friday evening started off with the tornado sirens blaring through downtown. i'm not even sure why they even bothered sounding them since downtown dallas pretty much rolls up the sidewalks after five each evening, even earlier on the weekends. but they sounded the alarm anyway and, after fifteen or so mintes of it competing with my ipod, i figured i might want pay attention. it is tornado season, after all, and even though the sirens sound the same, i was fairly certain it was not an air-raid.
so, i headed to the basement. during the elevator ride i got to thinking that this might really be serious and i could be in the basement for hours, so instead of stepping out when the elevator doors opened, i returned to my apartment to grab a bottle of wine and a glass. might as well be happy in the shelter, yes?
i have to say that it was the most anti-climatic tornado experience i have ever lived through. there were annoying neighbours glued to the tv set, hanging onto every unscripted word the weathermen uttered.
being a kansas boy, i can honestly say, kansas knows how to have tornadoes. the sirens blare for hours on end, the lightening is like a papparazzi swarm, and the rain and hail are relentless. it literally scares the hell out of you. this experience, however, was none of that. so, i was back on my sofa surfing the net within fifteen minutes. yawn.
when i woke up the next morning, it was freezing cold. and to think i had only just declared winter over and packed the underwear away until next november. no, i don't mean the long underwear, dammit, i mean my underwear. all of it: boxers, briefs, boxer-briefs. they are no longer needed until the cooler fall and winter months. summer is jock season in texas. but i digress....
saturday, i braved the near-white-out 45-degree conditions to attend my first-ever crawfish boil hosted by some friends from louisiana. let me just say this about the crawfish boil: i had no fucking idea that's what it was!
first, i was shocked that they make that shit in a wash-tub. lead welds and all. my first thought was, "that doesn't have a food-safe coating." they fill the washtub with water, put it on top of a propane-fueled burner, and start dumping stuff in. i'm not sure what all of the ingredients are, but i can say for certain there were mini corn-cobs, whole potatoes, hundreds upon hundreds of crawfish, whole artichokes, and god knows what spices. boiling. in a wash tub. in a lesbian golf coach's garage!
you know it's done when it is the colour of the mississippi river. and here comes the kicker, when it is done, they scoop it all out and pile it onto long tables lined with plastic and newspaper. then everyone stands shoulder to shoulder and eats right off the table. no chairs, no silverware, no problem. i was in total awe of it all. i mean, in finland we had crayfish parties every spring, but it was so proper, everyone wearing plastic bibs with cartoons of crayfish on the front, and the table was piled high with platters of freshly boiled crayfish. and we used dishes and utensils. what i find so amazing about the louisiana-style boil is that it's a one-pot meal, not unlike a crockpot, and there are no dishes to clean up afterwards. genius! the sad thing about it is i am allergic to shellfish so i was merely a spectator. i wish i had my camera because the colours were really spectacular: reds and yellows and greens all emerging from a muddy brown liquid boiling in a washtub with lead welds.
a visual, if not literal, feast. it was the higlight of the weekend. well, except for the eighty-degree weather we had on sunday. perfect no-underwear summer weather!
in the background::wild wild life:talking heads
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