On our very first visit to Merced, CA in January of this year, while Ann was interviewing and being interviewed, I was engaged in a contextual research project.  That’s when I first stumbled into the 17th Street Public House; and, that’s when I began imagining our own potential immersion, our own possible intertwinement in this new context, to honor the texture of this metaphor. Fast forward, and we’re here in Merced, and I’m already making comparisons between my initial research findings and those related to a similar investigation that I conducted at El Bait Shop in Des Moines, Iowa four years ago.  At any rate, I’m pleased that we’ll be able to take part in the Great Beer Movement that’s happening here and throughout the country.  Kinda’ makes me feel at home.