1. Rose branches. Construction waste. Cardboard. Window blinds. A metal table. An unsteady ironing board. All loaded up in Everett's pickup for a trip to the dump and to St. Vincent de Paul's in Osburn. I also had the lawn mower and fertilizer spreader ready to go, but Shawn can use them so I donated them to Lifetime Construction. We will now have more room in our garage and basement. I'd like to think room for nothing, just fewer things cluttering them.
When I was unpacking at St. Vincent de Paul's a woman in a minivan called out her window, "Sir!"
It took a few seconds for it to register: she was calling out to me.
"Sir! Are you donating that table?"
"I was going to. Do you want it?"
"I sure do. Got a yard sale coming up and stuff. It'd be a big help."
"All righty! It's yours."
2. Christy, Everett, the Deke, and I went in together and purchased a hog and we learned Tuesday that the meat was wrapped, packed, frozen, and ready to be picked up.
The Deke and I made an appointment to pick up the boxes at Double E Meats in Post Falls and I seized upon the opportunity to introduce the Deke to Downdraft Brewing. Luckily, our appointment to pick up the meat was at 4 and Downdraft opens at 3, so we had time to sample some beer before completing our task.
Like many small breweries, Downdraft's location is a bit obscure -- it is tucked in the back of a business lot behind a Meineke Muffler shop on West Seltice Way (and only about ten minutes from Double E Meats). We were greeted by a friendly guy pouring beer who was eager to tell us about Downdraft's beers and to give us tastes of whatever we wanted to sample.
Let me digress for a moment: In the world of craft beer, those who pay a lot of attention to the business side of beer brewing always keep a close eye on the fact that the big beer producers of beers like Budweiser, Miller, Coors, and others are always looking to buy craft beer breweries. Many of the breweries that have sold (out?) their breweries to big beer are themselves pretty good sized producers of beer who want wider distribution, more presence on grocery shelves, the increased storage possibilities, etc.
Then there are the breweries like Downdraft. Small. A modest number of accounts in some local stores and in local tap rooms. They would rather self-distribute than contract with a distributor. Downdraft, like many other local breweries, is a small operation with a modest sized taproom.
These small local breweries are our favorites. And we loved Downdraft. The beers we sampled were awesome. After small tastes of three beers, I ordered a five ounce glass of Gin Juice 2IPA. Downdraft's brewer, Ginger Cantamessa, combined about four citrusy hops and some juniper berries and brewed up a very smooth and innovative Double IPA, an easy drinking beer that is over 8% Alcohol by Volume. That's why I only drank five oz. of it. The Deke ordered another of Ginger Cantamessa's unique creations: a Strawberry Rhubarb Cream Ale. I drank about five oz. of the Deke's pint and I loved the creamy texture and mouth feel of this beer and both the Deke and I thought the flavors of the strawberry and rhubarb were very quiet, not dominant at all.
Ginger has a Lavender Wheat Ale in production right now and maybe the Deke and I will find a reason before long to head over the hill and drop into Downdraft and give it try one day. I'm so impressed with her imaginative and deft brewing skills that I'd love to find out what this beer will taste like.
We arrived at Double E Meats. The world's most friendly and helpful people guided us to the freezer where I backed up the Sube and we got loaded up and ready to go. We drove straight back to Kellogg and I put Christy and Everett's pork in their freezer and the Deke loaded ours.
And, I swear, all we could talk about on the ride home was how much we enjoyed Downdraft Brewing and how much we enjoy visiting small breweries, from Maryland to Indiana to Michigan to North Dakota to Montana to Idaho to Washington, devoted to innovation, experimentation, solid brewing, and sharing the joy and variety of beer.
3. The Deke has been on a roll in the kitchen as of late. Tonight, while I took cardboard from our house and from Christy and Everett's down the street to the recycling station and shopped at Yoke's, the Deke roasted orange pepper and red onion, fried a couple fillets of tilapia, got out the remoulade she'd made a few days ago, and served the cabbage salad she'd made earlier in the day. I bought a chunk of Champagne cheddar cheese at Yoke's. We each had a small bit of the cheese and it, along with our dinner, was superb, complimented with Sauvignon Blanc wine.
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