Southern Cuisine and a Fear of Being Late

Today was another lunch at Brandi’s World Famous Hotdogs. Brad Martin and I agreed to meet at Brandi’s at noon.

I am a compulsively early person. To me noon means leave the house at 10am for a fifteen minute drive.

Of course I am not that bad. I made my steps count, so to speak, and did a couple of errands on the way. I thought I would drop Anna’s sewing machine off at a sewing machine shop on Canton Road. When I got there I saw that they had a sign on the door that said they moved to Old Hwy 41 in Kennesaw.

Thinking that going on the detour to Kennesaw might make me late I decided to do the next thing on my list, deliver my second pair of glasses to the eye clinic to have them replace the lenses, which they called and said it the lenses have arrived and they were honoring the warranty on the glasses. I arrived and they took my glasses and said two people were ahead of me, it would be about an hour’s wait. I looked at my watch it was a few minutes to 11am. That might make me late for Brandi’s. I told them I would be back and left the glasses.

I drove by Brandi’s at 11:04. I decided I had time to drive to Kennesaw and put the sewing machine in the new sewing machine shop. I think I had the time. I did. It was just up the road a few miles. I delivered it and was back in front of Kennesaw Mountain by 11:20. I still I had plenty of time.

I visited the Kennesaw Mountain Civil War Museum. I haven’t been there in a long time. They rearranged some things and also added some relics. I bought a Kennesaw Mountain denim baseball hat then drove up to the top of the mountain. I went up quickly because signs instruct the walkers to walk on the left side of the road. When I turned around up in the top parking lot I thought, oh no! I am going have to poke along behind the walkers. They were directed by the signs to walk on the same side I will be trying to drive down. I might be late!!!

I got to the bottom a few at almost 11:45. I was parking at Brandi’s at 11:50. I had to kill ten minutes with nothing to read… I sit sat there like a bump on a log watching Brandi’s patrons come and go.

Then I saw a friend get out of his truck, Bill Ramply. Bill has a TV southern show about the south he is trying to get off the ground, which is good by the name of SOUTHERN COMFORT. I got out of the truck and talked to Bill. He was getting some hotdogs to go.

Then, my old schoolmate Brad Martin drove up. In school he was tall and when he walked up I said, “Brad, you are still tall and I am still short.” Some things never change.

We had a enjoyable meal and pleasant conversation, talking about Marietta and the people in it. You get around me and that is about all I know to talk about – Mariettans.

Brad is the worldly type. He has a written a book about the leadership of North Korea and has just about covered all of Asia as a journalist. He said he can speak several of the Asian languages, some maybe not affluently, but hey! I’m not even affluent in English.

I asked him could he carry on a conversation with any Asiatic country. He said yes. That is good. About the only language I think I am pretty good at is body language. I can nod my head up and down for “yes” and shake it side to side for “no” and hump my shoulders up for “who knows?”

Brad told me something his brother said which I never thought of before. Brandi’s spicy chili is better on Monday. It had all weekend to simmer and fester in itself. The more it lies there marinating itself the stronger and tastier it gets.

It was a nice lunch.

And my glasses were ready and I picked them up on the way home. All’s well that ends well.