From Mark
OK here goes, every Texan knows that BBQ is life and life is BBQ. I’m a Texan who was born in Iowa and has lived the world.

Now, I live in Taiwan with my soul mate (BBQ loving Kathleen). So, with all these influences and in full appreciation of whom I’m striving to please. I decided to BBQ, so far, so good. Of course we live in a high rise appt building so my grill is no longer the outdoor kitchen we left in Plano. Instead it is a small Webber grill which I set on top of our clothes dryer on our back porch.

Well, tonight we decided to have lamb chops grilled. Kathleen and I worked together (she worked I was together) for the non meat part of the meal while I focused on the meat.

As I plated the meat a cacophony of sirens hit our ears. Kathleen announced “I have never heard so many sirens”. I said in jest “I hope it is not over our BBQ”.

Well, it was! First 6 firemen barged into our apartment flooding out of the two fire trucks they brought. Then they inspected my BBQ. We looked out over the street to see the fire hoses laid over the street to put out the clear and present danger. The firemen left so we settled back to our dinner.

Then, the aggressive knock at the door. It is the police this time. Along with the fire Marshall. Honestly, in Taiwan, when someone who has access to legal guns shows up to your door it is not a good thing. Since the Copper asked for and noted my green card I’m expecting that I’ll be expected to pay for the field trip of our local fire brigade.

Lesson learned:

Next time BBQ out by the appt. pool.

She Said, from Kathleen:

She (Kathleen) Says: Oops, here we go again, Anyone who knows me well knows that I’d rather eat Mark’s BBQ than anything else in the whole wide world. So today was a perfect day and how would you top off the perfect day other than by barbequing something. We were able to locate the perfect Christmas gifts for Mark’s parents today by 1:00 in the afternoon and we didn’t even start until 10:00. Plus the sun shined the whole day and it didn’t even rain. We got to take a long walk and ride our bikes to Costco. Really when you are fifty, traveled all over the world and been married for 30 years, it was an amazing day. Mark grilled lamb chops and I made the rest of the dinner. We drank some nice wine. Then we heard the sirens. I said to Mark, “Gosh, I haven’t heard so many sirens in a long time. I hope nothing bad happened.” We sat down at the dinner table and prayed. Is that a knock on the door? Mark said. Sure enough. I retreated into the kitchen, laughing. No fewer that 6 firemen in full firefighting regalia burst through our front door. Where’s the fire? Well actually, it was pretty much over by then. The lamb chops had already been served and prayed over. “Oh BBQ” the firemen all said as they paraded back out to the door. We sat down, still laughing and started to eat…another knock. This time the police were at our door. They wanted our ID and how long we lived in Taipei. I think that the police weren’t humored. We’ll probably be fined. Mark’s BBQ is always worth it. There is none better, excitement and all.

pps: from Mark, Got to say it was a great day. I'll leave you with some wise words from my favorite (and only) mother in law Donna Mae Whitaker "Be good, and if you can't, be careful"