(Written last Saturday, the day of Nana Kay’s funeral)

This morning I realized I had a pork roast now on its fifth day in my meat drawer.   Still having snippets of last week’s “Pioneer Woman” cooking show in my head, I decided to make pulled pork. Sans the soda pop.  I cook my pork with a swagger.  In other words, I drown that sucker in beer.

Somewhere between the onions, cumin, red pepper and my bottle of Shiner Ruby Redbird, I wrestled with a moderate tinge of guilt.  I rectified the situation by confessing my sins to P-Dub over the Twitter-nets:

“I dearly love @thepioneerwoman but I cook my pulled pork in Shiner Ruby Redbird beer! #notsodapop”

I had cleansed my cooking soul and finished that beautiful dish with a bang.  Suh-weet Maui Onion, that pork was delicious.  I wanted to savor at least five more mouthfuls but my heart was turned westward, toward our dear neighbor’s house.

“Nana Kay,” my next door neighbor’s mother, died two days ago.  Their last name is Red.  Sometimes I called Nana Kay my “Ruby Red Dress” when she wore Red. I have a photo of her sitting on her red scooter, rooting for her favorite football team – the University of Oklahoma Sooners. School colors on her sweatshirt?  Red and white, of course. And, she was wearing red lipstick and rouge.  The oxygen tubes assisting her breathing were constant reminders that she wasn’t well.

I’m going to miss Nana Kay, and I’m sure my next door neighbors are heartbroken right now.

So, I decided to take them some pulled pork, cooked in Shiner Ruby REDbird beer. I searched my cabinets for a disposable container with a red lid.  I was packing up half of the pulled pork into a container for the Reds when I received a text notice.  I checked my phone.  It was P-Dub.  She had Tweeted:

“@RedDirtKelly I dearly love you too, and that’s all I have to say about that.”

Then I forgot about my cooking and got excited. Suddenly becoming  thirteen years old I sent @thepioneerwoman two more messages for good measure. Then I wrestled with a moderate tinge of guilt having just committed cyber-overkill. 

I rectified THAT situation by re-reading the one message I got from P-Dub three more times.

That was this morning.  But now it’s “tonight.”

I had meandered into the kitchen, grabbed a Ruby Red Grapefruit and was halfway though preparing it for a snack when suddenly all the rubies and reds of the day culminated into a warm, crimson glow in my heart.  I silently thanked all my fellow man and woman-kind in Texas for that precious citrus fruit I enjoy every year about this time.  I silently told Nana Kay that I was going to miss her and I hoped she was okay.  And, I thought about the Red’s upcoming Valentine’s Day breakfast they always throw for the neighbors.

This year would be a little different, with one less Red around the table.

I cracked open a bottle of Shiner Ruby Redbird Beer, toasted Texas, P-Dub and Nana K, and headed to bed.

Sweet Dreams, Nana K.  I’ll think I’ll wear red lipstick tomorrow, just for you.

***

[kelly]

 

 

Comments

comments