It was the sort of day that offered nothing to excite or inspire me. You know, the kind of overcast and chilly fall day you often find in early December. So, it was that I entered into a local restaurant/pub in a rather somber mood.
When entered and then sat myself down at the well appointed bar, the manager came up to me and must have noticed my sour expression. 'Hey poopie lips', she intoned while pinching one of my cheeks, 'how about I bring you something special to raise your spirits?'
I looked up into her face. My puppy-like eyes wide open. 'Why gollee, Ms. Ngo, I exclaimed excitedly. 'That would be really swell!' Smiling, she turned and disappeared into the back area. I then sat there quietly with a dull expression on my face. Something I did a lot. The minutes passed...
Suddenly, the lady reappeared with a large sheet of paper and a bunch of crayons in a glass cup! My eyes lite up. She plopped both items onto the bar in front of me and implored me to 'draw something.' Cause I as a 'special' guy!
Well, the minutes flew by as I got down to work and focused my entire mind to the task at hand. Yes sir, I was going to make me a self portrait that maybe they could hang on a wall or something. Boy, was I ever excited. So much so, that an occasional 'yipping' sound would escape my lips. So, there I sat, drawing like a man possessed while 'yipping' with increasing frequency. (Heck fire, I was so engrossed that I failed to notice the other bar patrons quietly moving to more distant stools).
At long last, (like after about four minutes), I finished up. As I sat there looking at my creation, a final 'yip yip yip' escaped my lips. Boy, was I ever a proud guy! Then, after carefully replacing the crayons into the cup, I made my way over to that manager who was busy taking care of other customers.
While in line, waiting for her to finish ringing up a few nervous looking customers, I was jumping from foot to foot in boyish anticipation. I guess I might have also been breathing a little too loudly, as those same customers kept looking at me over their shoulders. Looking back, they had a sort of deer caught in the headlights expression. (Something I'd heard about, but never actually seen before).
Finally! She was done! I stepped proudly up to the counter and thrust my drawing into her face. 'Here lady' I remarked a little loudly. 'You can have this. Maybe you'll want to hang it on somewhere.' She glanced at that paper and said, 'Sure, I'll get right on that.'
Smiling broadly, I paid my bar tab and even left her a quarter tip. Yep. Charlie's is a great place for special people like myself!
Anyone who uses ghost peppers as one of
the key spices in a bowl of red must really likes to challenge those taste
buds with heat! Bhut jolokia, which is the other common name for ghost
peppers, are right below pure pepper spray in terms of hotness
– They score one million plus Scoville heat units. [They blow the fabled
Habanero right out of the water]! And David, (who grows these peppers). likes to use liberal
amounts in his personal chili – Enough so you're eyes will water
and your nose run freely! Now, that's hot!
Charlie's Steak, Ribs and Ale is
located on Hwy 160 in Forsyth Missouri near the junction of Y Hwy and
while I love both steak and eggs, I'd been avoiding that selection
for fear of what it might do to my already high blood cholesterol
readings. But, then after reading that and related articles, I've
came to the decision that a moderate intake of so-called bad
cholesterol was not as bad as consuming too many saturated fatty
acids! So, I'd decided to still watch what I ate, but not to restrict
myself completely from the foods I love!
