Thursday, April 25, 2019

Three Beautiful Things 04/24/19: Painting the Upstairs, DC Brau Memories, Great Guys at Corby's

1. A year ago, I thought I'd work on painting the upstairs of the house. I thought maybe I could get some help, maybe family members, but I never did it. A couple of weeks ago, I confirmed with Shawn that I'd like him to paint the upstairs and today his two man crew, Mason and Pablo, got started on the project, beginning with the trim.  When it comes time to roll paint on the walls, I'll pitch in and help paint. I'm very happy to get this project going and, as always, enjoy having Shawn back in the house again.

2. I swung by Byrdman's house around 3:45 and we rocketed straight to Post Falls Brewing, a brewery we'd never visited. We'd wanted to go to Downdraft, but discovered online that it's closed permanently. We sat at the Post Falls Brewing bar and I immediately zeroed in on The Stallion Pt 4, a hazy Double IPA, but was cautious when I saw it weighed in at 9.6 ABV. The server told me it came in a 12 oz pour and I asked him if I could get a smaller size. To my delight, he said, "Yeah. Six ounces." Perfect.

I haven't been drinking much craft beer lately. When I put this beer to my nose, I loved its hoppy, citrus-y aroma and, even before sipping it, I experienced a mild euphoria. Now, I might be nuts. I might have been projecting my desires onto this beer. But, when I took my first sip, this beer was the closest to tasting like one of the beers I most loved on the east coast, D C Brau's On the Wings of Armageddon. In fact, my first taste transported me to that aged little strip mall on Bladensburg Rd NE with the post office and Harper Macaw chocolate factory and the short downhill driveway to the back and the Metro trains running on the other side of a cyclone fence and DC Brau's concrete tasting room.

Byrdman enjoyed his So Majestical Pale Ale and we might have stuck around for a second, might even have ordered a pizza from the food truck right outside the door, but, we had an important appointment to meet not far away.

3.  We drove to Corby's.

The boys of the KHS Class of '71 were having a session and Byrdman and I were joining in.

The turnout was awesome: Beak, Mac, Ike, Dewey, Big Al, Randy, Chet, and Rossi from the Class of '71. Byrdman represented the Class of '70. Hink was the Class of '73 ambassador. Mayo came, too, a Class of '75 (I think) delegate. Lars, Stu, and I put our best selves forward for the Class of '72.

It was great couple of hours of stories, laughter, getting caught up with some guys I hadn't seen for many, many years and the ones I've seen more recently or see regularly.

I'm grateful that when Mac and Beak get these sessions organized, they include Byrdman in the invitation that goes out and that Byrdman always lets me know when they happen.

It's a great bunch of guys.

I went easy on the beer. It was still fairly light out when I hit the road to return to Kellogg and I arrived back safely and fixed myself a rice bowl with shrimp, broccoli, shredded cabbage, and mushrooms upon my arrival, a tasty end to a satisfying day.

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