The best of Dad... an update

There is nothing I enjoy more than recounting the strange and awesome habits of my Dad. I'm not sure if it's the fact that I'm getting older, or the fact that he's getting older, that accounts for the sudden abundance of material that leaves my sides hurting for hours at a time.

For example, I came home from work Monday evening and took the dogs out for a walk before dinner. My Dad has fired up the grill and taken his giant collection of chicken parts outside to roast them to perfection in the Eastern Idaho wind. Mind you, my Mother has told my Dad several times that she would prefer he not actually cook the chickens in entire halves, but chop them into their smaller parts. I guess there is something barbarian and appetizing in keeping these giant chicken body parts whole on the table that my Dad just can't resist.

Anyway, I left my Dad to cook and returned half an hour later. Resting in a covered casserole dish was half of the chicken bodies, charred black. Apparently, the flame of the grill had gotten away from my Dad and all but destroyed the chicken. Still hoping to salvage the meal, he merely got a few extra bowls from the cupboard and sat them at our plates, "the put the char in." I watched my poor parents dig through the torched skins and pick out the meat in the middle, my mother getting more frustrated every moment. At the end of the meal she simple stated to my Dad, "You better take care of that, or I will throw it away." And so he did.... he patiently peeled back the char and filled a tupperware container to feed the dogs with. It's still in the fridge, four days later.

My Dad is such a stud!