- Loving the unexpectedness of this display of American spirit on a tree-lined street.- A woman asks my father if he is a veteran and then thanks him for his service during World War II. He never expects to be thanked and never volunteers to discuss his experience. But I am proud for him and say, "tell her the chili story!"
- He enlisted on his 18th birthday in 1944 so he could join the Navy and "see the world," winding up on a minesweeper in the Pacific Ocean. After all the ship's cooks were lost in a battle one morning, Dad and the ship's pharmacist were commandeered to be cooks. He smiles as he remembers putting an entire industrial-sized can of chili powder in his first batch of chili that day for lunch and how sailors had tears streaming down their faces from the heat.
Unusual fact: even after visiting Asian countries and being released from active duty in San Francisco for his journey back home to Macon, Georgia, he has never flown in an airplane.
17 comments:
HA!!!
Now he would be considered a gourmet chef!!
Hats off to Dad...Salute!!!
I love being first....BINGO!!!!!
Sounds like the sort of thing I'd do with the Chilli powder. Great story and the photograph is cool too. :)
G-Man -
Bingo! You ARE first! You know - Dad still likes to cook. He sizzled me up a steak just a couple of weeks ago. :)
Joe -
I suppose it was just that it was wartime, but the rest of the story: Dad said it that the deceased cooks (still sailors, too) had laid out all the fixings for the chili lunch already. As he stood there and pondered (not really knowing how to cook) a couple of guys walked by the door and said, "make it hot! Those other guys never made it hot enough!" So hence, the entire can went in. :)
The chilli your Dad made gives a whole new meaning to the term "into the line of fire"!
Great photo. Sad day...
Talon -
It is a sad day, but the patriotism that surged through this country after the attacks made me so proud. There aren't AS many flags around as before, but still a significant amount.
And dad still makes a mean chili!
Excellent story.
And I salute your dad.
Thank you G - feeling very close and sentimental about my family this week.
Our state took most of the flags off the Highway overpasses, n is now a law not to put them up there, which I disagree with.
I've actually never made chili- Thank Dad for the recipe! I don't fly much, either. After 911, I drove to Florida n back just to avoid them...
Love the chili story! And I too send thanks to your father for what he did for our country.
Snaggle -
Yeah and I think the flag shown might not be hung in the correct position (unless you are approaching it from the other side of that winding driveway.)
Chili is great for cold days that are coming up. I use those chili kits - Brown Bag Chili, I think it's called. And ground turkey instead of ground beef - a sacriledge to some, but no one seems to notice. :)
My dad has always refused to fly - ships, trains and automobiles for him!
Lance -
Thank you - I will tell him - he'll like that.
Oh, I'm laughing about that chili!
Many thanks to your dad. We owe guys like him so much.
Mama Zen -
He and mom are moving into a senior community - so lovely that it looks like a B&B to me. So I spent the weekend packing - ending with Dad buying sis and me a big steak dinner this evening. So neat to see him enjoying that dinner so much.
Amazing story of the chili. And amazing amazing man. Learning more an more how you got to be so cool, Lynn.
Pretty pretty flag in a tree too.
xo
Jannie -
Oh thanks for calling me cool!!!! I do have an amazing family.
That's some hot chili!
Cookie -
He has many stories, but that one is a favorite.
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