I have always been considered a quiet person. When I was little I hardly spoke at all because I was "shy". Later on I was an "introvert". Well, when I got into my late middle age and eventually found myself alone I discovered I needed conversation. Joanne was a talker more than I was and she would tell me all about her day and generally routine stuff...we talked a lot. When she died and Jill grew up and moved out I needed to hear a human voice other than my own. I'd turn on the TV just for background voices. Finally I figured out how to make friends again and soon I was a regular chatterbox. One of the most enjoyable things about train travel on Amtrak is meeting people and having a nice and substantial conversation.
Fast forward to 2013...I've moved away from Missouri to New Mexico so I need to make new friends. My neighbors, Rod and Terry, are friendly and like to talk so we visit over the fence a lot. Rod helped my build my bocce court and is a handyman so we play bocce and collaborate on a few projects.
Not long after moving here I discovered Kaktus Brewing Company (that's Kak-toos...a German pronunciation) in the nearby heavily-Hispanic town of Bernalillo, NM. They were just opening in October but I managed to get in for the "soft" opening in late September. This is the first micro-brewery in Bernalillo so they are feeling their way a little. I was helping as much as I could...visiting once or twice a week.
So, chatty as I am, I am not shy about talking to other customers and I have met some of the most interesting people. Bernalillo is located on the north end of the Albuquerque metro area...on the way to Santa Fe...and borders the Santa Ana pueblo reservation to the north and Sandia pueblo to the south and is just across the highway from Placitas. Placitas is sort of an upscale desert/mountain artsy community mixed with traditional Spanish land grant villagers who are descended from the original grantees. Bernalillo itself dates to about 1690 and folks from here moved south and settled Albuquerque. You might hear more Spanish spoken in Bernalillo than English and major streets and some business are signed in Spanish. Across the river (Rio Grande) is the north extreme of Rio Rancho, a modern and (sporadically) developing suburb of Albuquerque. I'm describing all this just to give an indication of the diversity of people who walk through the door of Kaktus Brewing.
First off, there's Bjorn, from South Africa. Bjorn works in the film industry and makes the systems needed for producing special effects and some animation. Bjorn is responsible for Tony the Tiger and some of the Shrek movies as well as Spiderman movies. Then there's Dennis, a retired mechanical engineer from Santa Fe. Dennis lived and worked in Chicago and is responsible for designing the machine that wraps your stick of Wrigley's gum in foil and paper. Tom, a former special forces guy in Viet Nam, became a medical doctor and later prison doctor. We swap a lot of prison stories. Tom was raised in various places in South America and speaks Portuguese and Spanish. Tom owns hot air balloons. Stew and Gloria are a nice and very friendly couple. Stew is a off-road race car driver...as in Baja road racing. Gloria seems to be enjoying the racing life but doesn't get too involved. If Stew starts talking about race cars or the technical aspect of racing you will be there for a while. The same is true if Stew and Tom start comparing Viet Nam stories. Evan stopped in while on a trip from Portland...he is a vintner at an Oregon winery. I learned all about the various types of grapes and where they will or won't grow. Roberta is a recently certified real estate lady...just got her license. Kyle, yes Kyle, is a Santa Domingo Pueblo Indian who always invites people to his house for BBQ and gives out directions but I haven't gone yet. There are others that I've met early on that I can't recall their name. One was a screen writer and film maker who does independent films. Another was a professor of screen writing at a local college. There are a few local farmers who come in and speak Spanish to each other but perfect English to other folks. I've enjoyed talking to these folks and I've learned a lot.
Dana, the owner is maybe 30 and he seems to enjoy it all. This is his first venture into the brewing business and he has some good help. There is no big screen TV hanging on the wall and no karaoke. There is a dart board, a bocce court and an outdoor patio with a wood stove for cool nights. Everything seems to be geared toward conversation.
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