Shade Tree Wisdom 7/11/10

Nice today, on the warm side, of course – it is July, after all –but on the whole, nice out. Many people are on vacation, visiting relatives, or seeing some part of the country they haven’t seen before, or whatever they do.

The papers are filled with suggestions – visit the zoo, take the family to a museum, check out NASA, go to Schliterbahn, tour the Houston underground system. Lots of suggestions.

But here is one I never heard before. Join a barbecue caravan to central Texas to sample what Texans are always talking about, barbecue.

When we first moved here, we attended some sort of area affair. If I recall, it was a Zone Rally at a neighborhood church. And the Pastor told me, “We plan a Texas barbecue for lunch that day. You’ve got a treat in store”. Well, the Rally ended with that lunch, and I was really not impressed. Oh, it was edible, but nothing really so unusual, or special. I found the meat a bit on the dry side, and rather tasteless unless you slathered it with sauce.

Later that week Ruth and I decided to spend a day just driving the countryside and sort of exploring our new home, to see what Texas was like. So we drove, sort of without a real aim, and at lunch time came to a small town thinking of stopping for some lunch. We saw a little place surrounded by vehicles, trucks and cars, so we entered. It was late, and the lunch hour was nearly over. We went to the counter not quite knowing what to order, and the lady suggested a sample platter. So we said we’d try that. She told us to find a seat, and the waitress would bring our order. It came on butcher paper on a plastic tray with a fork. When she put it down she said, “The bread is on the table. Enjoy.”

Well, here was some sausage, brisket, pork ribs, beef ribs, and we looked, and ate, and ate, and ate, and really enjoyed it. Tasty, juicy, a veritable feast.

By this time the place was nearly empty, so the lady behind the counter brought her own tray and asked, “May I sit here and join you? You seem new here.” So we told her we were new and were just exploring, but were really taken with this meal we just were finishing. So she told us about Texas barbecue. It takes time. We use hickory smoke, find the best meats, and take the time to do it right. We thanked her, and left.

“Now thank we all our God,
With hearts, and hand, and voices”.

Was the heartfelt sentiment when we left this place, enlightened, nourished, and satisfied.

GPD 7/11/10