No meat eaters, eh? I was serious about fund raising ideas, especially since the non-profit aspect and raising money to buy parts/home on wheels, etc. But if you've never been to a chili cookoff, or if you have and it was a bad one, this isn't in your experience. They can be a lot of fun.
I decided to post my text here relating to the previous post as I guess it was too hard the other way.
This Book That I Should Write
by Christine Logan
The Texas men searched for chili
But all they found was stew.
They thought a while, the answer clear,
We'll tell a tale or two!
But first they had to change the signs
The powder men had painted.
For if truth be known,
those Mexicans would be sainted.
One hundred years after the powder men,
The parlor door swung open.
Butts on the stools ordered up bowls
and piled them with crackers broken.
They then complained a spoon was needed
and too much grease in spices heated.
“Why don't you know this bowl's a sham?”
The stranger shouted, bowl in hand.
Mickey did not skip a beat,
He removed the bowls, removed the heat.
Pointing at the door, just said “now bounder.”
The Texans stood up, eyed the man.
One spoke and said, “Sir write this down,
It's you who'll soon be run out of town.”
Hired studio men built their shack,
A feeling of time travel to places back
A western world saloon and doors
The place did not ambience lack.
It stood on a corner, in plain sight
a feel of western, cowboy's delight.
I planned to go there yes I did,
Swing past the doors and settle in.
I drove there then not far away,
I found it gone, they did not stay!
I hereby say, come gather round
and I'll tell you why those boys left town.
The bowls proclaimed “best and delicious”
Burbank chiliheads called the claim fictious.
LaMere's patrons tried the Texas fare,
At the place down the street
from their normal source heat.
Those strangers had claimed
an achievement of meat
prepared with spices no one could beat.
They were hungry and ate
but then left notes on their plate,
on sawdust floors and bathroom stalls.
They even pinned them to walls.
They had enough of talk untrue
and spat out that chili hard to chew.
The chests of the parlor men appeared
larger than before
as they sat before Mickey
and relayed this lore.
They claimed no bullets then were needed,
the truth was all they had,
along with tastebud lie detectors,
they marked that chili sad.
The time has come now long at last
to teach men the nature of true chili's past.
I expect a fight, some spit and spatter.
Broken ladles and thrown items clatter.
Business men have much to lose,
their stake to fame is what they chose.
Secrets hidden deep within,
the twisted tales, the fun of spin.
Like me who threw a book afar,
reading may make you want to spar,
for beliefs and views are quite the thing
which build emotions and form fighting.
Best we fight with dripping spoons
and forks laddled with the treasure
In the end its the red dragon's breath
that truly is the pleasure.
So come bring your pot of simmering heat
and offer me a bowl,
In turn I'll laddle mine for you, two smiles
two bowls, two blessed happy souls.
DISCLAIMER: But we just might end up throwing our bowls at each other and walking away ....
Copyright April 2019 by Christine Logan, All rights reserved. Written permission required for duplication/reprint.
