Limbo II - BBQ and Deflated Balloons
In 1982 snail mail to Thailand lived up to the name and
airmail would take 10 days to 2 weeks or more. Even phone service between the
US and Bangkok was not a given, pretty expensive and only for extreme
situations. In any case, most communication was handled through the mission
office so exactly what our visa situation was and how long we would need to
wait before we headed to Thailand was a mystery to us. But once we moved out of
our house in August, we were homeless. What would we do as a young, somewhat
newly married couple without a place to stay? Depend on parents of course!
Fortunately, both sets of our parents were supportive of us
going to Thailand and seemed not to mind us staying with them. We bounced
between Marcia’s parents in Cleveland, OH and Duane’s parents about an hour
south in the Akron, OH area. It was a good life with a solid roof, free food, a
soft bed, limited responsibilities and no bills to pay. It makes me wonder why
I ever left home in the first place! Aside from a few church visits, life from
August to November was a series of family farewells as well as farewell
gatherings of friends and former work colleagues.
Duane’s dad liked to bar-b-que chic
ken over an open fire. He
would made a grill out of whatever was around, build a fire and grill away. He
could make these BBQ pits large or small and would be the chief gill maker and
griller for many a church gathering. He had a particular sauce he would make as
well. Sour, with lots of mustard I guess, but I don’t think there was ever a
real recipe and I’ve never seen any other sauce quite like it even here in
North Carolina which is known for it’s sour sauce. Wherever it came from, we
have always liked it.
The official Binkley family send-off bar-b-que was in August
shortly after moving out of our house and there’s Dad at work over the grill in
the photo. In the midst of the grilling, chilling, eating and chatting a couple
hot air balloons came drifting overhead. While not an everyday occurrence, it
is not uncommon to see hot air balloons flying in that part of Ohio. But these
balloons were only slightly above the tree tops and that was unusual. We knew
there was open space a street or two over from the Binkley abode so we guessed
the balloons were heading there to land. Dropping our chicken bones, we headed
to the cars to chase the balloons to see what happens when a balloon lands.
We had to go a field or two further than we thought we
would, but we did catch up to the balloons. In fact, one was still inflated so
we could admire how large it was. As luck would have it, the particular field
where the balloons landed is also the field where they fly radio-controlled
airplanes and being a nice, summer day in August, there were several people
happily buzzing and zipping their model planes all around. Most of the model
plane flyers landed their planes and kept them on the ground when the balloons
arrived. However, one fellow thought it
might be fun to fly his plane around the balloon. So as we were approaching the
balloon, we could see the plane zipping and zooming all over and around the
balloon. Admittedly, it was kind of fun to watch until suddenly, the pilot
misjudged something and “rrrriiip.....” into the side of the balloon went the plane quickly
followed by plane debris exiting the other side of the balloon in pieces.
While that particular family farewell had some unique
“entertainment” with the deflating balloon, we truly did appreciate all the
gatherings we had and the family support and encouragement they represented. We
were eager to get underway, but if we had to wait, it was an enjoyable way to
do it.
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