ĉe la piedoj
voluptaj subvestaĵoj
jam flankĵetitaj
(at her feet, sexy underwear, already thrown aside)
It was a frenetic week -- at this time of year all of the students are trying to get projects finished up. At the same time, I've still be struggling to finish my grading and get the xgrid stuff working, but other stuff seems to keep coming up. First, Take Your Children To Work Day and then today Charlie received an award at school which I had to attend -- it threw my schedule into disarray, but it was a great pleasure to see Charlie being recognized for his particular talents. It pushed an advising appointment until late in the day and then I had to rush to meet Buzz for our afterwork adventure. We had planned to meet at 5:45, but I was a few minutes late.
The Paper City Brewery (their domain name has expired!) has a special on Fridays: they open at 6pm and let you sample all of their beers for a small cover charge (slightly less if you bring some canned good to contribute to a food drive for the homeless). The brewery is in an old mill in Holyoke. Holyoke was an important mill town during the 1800s -- its been called the first planned industrial city (see the plan below). Built near waterfalls along the Connecticut River, it had two canals that provided power for dozens of mills. Today, the mills are mostly closed, although the city still generates some hydroelectric power. The owner of the Paper City Brewery bought the whole building for a song back in the 90's.
I arrived just after six and first struggled to figure out where it was -- the only sign is about 1.5 square feet and is not near the road. Eventually, I found the door and hiked up the 10 flights of steps to the 5th floor (waiting in line for the last 4 or 5 flights of stairs). I paid my cover charge and found Buzz already with a stout in his hand. From the corner of the bar, I couldn't really see what they were pouring, so I got a stout too and found it so good I didn't even try anything else.
The band was a bit too loud, so that Buzz and I had to shout in order to have a conversation, but we got a chance to catch up and have a nice time. After a while, they offered a brewery tour, so I got to see the grain room, where they crack the malted barley, the boilers where they make the wort, the primary and secondary fermenters, where the little yeasts do their work, and the bottling room, where they fill the bottles, put on the labels, and box it up for distribution. They have volunteer nights when people can come in to drink beer, help fill up 6-packs and cases for an evening, and walk away with a free case at the end of the night. It seems like a well-run, 
socially-responsible business. And, as I said, the beer was really good.
When we left, they gave each of us 4 bottles of beer to take home (I took stout) and then Buzz and I walked around the canals and had a chance to chat in peace and quiet. Many of the buildings have occupants, but you can see the old raceways where power used to be generated that currently seem entirely unused. I realized that Holyoke might once again become a lot more important as the oil runs out. I wonder if these old towns won't have a renaissance as water power becomes more important and the suburbs become uninhabitable.
StevenBrewer