Doggie heaven and beer heaven

by Chris Aaland

My Thanksgivings are typically spent in Norton, Kans., chasing after pheasants and quail in an effort to stock my freezer with game birds for the year. Sadly, not this year.

Otto and Shelly accompanied me last year in what was a spiritual recovery for me. One year earlier, I was asleep on the floor of a trailer in Norton with hunting buddies when I was awakened by a panicked phone call from my wife that our five-month-old, Gus, was being airlifted on a Flight for Life to Children’s Hospital in Denver. I was 10 hours away and helpless. Because of flight delays in Durango, I actually made it from Norton to Children’s before the flight arrived. I got one more day with my baby because of it. The next day, Gus died in Shelly and my arms.

So 2012 meant yet another hurdle for the Aaland family to overcome. And, for Otto, it marked his first Kansas hunting trip. Though the pheasant numbers were down due to prolonged drought, we still pressed on. Otto got to see what upland bird hunting was all about. Miles of walking behind Luna, my German shorthair pointer. Occasionally, Luna would show interest. Once in awhile, she’d lock up on point. A few times a day, a rooster would launch from a plum thicket or out of a clump of weeds and I’d knock it down and Luna would retrieve.

Otto witnessed this again in September over blue grouse in the San Juans. We circled a mile-long forest of aspen, spruce and fir. We had nearly returned to our starting point when Luna locked up on a small flock of grouse. They flew behind trees, leaving me with a long shot through a small clearing. Some 50 yards away, the grouse dropped and Luna was quick on its path. A brief, furious chase ensued and we started running after her. A few moments later, my soon-to-be 12-year old dog was ajogging back toward us with the grouse in her mouth. It would be her last retrieve.

On Fri., Nov. 15, I left work early with bad weather arriving. On the drive from Ignacio to Durango, I noticed extremely dark clouds over Durango and a rare lightning display in a blizzard. I got home just before 5 p.m., and it was already pitch black. But Luna wasn’t there. Exactly one week past her 12th birthday, she must’ve gotten spooked in the back yard and jumped the fence. Shelly and Otto arrived a few minutes later and the three of us took turns searching the neighborhood looking for her. Around 9 p.m., I headed west on U.S. 160. Nearly a mile from my house, I spotted a clump on the side of the road that was bigger than the usual piles left by the snowplow. It was my pup, disemboweled from a collision with an automobile. She was still limp and warm, so the collision must’ve occurred during the four hours in which she was roaming free.

There’ll be no Kansas this year. No birds for the freezer, no more chances for Otto and me to watch Luna work her magic. The mornings, evenings and weekends have been lonely lately. No playing keep-away with her squeaky toy. Her three dog beds (yes, she was spoiled) and two kennels are now stored in the garage awaiting a new shorthair puppy when we’re ready.

Luna was the best dog I ever owned. She helped us welcome two sons into this world and bury one of them. She nurtured me through rehab from my heart valve replacement surgery last December, always by my side upon my return home. And she sensed the anger, sadness and frustration that Shelly and I felt when we were fired on the same day. Luna was a caregiver and a lover and a spoiled little shithead.

I miss her.

Pay your last respects to an icon Friday, as Ska Brewing hosts an open casket wake for Ten Pin Porter.

“Ten Pin Porter will be missed,” Ska’s co-founder Dave Thibodeau said in a news release. “He was the third beer we ever brewed … he meant the world to me. When you’d crack him open, you always knew he’d love you back. Unconditionally. Right now, we’re just focused on getting people together to remember the good times and say our final goodbyes to a great beer.”

Since the last hurrah takes place on Black Friday, mourners can save 20 percent on all draft dark beers and black-colored merchandise. The Container Restaurant will cook up a black bean Ten Pin Chili with jalapeño-cheddar cornbread and peach honey butter as well.

But why do away with Ten Pin? At a recent Super Ted’s Super Trivia Night, Ska co-founder Bill Graham told me that porters aren’t selling anymore. Today’s dark beer craze is black IPA. Porters have been relegated to geezer status, enjoyed by old men who like cigars, boxing and dominos. Shelf space at liquor stores and tap handles at bars need to turn product that moves. Ska’s red ale, Pinstripe, remains its best local seller followed by True Blonde. Locals also clamor for its two seasonals, Mexican Logger and Euphoria. And Ska ships a ton of Modus Hoperandi IPA, its best-seller nationally. If you like the dark stuff, stock up while Ten Pin Porter still sits on liquor store shelves. And you’ll still have Ska’s seasonal stouts and Buster Nut Brown Ale to choose from.

Me? While I left the coat and tie world behind when I was unceremoniously booted from higher education, I’ll set aside the gym sweats and concert t-shirts of the public radio world and proudly don a coat, shirt and tie when paying my last respects Friday at the World Headquarters.

Ten Pin, you served us well. You battled the evil Rotgutzen and helped firmly cement Durango’s reputation as a microbrew town. Your siblings and cousins at Ska, Steamworks, Carver’s, DBC and BREW will continue to fight the good fight.

In lieu of flowers, Ska requests donations be made to the Durango Bootlegger’s Society or any favorite charity.

This week’s Top Shelf list gives thanks to the three dogs that have been part of my adult life:

- Luna, German shorthair, 2001-13.

- Bourbon, English setter, 1989-2005.

- Sherman, German shorthair/Labrador mix, 1992-2001.

Over hills and meadows we’d stray? Email me at chrisa@gobrainstorm.net.

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