1906, Jonesborough visitor's center. The band, Boom Chuck, is tuned and ready to play. The caller is running a short introductory lesson. People are filtering in by couples and singly. The outside temperature is hovering in the mid 80s °F. Inside the temperature is probably mid 70s.
The remnants of a potluck dinner are being carried out of the building, to sit in the hot dark confines of dancers' cars. The conditions are prime for bacterial growth in the leftovers that people will take home. The grains and other carbohydrates such as potatoes are the key ingredients in many types of growth media used to isolate and identify bacteria in clinical samples. Fortunately, there were no dishes tonight that contained ground turkey. Nationwide, there is a serious salmonella outbreak traced to ground turkey. It has resulted in at least one fatality and initiated what may well be the largest recall of ground poultry to date.
Gloria and I opted for quick and easy this time. We brought a couscous-based package dinner item. It is organic and vegan but has little else to recommend it be consumed. What is left will be discarded.
Having many potluck dinners behind me as a result of Boy Scouting, I know that most of what appears on the tables at such events is poorly seasoned, not too flavorful, and all too often loaded with celery. I generally operate on the premise that I will not find too much of interest and even less desirable on the tables. Tonight I brought a peanut butter/strawberry jam sandwich using a “French” hamburger roll. It was not the tastiest thing I've had this week but will keep my belt buckle from rubbing through my stomach and abrading my spine. Gloria was kind enough to bring me some food from the table, an ear of corn, a potato of some sort, a few green beans in a sweetish brown sauce, and a local rendition of the ubiquitous yellow-summer squash casserole.
Every family with any southern ancestry (no matter how they may try to hide it) has, in a battered metal recipe box of uncertain origin, a stained and dog-eared 3x5 index card with “the recipe.” Invariably the core ingredients are yellow squash, white onion, salt, and a can of Campbell s' “cream of something” soup. The squash are introduced to a box grater and the onion is either grated or diced. Prior to baking, any spices, herbs, bread crumbs, bacon, and other “family secrets may be introduced to the mixture, or more commonly, just waved over the mixing bowl. The other ingredients are added and then it is all baked for a period of time that is directly proportional to the outside temperature. As a final fillip, some sort of grated cheese may be strewn on top of the mixture. The type of cheese is not important but it must be orange, the brighter the better.
The particular casserole available tonight seemed not to have met any spices, and would have benefited greatly had it encountered black pepper. Still, I managed to consume my portion.
I had a brief chance to dance with Gloria during the first set. For some reason I couldn't capture one of the figures and it left me rather dissatisfied. My shoulders are hurting quite a lot tonight. After I total up the gate, I may be able to manage one more dance with her.
Tomorrow/today:
I managed to doze in until almost 0800 today. Thunder provided the alarm that I had purposefully not set. The dog wanted out and we made it to the mailbox for the paper and back to the house between rainstorms. We’ve had a high of 86 °F and 0.12 inches of rain this afternoon. The humidity is still annoying and the gnats own the outside.
The bad neighbor, who lives across the road, began firing a rifle, seemingly without much concern for accuracy. I don’t care for the idea of alcohol and firearms (or other abusable substances). There is a world of difference between someone firing carefully to achieve or check a zero, and in someone putting rounds through the barrel of a long gun as if trying to imitate an automatic weapon.
The rest of the day has been a true delight.
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