Wandering, but not aimlessly.

Sean and Shona

My Honda C-70/Passport (gone now)
Sean in Dallas, Texas, just before he threw up all over the rental car.

Secrets of the BBQ chicken kings

Use this on skinless chicken, maybe one or two pounds. I estimate, and use boneless skinless chicken, but if you use a rotisserie, you want to use two whole chickens.

• Take a cup of vinegar.
• Melt a half stick or real butter. (margarine is for wimps!)
  
• Add some paprika, Chili powder, a pinch of sea salt, oregano and other Italian seasonings
  to taste.

Combine all ingredients above, and paint them onto your chicken as you cook. You can BBQ it, or use a rotisserie if you have one. But, keep the chicken covered with the mix.

• Take the other half stick of butter and melt it in a frying pan.
• Add a chopped onion of your choice. I like red skin onions, but the pearl or yellows work too.
  
• Add some garlic if you like.

Fry it until the onion is browned, or blackened. I like my onions burned, but you may be happy with them another way. Add this to the chicken after it comes off the grill. You may also add this mix to the veggies you cook to go with the chicken.

A short story about coping;

I thought about things that happened to my wife and I many times over the years when I wanted to escape reality for awhile. I have been escaping a lot recently, an expect to continue to escape for a little while longer.
The things I am talking about here are the "little moments". They happen only to us, and we bring them back up when they happen again and again. Case in point:

We have owned many VCRS, and DVD players over the years. They wear out quickly and were cheap to replace. We used to record TV shows on the VCR so we could watch them together on Saturday night to save money by not going out to the movies.

We thought that the DVD players were great when they came out, but we kept the VCR so we could continue to record TV shows.

Well, every DVD player we ever owned would go about an hour into the movie, and then it would freeze. Every single one. I became very adept at cleaning the DVD, and navigating with the remote in order to be able to go back to where we left off in the movie. But, it became one of those "little moments" because no matter which DVD player we bought, or movie we were watching, the movie always froze about an hour into it. Always.

Well, last night, I rented my first Blu Ray disc to play on my brand new Blu Ray DVD player. The movie was "Repo Man". I got the movie from a Red Box at the local store. There was a line, so I just grabbed the first movie that I saw that was Blu Ray. (The next time, I will look online and reserve a movie)

This morning, I went out to breakfast for the first time in a long time. I have been talking to Donna at the gravesite, in the house, and also in the car. I tell her of the events of the day, and other things I won't go into here. I tell her I wish she were here to see this amazing new machine that has such brilliant picture and sound quality.
You see, I have been waiting for her to come back and talk to me and help me to feel a little comfort in knowing that she will be OK in her new journey.
I was going to head to the local Bob Evans, but something made me head towards Salunga. They have a little place there that serves breakfast and lunch. Very basic decor, but good food.
As I got closer, the memories started flooding my mind so much, the water kept trying to escape from my eyes. I was able to control it most of the time, or hide it with my glasses.
My wife used to take my son there by themselves on Saturday mornings so that they could talk. I have no idea what they talked about, but it helped my son. He even got a job there for a few weeks. There were friends of his that worked there too, and they were part of the crowd that used to come around and visit us.
I forgot how to do things as a WLS post person, and let the waitress/owner pour me coffee instead of telling her not to bother. (don't drink 15 minutes before eating)
I also forgot that she gave me regular coffee, not decaf.
So, I added my sweet and low, and some cream and started sipping. I may have consumed about an ounce of liquid, but it was soooo good.
I also ordered an everything omelet with home fries, no toast.
I sat for about 10 minutes while waiting and sipped some more because it was soooo good. Not much, just a little. I figured it would all wash down before the food got there.
I could see my wife and I having breakfast there and the liquid started rising again, so I got out my cell and started texting just to distract myself. It didn't work so well.
My wife and I ate there many times, as she did with my son and daughter.
The omelet arrived and I asked for a container and then had to explain about my Bypass surgery.
I ate a small piece and sipped some more coffee, but not a lot. The home fries were burned just the way I liked them. But, the emotions got to me and I had to get out of there.
I had a twenty dollar bill with me, and I don't think they take plastic, so I went to the cashier and paid for my meal with my container.
The lady gave me a ten and a one for change. I left the ten on the table and got out. I cried all the way to the car, and then left as quickly as I could.

I started watching the movie and was amazed by the clarity of the picture. I said this out loud to Donna in case she couldn't read my mind.
The movie was very graphic with lots of foul language, but it was all in the context of the movie. I looked away because things were so graphic. I could feel the pain they were inflicting.
Other than the graphics, the movie was predictable and a bit boring. I had seen movies like this that followed the patterns of others.
About an hour into the movie, the machine froze. The movie actually stopped playing. The scene stopped and the TV became a picture.
Donna was watching the movie with me, and she wanted to let me know she was there.