Page 36 - MAY 2020 Barbecue News Magazine

bbq coping
Coping with
COVID-19
Ardie Davis
aka Remus Powers BBQ Hall of Famer ardiedavis@kc.rr.com
How are you adapting to these strange, challenging times? Ordinarily this time of year we’d be full of ex- citement and plans for a new season of barbecue com- petitions and backyard barbecue parties. Many thousands would be eagerly anticipating another Mardi Gras on the River, the Memphis in May World Champi- onship Barbecue Cooking Contest. Instead, Memphis in May will be this fall and we’re hunkered down in stay- home mode, washing our hands frequently, wearing protective masks in public, keeping our distance from people in public, and taking other recommended pre- cautions.
Often, especially in times like these, I call to mind the 3-word sentence that resonated so much with my dear mother: “Life is difficult.” She read the Holy Bible many times, cover-to-cover. She read many novels, newspa- pers and magazines as well, but of all her readings, the sentence she quoted most often was the first sentence in Chapter One of M. Scott Peck’s book, The Road Less Traveled.
Even though our barbecue kingdom has been turned upside down by the deadly novel corona virus, we’re coping and we’ll get through this. Henceforth our life stories will be divided into pre-pandemic and post-pan- demic. Our pre-pandemic lives will always be part of our post-pandemic lives. We will forever remember and be influenced by friends, loved ones and mentors who have gone before us and upon whose shoulders we stand today. We’ll call upon what they taught us and channel their help when we need it.
We’ll get through this and thrive because, as we affirm every day, “We’re all in this together.” Although that phrase is repeated so often that some regard it as trite, its truth resonates in everyone. Our lives are interde- pendent. We need each other—yet, in this quarantine stay-home climate of social distancing that is contrary to every barbecuer’s DNA, what’s a barbecuer to do?
Sharpen your barbecue skills!
Add to your barbecue recipes and skills by purchasing and reading new and recent books as well as others that have been around for a while but are of timeless value. National Barbecue News contributor Doug Mosley re- views them this month and in years of valuable archived editions.
Laugh!
Laugh! Feed your sense of humor. Good humored artist and world traveler Jennifer Baer is spending some of her stay-home time creating posters to brighten our days. One features a silhouette of a surfer with TV re- mote in hand and the corner of a couch in the fore- ground with the tag line, “Surf Your COUCH.” Another one features a smiling swim suit-clad young woman in a large-brimmed yellow beach hat, hoisting 4 rolls of toilet paper as she stands in her full bath tub: “Take a Trip to Your Own BATHROOM.” Jennifer‘s posters can be purchased to adorn your stay-home habitat.
A friend in Wisconsin sent some humorous quips that are circulating in his email network and perhaps yours: • I used to spin that toilet paper like I was on Wheel of Fortune. Now I turn it like I'm cracking a safe.
• I need to practice social-distancing from the refriger- ator.
• Every few days try your jeans on just to make sure they fit. Pajamas will have you believe all is well in the kingdom.
• This morning I saw a neighbor talking to her cat. It was obvious she thought her cat understood her. I came into my house, told my dog. We laughed a lot.
• Singles Ad: Man with toilet paper seeks woman with hand sanitizer for good clean fun.
• My body has absorbed so much soap and disinfectant lately that when I use the bathroom it cleans the toilet. • Day 10 of Homeschooling: My child just said "I hope I don't have the same teacher next year." I'm offended.
• Still haven't decided where to go for Memphis in May-
BarbecueNews.com - 36
MAY 2020