all that's past is prologue...

After an unplanned quarantine hiatus, we're back with "Brutus on Brewpubs"! Though I think it will be "special patio editions" for some time to come... Yesterday we went out to check out Insight's new patio. It was lovely, and I guess we have been missed, because when he staff member came out to clean the table next to s he exclaimed "Wait, is this Brutus? I didn't recognize him with his summer haircut!" He then proceeded to bring him cookies. So yes, our dog is better known in the taproom than we are... In any case, the man at the table next to us also fell in love with Brutus, and said "Hey, I own Falling Knife Brewery! We have a new, dog-friendly patio, you should come check it out!" So today, for Father's Day, we got an afternoon reservation (Note: I understand *why* you have to get taproom reservations, but I am not a fan...At Falling Knife you have to call in so you have immediate confirmation that your reservation was...

Honestly, as nights go, it's not too bad this second. I'm sitting on the porch, Jayhawks are streaming, writing a post to you all. But it occurred to me, while sitting through a board meeting via google hangouts this afternoon, that I'm really not happy. And please note that this is not saying that my mental health is suffering. Mental health issues are often defined as "an inappropriate mental response to a situation," and that's not the case. I think it's perfectly reasonable to be not happy right now (and it's perfectly reasonable for this who's mental health is being affected by the heightened situations). I'm not depressed. I'm just sad. I'm really worried about my clients and their making it through, and me being able to help them.if I can help them enough. Patrick's hugs are the best in the world, but I miss hugs from others (especially since it turns out that tween girls are not very huggy). I miss being able to wa...

Honestly, with all that's been going on in the world, it seems like talking about house projects is the most mundane of things, and almost disrespectful. But honestly, this weekend, it's all I have had the energy to do. So this weekend, at the Summit house, we've managed to knock off a a number of small, nagging projects: We finished re-doing the bar — now if I could only have people over for cocktails.... Some details: Thanks to some chairs from my friend Rachel, I set up a new seating area. We also framed an old family photo we found and hung it by the family wedding dress photos along the stairs (the photo on the far left, above the chair, is my grandmother when she was young). I cleaned off the front porch, plants the front planters, moved a table out, and cut down the curtain that did not really work out there, much as I wanted it to (oh well). Now it's the perfect place for evening cocktails, though it would be nice to come up wi...

"But you are a preservationist!" people tell me. "How can you not think tearing down statues of confederate generals, generic Columbus statues, and the like is terrible?" Well, for one thing, statues are not automatically considered historic structures in the same way buildings are. The National Register Criteria for Evaluation lists 4 main criteria: That are associated with events that have made a significant contribu- tion to the broad patterns of our history; or That are associated with the lives of persons significant in our past; or That embody the distinctive characteristics of a type, period, or method of construction, or that represent the work of a master, or that possess high artistic values, or that represent a significant and distinguishable entity whose components may lack individual distinction; or That have yielded, or may be likely to yield, information important in prehistory or history. The criteria specifically state that "p...

It's Loving Day. I'm always glad that it falls right before our anniversary, because it reminds me that, until 1967, in many states I could not have been married to my husband. That within my lifetime (which does not seem so long, though it's getting longer), my marriage would have broken laws. Love is love is love. But this year, in particular, I am reminded about how fragile that can be. That there are still people — a lot of people, even a rising number of people, that think that our marriage is an abomination, a sin against humanity. At the same time, there are a lot of people in the past few weeks that are hopeful for some change in this country, and that are actively working for that change. If nothing else, they are reading about it — take a look at the NY Times bestseller list. And I too hold that hope. But I can't always seem to get through to people that every single day I worry that my husband will get stopped, injured, or killed — just because of the...

So I'm from Minnesota, land of the Honeycrisp (U of M, released 1991) — although I am more of a SweeTango (U of M, released 2009) kind of girl. And goodness knows, the apple has been a societal metaphoric image since Eve. But I'm particularly mulling, lately, the use of the phrase "a few bad apples." You see, the actual phrase is "A few bad apples spoil the bunch ." (Variations include "spoil the barrel" or or even biblical "a little leaven leavens the whole lump." But you get the intent). We've had a bowl of red delicious apples in a bowl on the counter, so I've actually noticed this in action. One apple gets rotten and mushy, so I pull it out and compost it. The next day, I realize I should also have thrown out the one it was touching. But then the next day I realize that apples on the other side of the bowl have gone bad. Pretty soon, I realize that the whole bowl is disgusting, the entire contents need to go, and I'm...