12-4-08

Rain and dirt; the only ingredients needed for a successful cook out

A month of planning and preperation; but all I really needed was a little bit of mud
This past weekend I had some family and friends over for a little cook-out. It has sort of grown into a tradition that started a few years ago.
When my family started to move to different areas of the East Coast, we only had a few times a year to visit. Thanksgiving seemed to be that time that everyone was in one place.
The day after Thanksgiving was always the best time for everyone to come over to my house and just enjoy the day. My father, brother and I would cut down dead trees from around my pond and clean fallen limbs from the woods. A nice roaring fire would provide us with enough heat so that we would only need a flannel shirt, jeans and boots. This, to me, is an ideal fall day. My mom, wife and sister would watch the children play and watch us work. They also do a great job of providing us all with a good helping of sandwiches and chips at break time.
This year we decided to take it to the next level. Friday was going to be for the fore-mentioned boys to clean the woods and pond to supply enough wood for a large bonfire. Saturday was going to be the cook out day.
After working well into the evening cutting wood and generally burning everything in sight, we had a nice pile of coals to start the next day’s fire.
Five a.m. Saturday came awfully quick for my brother and me. We woke up to start the grill, prep the pig and throw it in the heated grill. It was raining pretty good, so we knew that it was going to be a party confined to the shelter and my shop.
The coals in the fire pit were still so hot in the morning that a few pieces of wood were thrown on and the fire reignited. In between rain showers, we stoked the fire and kept it going all day.
Everyone that was expected to show, did. One-by-one the cars and trucks made their way up my muddy driveway. I forgot how bad my road could get with a combination of rain and traffic. It was like four-wheeling through the rain forest.
With all of this rain, I thought that the kids were going to get bored and restless. Somehow they kept themselves entertained and stayed out of trouble. They were all actually very good. I didn’t see a single fit being thrown or any fighting. The only pouting was when a few of them had to go home.
At about 7:00 p.m., the children found their gold mine.
Without warning we heard, giggling, shouting, and a ton of deep-down-belly-laughing. A large mud hole had been found by the little-ones and no adults had seen them playing in it.
One little boy was stomping in the mud with his new hunting boots. Another was high centered on his bike because the training wheels lifted his back wheel from the ground. He was spinning a rooster tail of black, wet dirt up the front of an unsuspecting little girl who happened to be standing behind him.
By the time parents realized what was going on, it was too late to do anything about the mess. The children were having the time of their life and there was no point in stopping them.
This is what being a kid is all about, those brief moments when you can make your parents and family laugh at something that you would normally get in big trouble for.
With all of the toys, guests, food and planning, the mud hole was the biggest hit. Next year we’re going to make it an even better party, even if it means I have to truck in a load of mud.
Bryan Pinkey can be reached at home cleaning muddy toys or at bpinkey@nccox.com.