There is a kuurna sleeping on the brewery’s front porch. Â Shhh! Â She’s getting ready for her big coming out next week…gots to get her beauty sleep. Â Beauty sleep is all she’s got right now as her functionality remains to be seen! Â It’s akin to judging a book by its cover, and this cover is pretty sweet…look at how non-machine she looks as she slumbers.
Just waiting for some green.
200 years ago, in a completely wild and dark forest, a little spruce seed took root. Â She survived the logging of 100 years ago, as a result she received tons more light and climbed tall enough to witness the Bridge Creek fire in 1979, which came within a mile. Â All the while, Tumalo Creek burbled past, occasionally flooding and submerging her roots, but always traveling up the trunk of the tree and out into the needles. Â The sap that comes out of the tree is made of this water.
Storms and seasons came beyond number throughout the life of this tree, until this year when we (in the royal sense, Jonah in the actual sense…) cut her down and celebrated the end of non-human life in the traditional manner of savages.  We left out the loin cloths, but kept the inebriated celebration of super-human feats in inclement weather .  Then, after a rather jarring removal from the land of her youth, we moved her up by the brewery where many hands worked and massaged her into her current form.  Even more hands were just placed on her, but not like a railing.  More like touching an ancestor or time traveling.  One guy coaxed his daughter into working the slick (a large chisel, courtesy of EMA) by saying, “This is the only time in your life that you’ll get to do this!”
How cool is that?
Back to the beauty sleep:  I can’t help but wonder if our Frankenstella will be good at what we’ve kidnapped her into?  At some level (the ‘journey’ level) it doesn’t really matter, but at another, completely different level (the destination level), it bloody hell does.  Either way, next week, our initial destination with our lovely kuurna begins.
Sahati, the Mongrel Beer, will be born before October ends!
The Ale Apothecary 
October 19th, 2012 at 6:02 am
Dude. I can’t wait! My friends from Spokane are coming through the weekend of November 3rd. I’ma bring ’em out to the brewery if that’s cool.
October 19th, 2012 at 4:18 pm
That’s cool, dude man! Remind me with a phone call when we get closer and we’ll set up a time.
October 19th, 2012 at 4:36 pm
Will do. Thanks!
October 19th, 2012 at 3:25 pm
Hi guys! Love this pic of you all! Cheers to a Happy Halloween! the Benster will be in Hawaii!
________________________________
October 19th, 2012 at 4:54 pm
What a beautiful sculpture! Had to Google kuurna, lovely that you are keeping this traditional piece of brewery “equipment” alive!
October 19th, 2012 at 10:14 pm
Like the native people of the this area before you, much love and thought you and your little family has put into the carving of this kuurna. It is your totem and together you will introduce the rest of us to this ancient brewing art. We can’t wait!