Bar-b-que

It rained on the annual Calvary Baptist bar-b-que this year. All day the rain came down and we kept thinking about the people out there slaving over the fire pits.  This is one of my favorites in the local annuals because they offer, not only the pre-requisite chicken, but also the most delicious ribs known to man. I've been going since I was so young I don't remember before it existed.

So about 3:30 in the afternoon my son and husband went to pick up the food. Since the family was coming to share in the feast, it made more sense to bring it home, especially with the weather so foul. We knew the church basement would be crowded so I set the table here and prepared for the meal.

Once here we piled all the chicken and ribs into a container, put the potato salad in a bowl, and set the table. We gathered around to share it all and spent the next hour around the kitchen table, gnawing at ribs and licking our fingers. As always, it was delicious. We finished it all off with a freshly baked chocolate cake, saving the water melon for the next night.

Once the clean-up was done and the leftovers put away, I sat back and thought about the annual event. It has rarely rained for this one and I can't remember the last time we had to eat it indoors. But it's always memorable and never disappointing.  I hope next year the church members don't have to deal with bad weather, but either way we'll enjoy it just the same. There are some things that just make life seem consistent and predictable and the annual Calvary Baptist Bar-b-que is one of them. And "normalcy" is such a wonderful thing...