Veal Shoulder
"Keith and Tobi forever"
she wrote in her school year book.
what a pair they made back in 2nd grade, 3rd grade 4th grade and ever since.
It seemed that one was not found without the other, at least close nearby.
And through the years they were always together.
It was their last year of school and in small town, Midwest they had everything going for them, they wanted a life together so they got married early and started working on the "family" early too.
Keith would join his dad and work on the Railroad and would make day runs from east to west and back home again and Tobi would have her sister for company, as she often did, and they would continue living this life that they grew up in,
For it was in their small hometown that they had chosen to live as urban dwellers with family and friends close by, but during the school year their uncle passed away and he left some land to Keith.
Ahh. perfect, Some land to build a home on and raise my family, Keith pondered.
But it's 15miles out of town and so isolated, Tobi worried and wondered aloud to her sister and to her mother.
I don't know why you worry so much Tobi, her family said.
You'll be fine.
Since it's close to meal time, why don't you start that roast!? mother Ann said as she peekd out the window and noted that it would rain soon.
You've always mulled over hard decisions by passing the time away cooking,
you're the best cook in town honey.
I'll go wake Keith, he's your best helper in the kitchen
Tobi sighed deeply and walked from her room up to the kitchen, it seemed so far away.
Normally the kitchen was only 20 paces past the sports awards on her parents wall, past her parents marriage certificate, past her dad's Fishing photos and past her horse riding snapshots.
But today, it seemed that her mothers kitchen was miles away and the usually soft carpet was thin and hard on her bare feet.
Her mother was right about one thing, her husband was her best helpmate.
The new railroad job started to take him away from home a few nights of the week and it was lonely without him.
So to help pass the time away she kept on cooking and baking.
An hunger pang gurgled under her ribs,
"and under the Spare rib too" she inwardly joked,
"you'll need more sugar for that" she quietly mouthed to no one in particular,
she clutched her growing tummy and felt the faint stirrings of life inside her.
this morning sickness feeling had her moods up and down like a roller coaster.
And what a ride it had been!!
Their first year of marriage and their new son was born just a few months ago.
Tobi jr seemed to know when his daddy was away and would fuss until he heard his mommy clanging spoons searching through the drawers.
she still breast fed him but had already prepared a small sippy cup for him to use in another year.
Another hunger pang growled and she started jostling the metal pans around and opening drawers looking for her measuring cups, Tobi always played a joke on her and moved a few objects around behind her back in the kitchen, an cute habit that lately was starting to annoy her.
the cooking oil was in the lower shelf and the other liquid ingredients in the refrigerator would need to be used soon, Real soon.
she looked at the small bundled package on the counter top and inhaled sharply.......
Each vehicle that passed without stopping sunk his hopes further into despair.
I've got to get home soon to my wife and her family.
Miles away his pickup got a flat and even the spare tire was low, and barely got him another 10 miles before it too went flat,
he could go the long way around and hopefully get a ride from a passing vehicle or else he could cut through theValley along the old service road and be home in 4hrs if he walked fast,
he looked at the approaching headlights off in the distance and thought deeply,
then turned his back to the main Interstate and cut across the field until he reached the first Gully that descended gently down to the Valley and then he made his way through brush another 1/4 mile to theValley road,
no one ever used that road, not since the county put in the new Blacktop on the Interstate route that he just left, but mostly long haul travelers and company vehicles drove that highway this late in the evening and none of them picked up hitchhikers,
his boots found packed earth as he climbed out of the ditch and he turned left and headed East,
after a few hundred yards he glimpsed a flash of light ahead and his heart joyed in the prospect that perhaps he could get a ride, but his heart sank Again when he realized that the flash was lightning,
a quick storm was coming and now it would take him even longer to get home to his wife and her parents,
tonight she'd be cooking dinner for all of them,
How he loved her cooking, how he loved her baking, how he Loved HER!!
they met young, married young, and had their first child young.
It was great to be living so close to his family, to his wife's family and close to all the people that he had grown up with all his life.
The lightning flashed again, closer this time and his mind raced ahead,
How far away was Nilsons old house?
a mile or 3?
His fast walk quickly became a measured jog and he shook his shoulders and wound his arms then settled into a steady pace,
hard to run in workboots but these he wore were comfortable,
a soft touch to his forehead, like her hands on his face in the early morning
then another to his cheek, and another and soon it was raining hard.
His steady running slowed to a tired walk and he measured the distance,
he ran almost 30mins at a good pace, Almost 5 miles.
the lightning lit up the field next to him and he saw a dark tall structure beyond,
Good timing.
I'll stop for awhile and rest in Nilsen's old place, he decided.
The front door was open, had always been unlocked since the family suddenly vacated the farm 10yrs ago,
He tried the lights, but no power.
He used to play there as a child, and from memory he walked the house and into the back store room.
On the bottom shelf he groped in the darkness for something......
his hands found an old rayovac flashlight.
He smiled.
it still worked, barely
And he made his way through the house, found the bathroom and relieved himself.
He decided to stay in the front room and sit on the sofa,
it was always a comforting place for him and he stretched out upon its cordoroy cushions,
searching the room out with the old flashlight he looked at the old paintings on the wall, Farm scenes and windmills, an old tractor and a stack of hay,
He glanced over at the kitchen area and saw dusty furniture.
Good memories this place had, As a young boy he played with his cousins in the front yard and had eaten many dinners at the kitchen table.
the storm outside was loudly drumming the rooftop of the 2 story house and he realized that he was very tired from running,
it wouldn't hurt to sleep awhile,
snapping off the flashlight he closed his eyes and relaxed.
He thought of his young son and how happy everyone had been when the boy was born.
All pink he was, with a cap of black hair, and tiny facial features and those eyes.
They were his eyes.
he smiled and sank into sleep.
the drumming of the rain became the soft clanging of pots and pans,
became the quiet conversation of his relatives in the next room and grandfather listening to his a.m. weather radio upstairs,
the musty living room odors became the soft lived in feel that each home has when people dwell therein.
"keith!!"
"Keeyyth!" his mother in law called out to him.
He just stirred in sleep and never answered, sons in law never did listen!!
She left him and went back to the kitchen and his wife slowly made her way to the front room where he slept,
She reached out and gently touched his arm,
he woke from his sleep on the sofa and sat up,
the regular house noises were gone and in their place
he could hear rattling noises in the kitchen
and the Lights were on, ever so softly.
When he arrived home earlier she told him that his son was sleeping so he showered away the diesel and dust from his hair,
Engine 209 used oil sticks that were bigger than her keilbasa sausages in the freezer, he'd unwrap them, 16 in all from their plastic sheathing, and slowly feed them into injection points along theEngine car,
ten of these foot long sticks of lubricant on the outside and 6 more from above,
he and his dad would finish the last 6 sticks while the engine was moving and every day they joked to each other that basically they were just riding an fuel drum that pulled stuff across the state,
He imagined that theTrain engine was an rack of lamb and he was injecting the fat sticks inside to keep it tasty, like what he saw his wife do at home with food she made.
He stepped out of the shower and could smell the sweet scent of spices and steak sauce in the air, in the bedroom he changed into clean clothes,
sat on the bed and put on clean socks,
yawning and stretching he stood up and moved towards the kitchen,
he fell into a playful mood and could hear her voice softly talking, she was on the phone with their neighbors down the road,
"I know, I know.
it's just brown sugar, paprika, cumin and black pepper but I just make it come to life with the bottle sauces,
Yes,....Yes I will mrs Schuman, He's a fine boy, that will be great for him."
he watched his wife, peeking at her slyly from around the corner and admired her face.
She looked up at him from the stove, peeking inside theOven to check the temperature of the meat and she flashed him that sweet smile.
"Dinner will be ready soon" she mouthed to him.
and he went back to theSofa to rest up.
Sometimes the isolation of the farm seemed too much for her especially when he and his dad were gone overnight but she seemed fine, had started to knit and was halfway through her first afhgan blanket,
white had always been her favorite color but lately she favored the darker moodier blues and deep crimson colors like the red pillow cover he now lay his head upon as he stretched out on their well used cordoroy sofa,
he wondered what the sofa would look like if she knitted a cover for it.
She gently touched his arm and he woke up.
The storm had passed and all was silent, it had only been 3hrs of sleep in this old farm house and he stepped out onto the porch,
he had to keep going on his way home, and would arrive after midnight, he
adjusted his boot laces and hopped off the steps and started to run.
He ran like HER husband did from the house that one dark night over 10yrs ago.
Something inside her broke and she cooked his newborn son in her oven after he had been absent 3 days from working,
after that, the farm was abandoned and no one ever used the place anymore,
no one ever stopped,
One night I was with my cousins and we headed back to our community using that old back road, I was in the front seat of the car and trying to sleep.
My younger cousin was speeding and we rounded a corner and saw in the headlights that the road ahead was dark,
All I saw was dark black shapes and then a dozen white eyes. Oh No....
Boom, boom!! and we stopped suddenly.
We had hit no less than 6 of farmer Loyds cows and veered off the road dragging a cow by the tail, In all the chaos of certain events, you sometimes find humor in what your mind catches happening around you.
We hit a herd of cows doing 70mph and this one cow is keeping up with us!! and she did it backwards too for about 50 feet.
her knotted tail got stuck on the front bumper, as I opened up my car door and got out she was frantically digging hooves into the dirt to get away, then she pulled herself free and took off.
a big clump of hair remained wedged between the bumper and the totaled front end.
My cousin was still sitting behind the wheel trying to start the engine,
"the wheels are bent, we ran OVER two cows!!" I said,
I looked in the back seat and 3 more relatives of mine were STILL sleeping, passed out.
After about 20mins we started walking East,
us Lakota aren't scared of much things in this world, and we stopped at the old abandoned farm to rest,
my drinking relatives passed out again on the sofa and I settled into a spot on the floor next to the sofa,
All food jokes aside and our absent mindedly calling out Food Orders to theHouse, it was an uneventful night. For I believe that what ever happens in homes or people's lives is part of what WE bring to such places and things.
I was more worried about facing farmer Loyd about his 6 dead cows and 8 more injured ones limping around than I was about seeing any ghost in that abandoned house.
But I too remember the sweet smell of food cooking as we all slept,
I too remember hearing kitchen noises and soft voices,
I too was gently touched on the arm from behind that night.
There are some things in this world that you can't explain
as to why they happen, but they did, they do and they will still happen.
---------------
Happy Halloween 2007
Next up, I'll tell you about my public safety career!!
Boo!!
luvs,
theSam!!
d:oO!!
she wrote in her school year book.
what a pair they made back in 2nd grade, 3rd grade 4th grade and ever since.
It seemed that one was not found without the other, at least close nearby.
And through the years they were always together.
It was their last year of school and in small town, Midwest they had everything going for them, they wanted a life together so they got married early and started working on the "family" early too.
Keith would join his dad and work on the Railroad and would make day runs from east to west and back home again and Tobi would have her sister for company, as she often did, and they would continue living this life that they grew up in,
For it was in their small hometown that they had chosen to live as urban dwellers with family and friends close by, but during the school year their uncle passed away and he left some land to Keith.
Ahh. perfect, Some land to build a home on and raise my family, Keith pondered.
But it's 15miles out of town and so isolated, Tobi worried and wondered aloud to her sister and to her mother.
I don't know why you worry so much Tobi, her family said.
You'll be fine.
Since it's close to meal time, why don't you start that roast!? mother Ann said as she peekd out the window and noted that it would rain soon.
You've always mulled over hard decisions by passing the time away cooking,
you're the best cook in town honey.
I'll go wake Keith, he's your best helper in the kitchen
Tobi sighed deeply and walked from her room up to the kitchen, it seemed so far away.
Normally the kitchen was only 20 paces past the sports awards on her parents wall, past her parents marriage certificate, past her dad's Fishing photos and past her horse riding snapshots.
But today, it seemed that her mothers kitchen was miles away and the usually soft carpet was thin and hard on her bare feet.
Her mother was right about one thing, her husband was her best helpmate.
The new railroad job started to take him away from home a few nights of the week and it was lonely without him.
So to help pass the time away she kept on cooking and baking.
An hunger pang gurgled under her ribs,
"and under the Spare rib too" she inwardly joked,
"you'll need more sugar for that" she quietly mouthed to no one in particular,
she clutched her growing tummy and felt the faint stirrings of life inside her.
this morning sickness feeling had her moods up and down like a roller coaster.
And what a ride it had been!!
Their first year of marriage and their new son was born just a few months ago.
Tobi jr seemed to know when his daddy was away and would fuss until he heard his mommy clanging spoons searching through the drawers.
she still breast fed him but had already prepared a small sippy cup for him to use in another year.
Another hunger pang growled and she started jostling the metal pans around and opening drawers looking for her measuring cups, Tobi always played a joke on her and moved a few objects around behind her back in the kitchen, an cute habit that lately was starting to annoy her.
the cooking oil was in the lower shelf and the other liquid ingredients in the refrigerator would need to be used soon, Real soon.
she looked at the small bundled package on the counter top and inhaled sharply.......
Each vehicle that passed without stopping sunk his hopes further into despair.
I've got to get home soon to my wife and her family.
Miles away his pickup got a flat and even the spare tire was low, and barely got him another 10 miles before it too went flat,
he could go the long way around and hopefully get a ride from a passing vehicle or else he could cut through theValley along the old service road and be home in 4hrs if he walked fast,
he looked at the approaching headlights off in the distance and thought deeply,
then turned his back to the main Interstate and cut across the field until he reached the first Gully that descended gently down to the Valley and then he made his way through brush another 1/4 mile to theValley road,
no one ever used that road, not since the county put in the new Blacktop on the Interstate route that he just left, but mostly long haul travelers and company vehicles drove that highway this late in the evening and none of them picked up hitchhikers,
his boots found packed earth as he climbed out of the ditch and he turned left and headed East,
after a few hundred yards he glimpsed a flash of light ahead and his heart joyed in the prospect that perhaps he could get a ride, but his heart sank Again when he realized that the flash was lightning,
a quick storm was coming and now it would take him even longer to get home to his wife and her parents,
tonight she'd be cooking dinner for all of them,
How he loved her cooking, how he loved her baking, how he Loved HER!!
they met young, married young, and had their first child young.
It was great to be living so close to his family, to his wife's family and close to all the people that he had grown up with all his life.
The lightning flashed again, closer this time and his mind raced ahead,
How far away was Nilsons old house?
a mile or 3?
His fast walk quickly became a measured jog and he shook his shoulders and wound his arms then settled into a steady pace,
hard to run in workboots but these he wore were comfortable,
a soft touch to his forehead, like her hands on his face in the early morning
then another to his cheek, and another and soon it was raining hard.
His steady running slowed to a tired walk and he measured the distance,
he ran almost 30mins at a good pace, Almost 5 miles.
the lightning lit up the field next to him and he saw a dark tall structure beyond,
Good timing.
I'll stop for awhile and rest in Nilsen's old place, he decided.
The front door was open, had always been unlocked since the family suddenly vacated the farm 10yrs ago,
He tried the lights, but no power.
He used to play there as a child, and from memory he walked the house and into the back store room.
On the bottom shelf he groped in the darkness for something......
his hands found an old rayovac flashlight.
He smiled.
it still worked, barely
And he made his way through the house, found the bathroom and relieved himself.
He decided to stay in the front room and sit on the sofa,
it was always a comforting place for him and he stretched out upon its cordoroy cushions,
searching the room out with the old flashlight he looked at the old paintings on the wall, Farm scenes and windmills, an old tractor and a stack of hay,
He glanced over at the kitchen area and saw dusty furniture.
Good memories this place had, As a young boy he played with his cousins in the front yard and had eaten many dinners at the kitchen table.
the storm outside was loudly drumming the rooftop of the 2 story house and he realized that he was very tired from running,
it wouldn't hurt to sleep awhile,
snapping off the flashlight he closed his eyes and relaxed.
He thought of his young son and how happy everyone had been when the boy was born.
All pink he was, with a cap of black hair, and tiny facial features and those eyes.
They were his eyes.
he smiled and sank into sleep.
the drumming of the rain became the soft clanging of pots and pans,
became the quiet conversation of his relatives in the next room and grandfather listening to his a.m. weather radio upstairs,
the musty living room odors became the soft lived in feel that each home has when people dwell therein.
"keith!!"
"Keeyyth!" his mother in law called out to him.
He just stirred in sleep and never answered, sons in law never did listen!!
She left him and went back to the kitchen and his wife slowly made her way to the front room where he slept,
She reached out and gently touched his arm,
he woke from his sleep on the sofa and sat up,
the regular house noises were gone and in their place
he could hear rattling noises in the kitchen
and the Lights were on, ever so softly.
When he arrived home earlier she told him that his son was sleeping so he showered away the diesel and dust from his hair,
Engine 209 used oil sticks that were bigger than her keilbasa sausages in the freezer, he'd unwrap them, 16 in all from their plastic sheathing, and slowly feed them into injection points along theEngine car,
ten of these foot long sticks of lubricant on the outside and 6 more from above,
he and his dad would finish the last 6 sticks while the engine was moving and every day they joked to each other that basically they were just riding an fuel drum that pulled stuff across the state,
He imagined that theTrain engine was an rack of lamb and he was injecting the fat sticks inside to keep it tasty, like what he saw his wife do at home with food she made.
He stepped out of the shower and could smell the sweet scent of spices and steak sauce in the air, in the bedroom he changed into clean clothes,
sat on the bed and put on clean socks,
yawning and stretching he stood up and moved towards the kitchen,
he fell into a playful mood and could hear her voice softly talking, she was on the phone with their neighbors down the road,
"I know, I know.
it's just brown sugar, paprika, cumin and black pepper but I just make it come to life with the bottle sauces,
Yes,....Yes I will mrs Schuman, He's a fine boy, that will be great for him."
he watched his wife, peeking at her slyly from around the corner and admired her face.
She looked up at him from the stove, peeking inside theOven to check the temperature of the meat and she flashed him that sweet smile.
"Dinner will be ready soon" she mouthed to him.
and he went back to theSofa to rest up.
Sometimes the isolation of the farm seemed too much for her especially when he and his dad were gone overnight but she seemed fine, had started to knit and was halfway through her first afhgan blanket,
white had always been her favorite color but lately she favored the darker moodier blues and deep crimson colors like the red pillow cover he now lay his head upon as he stretched out on their well used cordoroy sofa,
he wondered what the sofa would look like if she knitted a cover for it.
She gently touched his arm and he woke up.
The storm had passed and all was silent, it had only been 3hrs of sleep in this old farm house and he stepped out onto the porch,
he had to keep going on his way home, and would arrive after midnight, he
adjusted his boot laces and hopped off the steps and started to run.
He ran like HER husband did from the house that one dark night over 10yrs ago.
Something inside her broke and she cooked his newborn son in her oven after he had been absent 3 days from working,
after that, the farm was abandoned and no one ever used the place anymore,
no one ever stopped,
One night I was with my cousins and we headed back to our community using that old back road, I was in the front seat of the car and trying to sleep.
My younger cousin was speeding and we rounded a corner and saw in the headlights that the road ahead was dark,
All I saw was dark black shapes and then a dozen white eyes. Oh No....
Boom, boom!! and we stopped suddenly.
We had hit no less than 6 of farmer Loyds cows and veered off the road dragging a cow by the tail, In all the chaos of certain events, you sometimes find humor in what your mind catches happening around you.
We hit a herd of cows doing 70mph and this one cow is keeping up with us!! and she did it backwards too for about 50 feet.
her knotted tail got stuck on the front bumper, as I opened up my car door and got out she was frantically digging hooves into the dirt to get away, then she pulled herself free and took off.
a big clump of hair remained wedged between the bumper and the totaled front end.
My cousin was still sitting behind the wheel trying to start the engine,
"the wheels are bent, we ran OVER two cows!!" I said,
I looked in the back seat and 3 more relatives of mine were STILL sleeping, passed out.
After about 20mins we started walking East,
us Lakota aren't scared of much things in this world, and we stopped at the old abandoned farm to rest,
my drinking relatives passed out again on the sofa and I settled into a spot on the floor next to the sofa,
All food jokes aside and our absent mindedly calling out Food Orders to theHouse, it was an uneventful night. For I believe that what ever happens in homes or people's lives is part of what WE bring to such places and things.
I was more worried about facing farmer Loyd about his 6 dead cows and 8 more injured ones limping around than I was about seeing any ghost in that abandoned house.
But I too remember the sweet smell of food cooking as we all slept,
I too remember hearing kitchen noises and soft voices,
I too was gently touched on the arm from behind that night.
There are some things in this world that you can't explain
as to why they happen, but they did, they do and they will still happen.
---------------
Happy Halloween 2007
Next up, I'll tell you about my public safety career!!
Boo!!
luvs,
theSam!!
d:oO!!
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