Day 2138 A beer for all seasons

21st June 2023

Well I don’t know where the bloody ladybirds went. I saw a few on the cherry tree, but if they eat fifty aphids a day, with the infestation on the tree it will take them forty seven years, I’m sure it won’t matter much to me by then.

Kelli went off to spend time with Greer planting stuff in her small garden whilst I could play my old git music to my heart’s content.

However I did have a meeting with Tom Newhouse in Grand Rapids at three thirty, so I was hoping she would be back by then.

Three twenty nine she still wasn’t home, so I was getting annoyed. She finally got back ten minutes later than we agreed. I was pissed because I had to stop at the bank and get fuel, and all that was eating into my travel time.

I hate being late, I sent off a quick email to Tom warning I would be late. Then set off.

This might have been the first time I had driven there on my own, so I was a bit apprehensive.

Our meeting site was Brewery Vivant, a converted chapel that served a great selection of German/Belgium beers.

I found a parking space, but had to hunt for the venue. Eventually I found it with Tom sitting outside under a large umbrella.

It was good seeing him again, the last time was pre Covid and I was eager to find out how his sculptures were developing.

That, he explained his sculptures had gone down the toilet due to the lockdown, but he had gone back to his fine art background and a few industrial design projects.

His artwork was primarily using Prismacolor pencils and was exquisitely delicate.

We lamented the past, the characters lost and the direction that Herman Miller was taking. He no longer does work for them, which he doesn’t regret. He found that the environment was toxic and was happiest working with small companies.

He then order a selection of beers from the list, I thought, “Hang on there Tom, I’ve got to drive home afterwards”.

It turned out these were small samples called a “flight” which were delicious, and I could easily have had the full size glasses and promptly fallen over.

It was great seeing him again, we made a tentative time to meet again, and then a quick walk round the interior of the bar, which was amazing, a quick handshake and it was back to the truck.

Stuck on the windscreen was a bright green envelope with a parking ticket inside. In my haste to find the place I forgot to pay for parking, oh well, at least they didn’t tow the truck away.