It’s the weekend and I’m sitting at Black Dog Coffee in Eaton Rapids, Michigan sipping a chai latte and wiling the hours away until Honey gets out of work. Our plans for Saturday and Sunday are simple, clean the apartment and prep for my impending move in day. Although, if the weather holds we may abscond to another town nearby to reinstate our summer Sunday ritual of breakfast at a greasy spoon, a hike, and a brewery. I really hope the weather holds.
The weeks to come are going to be a veritable hellscape of activity at the brewery. Don’t get me wrong, I absolutely love my job; sometimes to the point that it interferes with my outside obligations and relationships (dont worry, Honey is helping me establish a more healthy work/life boundry). That doesn’t mean that the stress and pressure that accompanies helping run a brewery doesn’t sometimes make me feel like I’m hanging over a deep chasm of fire. These early weeks of March can be one hell of a guantlet. A popular local beer fest and St. Patrick’s day are looming on the horizen. That’s multiple special releases that have to be made ready for three taprooms with limited equipment to accomplish it all and these things rarely if ever go according to plan. A problem that all brewers have to contend with. To top it all off, I’ll be brewing Full Force this week, a new England IPA with hemp seed and macha green tea that’s made with a big damn grain build. It will, as it has in previous years, kick my ass.
This is why moments like this, sitting at a coffee shop casually writing a blog and listening to the murmer of conversation around me; and the weekend that’s to come for Honey and myself are of utmost importance. Honey and I are extremely guilty of booking ourselves to exhaustion. We like to do things together and sometimes we even set aside time to relax but fail to follow through with it. This weekend is different, our chores have given us a structure that has forced us to pump the brakes a bit and I really appreciate it. It’s necessary to take a deep breath and ground oneself before the storm to come.
Though, honestly, we’ll probably see something bright and shiney; a strange curio store or an unexpected art fair during our structured adventure and end up wondering where the weekend went.
-Cheers!
EDIT: I wrote this a week before my scheduled post date. Sometimes the the thoughts just flow in the moment ya know? Somehow we did it! We managed to get everything done on our to do list and we avoided any random side quests!