The Backyard Barbecue

We all love a good backyard barbecue, don’t we? They’re fun! Dads flipping burgers on the grill. Moms serving up potato salad. Kids running amok. How can anyone not enjoy that? It wouldn’t be possible. And the granddaddy of all cookout days is fast approaching – the Fourth of July, a real red, white, and blue American tradition. We’re all looking forward to it, most of us anyway. If you’re not hosting one or invited to one, take heart. There will be another one coming along sooner or later. They’ve become a mainstay of summertime social life.

If you’re more of an indoorsy person like me, I’m going to guess that you’re not planning a cookout in your own backyard. That’s not to say that you never have or never will. Even I tried once many years ago. One of my children has a summer birthday, and I decided that a cookout was a great idea for a party, so I invited guests and made the necessary preparations. Everything fell into place, and I had no reason to believe that the party would be anything but a big success.

The day of the party dawned sunny and clear, and I got busy. Then the temperature shot up to 97° and continued to climb. Before I knew it, it was sweltering. I had no choice but to move the party indoors and set up the grill near the back door. It was so scorching hot that I felt certain the burgers could have easily cooked themselves on that grill without the benefit hot coals. But I lit the grill anyway and when it was ready, I quickly slapped on the burgers and ran back inside. Then I ran back out a few minutes later to flip them. I went back in and then ran outside one last time to scoop them off when they were done. That was my last trip outdoors that day.

We still managed to have a good time, but that was my one and only cookout. I’ve never planned another one. Too risky. Even with 10 day weather forecasting, things can still go wrong. I’ll leave the backyard barbecues to those of you who are good at it. I’ll bring the soda and chips.