Monday, December 7, 2015

Three Beautiful Things 12/06/15: Freshening Things Up, Stellar Beer Tasting, Marcus' Art and Residency

1. Our apartment home needed freshening up this morning and I got out the Shark and vacuumed away and opened the blinds to let some sunshine in and opened the sliding glass door to let in some fresh air.  It's easy for a small space like we live in to feel closed in and freshening up the atmosphere helps make things feel more open.

2. The Deke and I made a stellar trip to the Old Line Bistro for some beer tasting and an order of sweet potato tots. We each ordered a four sample flight, perfect for drinking some of the stronger ales the Old Line had on draft today.  I loved the spicy tones of Anchor's annual Christmas Ale -- this year's is their 41st version.  I also loved my favorite of all Imperial IPAs, Flying Dog's The Truth; loved how Breckenridge's Imperial Chocolate Cream Stout warmed me -- and loved how its chocolate-y depth paired with the salty-sweet tots; I ended our session with a sample of 4 Hands Absence of Light Stout, my first ever peanut butter chocolate stout.  Oh, my! It was the perfect dessert on my flight tray and increased my gratitude that winter is approaching and that these imperial ales, winter ales, and various porters and stouts, all so lovely, dark and deep, will be more abundantly available in the weeks that lie ahead.

3. Our server, Marcus, greatly enriched our time at Old Line Bistro. He told us about applying for and securing an arts residency in Estonia and showed us examples of his work he had downloaded on his smartphone. Once again, as happens so often, the Deke and I opened the door for a much younger person to open up and bit and tell us about himself and great conversation ensued and it, once again, made it more difficult for us to accept the stereotypes and generalizations (and complaints) I often read and hear about people in their twenties and early thirties.

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