Sweet Tasty Memories By Dr. Juan Harrison
Sweet Tasty Memories
It’s a clear, cool Fall morning out at Heritage Park. Savory smoky smells from the campfires of participants in the John Chester Dutch Oven Cookoff fill my nostrils. Fond memories flood back of the boys throwing tomahawks at a target and sampling homemade butter churned as we watched. This morning the Dutch ovens are bubbling with cobbler and cabbage and ribs are grilling. As I sit at my table full of books I’ve written, a young couple stops by for a book. I send them off with a prayer for their first child due in February. How jealous I am for the joy they’re set to experience; how grateful I am to not have to sit up nights with my babies as we learned to survive on short nights and long days.
The smells draw my attention back to the task at hand. Soon I’ll have to take a break from chatting with customers to focus on making my selections at the different campsites. There’s cabbage, ribs, apple cobbler, cornbread, red beans, corn casserole, homemade bread — too many choices as I sample the best from each site. As I sit here amidst a peaceful serene setting I’m reminded it’s 80 degrees in Texas, not the usual 90-100. I almost feel young again. Have to be careful not to overdo thinking I’m young again.
After living halfway around the world, I came home with a new appreciation for my Texas roots and Southern upbringing. I love the way we accept people for who they are and what they’re able to bring to the table of life. We still nod hello to strangers and say hello, hi, or howdy. We accept people for who they are. We look out for one another. We don’t take the life and opportunity we’ve been given for granted. We know it could go way in the shake of a lamb’s tail.
Sitting in old Heritage Park I had another reason to stir up old memories. My oldest son, the minister/businessman in Southern California in high school got to showing off with his fancy little red sports car and ended up racing his equally intelligent buddy down Oak Ave. After a brief visit to Teen Court in high school, he picked up 18 hours of public service. He chose to do lawn work at Heritage Park. Needless to say Daddy threw him into our mowing truck and joined him in his assignment. When we finally served our sentence, we got invited to continue our beautification efforts there on a regular basis. We had to decline due to our full schedule, but again we turned lemons into lemonade.
A few years back Carlie invited me to come out for their annual Dutch oven cookoff. I reckon my books and I will continue back each year where the shade tree’s cool, the smells are delicious, and the warm inviting atmosphere reminds us once again how I’m blessed to get to live a life that much of the world could only dream of.
By Dr. Juan Harrison
