in the early 1980s.  His name was Joe Musgrove. He had a lot on his mind.

3.  Our tour ended with the sampling of beers at Daft Badger, a brewery in CdA located at 1710 N. 2nd St., that is about to open.  One of its owners is Darrell Dlouhy, whom I've known since our NIC days, starting in 1972.  I hadn't seen Darrell to talk with him for over twenty years, so it was awesome not only to sample some of the tasty beers at Daft Badger, but to have a chance to talk with Darrell about days gone by and about the all important present.  The Daft Badger will open on January 20th and if you live anywhere near CdA, get over there.  The brick building and handsome taproom are very classy, the beer is top notch, the food menu looks delicious, and, if you aren't into beer, the Daft Badger will also be serving wine.  I've been following Darrell's and his son-in-law's love for brewing beer grow from brewing at home to deciding to develop and open their own brewery and being in the Daft Badger made me very happy for Darrell.