I was stuck working. Saturday, however, I got over to Jim's place to have some beer and meat off the grill. It was supposed to be a bonfire, although, I ended up leaving early enough that I never saw flames, if they ever happened at all. Still, it was a good time. You get to see it in a (limited) picture time-line.
I worked on Saturday, but it was slow enough that I got to leave a little early. Melissa came up to me, and we left from my place to go down to Jim's house in New Brighton. We got there around 7:30 or so, but no one had really arrived yet. Something to understand is that Jim's bonfires are a kind of tradition. Almost every Saturday night you will find a group of people there hanging out and drinking. It's funny because sometimes you'll find 8 people, and sometimes there'll be some 50. It really depends.
Nick was there, and he was shucking corn. There was some sort of inane conversation about the word shuck and it's various uses. It's possible that it may become a "friend MEME". That remains to be seen. I introduced Melissa to Jim, Nick, Ryan and his girlfriend Sarah, whose name I'd actually forgotten, even though I've met her, and he's been seeing her for a while. I suck at names sometimes. It's almost embarrassing. Of course, I've known Ryan for a while, as well as his previous girlfriend (whose name I recall was Katie), but all throughout I've known Ryan, so hopefully I can be forgiven for not remember his girl's (who I've only seen a few times) name.
So, Ryan was already there, being one of Jim's roommates. Nick was there shucking corn he bought for too much, because, as conversation told me, it was probably out of season. I'm drinking Blue Moon with Jim, while Melissa is drinking Leinenkugels, however you spell it. So far, things are uneventful. However, at this point the beer has started flowing and things can just get better and better.
Slowly the food inched its way to the grills, though, the party stayed indoors for a while. Sarah (I think there's an 'h', I don't know how she spells it) was apparently going to make cookies (which I never got a picture of, but they were tasty as hell), however she discovered that they were out of granulated sugar. There was some discussion about whether or not she should just use powdered, which is of course the same thing, but much denser. In the end, it was decided that she would go to the store and buy some. So, she left after some people I didn't know showed up.
After a while we all sorta meandered out to the deck, where the grills are. It was still a while before the food went onto the grill, but we drank and laughed and had some more fun. It was a really windy day out, and by and large not the warmest out, but the beer helped some. We were in and out of the house for a while, as food was being prepared for the grill and small talk happened.
I handed my camera off so that someone could take a picture of Melissa and I together. I thought this one turned out pretty cute. The drinking continued. Ryan's younger brother, Justin, showed up and did some drinking as well. It was the first time I'd met the kid. He seemed like he was good people. Most of the time, if you're at one of Jim's bonfires, you're probably good people. There was rumor that Alan would arrive at some point bearing New Castle, but that never played out while I was there, so I continued to drink the blue moon.
Finally the food made it to the grill. Brandon and Nick took charge of making the food happen. Brandon is always an obvious choice, because, even if you can't tell it from talking to the kid, he never drinks. He makes a good "keeps people from burning themselves on the grill 'cause their drunk" guy, as well as a great sober-cab. He's also the "can't go anywhere without seeing someone he knows" guy, which can get a little annoying, though that has nothing to do with this story.
There was a fine selection of meats on the grill. All the corn ended up in the big gas grill, while the meat went over the charcoal. Everything turned out pretty tasty. At this point in the night I was pretty hammered. It was getting to be about 9:30 and I hadn't eaten but for a small amount pizza earlier in the day. We all ate, and at that point, knowing that I had to work in the morning, I took Melissa and I home. That was an interesting drive, luckily the food had done a lot to sober me up.
All in all, it was a good night, even if it was a little more short lived than most. I had a good time anyway. I love the summer traditions. I was glad I got out there since I couldn't have a real Memorial Day Barbecue this year, though I got plenty of invitations. It was still a nice way to kick off the summer as it were.
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