The Little Grey Cat

The little grey cat was seen for a split second between two black plastic garbage cans. As soon as she saw me, she was gone. I saw her about eight feet behind the cans, running away. Still young enough to be curious, she looked at me with light sparkling in her eyes. 

The alley and its garbage cans is all she has known. That and watching out for humans. The little grey cat will never be touched by my hand.

It's Late

I always leave the Formica covered accordion door open about 6 inches. I never know when the curious cat will check in. Tonight, it was sooner than later. I urged her onto the bed. No. She went behind the shelf and looked for the truth and her future in the crystal ball. She then made her way to the pilly brown La-Z-Boy. She loves to go behind it. There was an orange tote bag blocking her way. She dug inside as if to say, "what in the hell is in here and why is it in my path?" Then, she was gone. Downstairs in the dark.

Forest City

Almond Auto Parts was where my dad bought all of his car parts. It was about a mile from home and he was on a first name basis with everyone who worked there. Let me rephrase that, he bought almost every car related item he needed at Almond's. There is a place called Forest City. You may have seen the signs for it with a drawing of a guy with an unusually long neck. I don't know what that's all about. The closest Forest City seemed about forty miles away when I was a kid. You know how that goes. It was probably six miles or so. Forest City would have these sales with unbelievably low prices. A case of Oil for 6.99! Limit one per customer. Dad and I departed on our forty mile journey to Forest City early one morning. We went in and he bought his case of oil. When we got out to the car, he removed his navy blue jacket and put on a dark brown corduroy one. Then, he put on a pair of sunglasses. Lastly, he put on a dark brown Fedora. He instructed me to wait in the car and went back in. He came out with a second case of oil. I was really impressed. My sister would join him on subsequent trips of the same nature. Creativity, great sense of humor, and always ready to work on a car (or in my case, brush paint my 67 Dodge Dart and 70 Ford Maverick). That was my dad. I think about him every day. Daniel Thomas Shea Sr. would have been seventy-seven today.

The Pour Over

After a nice dinner, I asked my mom if she wanted some coffee. She said yes   and said that it could come from the half full pot that had been made this morning. I told her that I had brought my "coffee kit" from Chicago. The kit includes a ceramic pour over device, some #2 filters, and a small container of coarsly ground french roast coffee. It would taste a little different than this morning's coffee. After the explanation, she agreed that it sounded good and asked, "is that called a Bull Durham?" I said yes, a Bull Durham and started pouring.

Chili pie w/cornbread top

2 tbs of oil

1 medium onion

Two cloves of garlic

1 lb of ground beef,turkey or pork

Two tbs Worcestershire sauce

1 bottle Heintz Chili Sauce

2 heaping tbs mild chili powder(should be pure)

1 level tbs hot chili powder(pure)

1 level tbs cumin

1 level tbs oregano(Mexican is best)

1 tsp each salt and pepper

1/2 cup raisins

1 box Jiffy cornbread mix

Chop onions and garlic finely and sauté until transparent.

Add meat and sear it breaking it into very small pieces.

When meat is totally cooked, add Worcestershire sauce and cook while stirring for 5-10 minutes.

Add chili sauce

Add all other ingredients except raisins and cornbread mix.

Stir everything up real we'll and cook 10-15 minutes.

Remove from heat and prepare the cornbread mix per the package.

Stir in raisins(you can leave them out if you like).

Using large spoon, fill a standard glass or metal pie dish with the mixture.

Smooth it out and keep in mind you will need room to pour the cornbread batter on top. Pour the cornbread batter on top and spread evenly to cover. Cook in oven per cornbread mix instructions. Let finished pie stand for 15-30 minutes before cutting. 

Southport Ave.

I was literally starving. Another thirty seconds without food and I would have needed to lay down and wait for The Grim Reaper. I pulled into a 7-Eleven and got a deluxe sized beef jerkey. I had been in such hurry to get in the store, I hadn't really noticed what neighborhood I was in. I got in my car and made a right out of the parking lot. As I was sitting at the light, it hit me. I was a block away from where Teresa and I had lived in the early 90's. The apartment on Dover Street. Taylor's first home. The apartment where we found her in a basket on our doorstep. All bundled up and about the size of a loaf of bread. Taylor was the most beautiful baby. 

As I sat at that light on Southport Ave., getting ready to make a soft left north onto Clark Street, I was filled with the sweetest memories of Taylor in her early days. I remembered taking her on a bike ride on those streets. She sat up so nice and straight and observed everything. She was indeed "like little doll" as one lady had remarked in the thickest of Itallian accents. I also remembered the three of us going to a Cubs game. Taylor was so small. She slept on my lap for the whole game and jumped awake everytime something exciting happened. Then fell right back to sleep. After the game, we walked in a big crowd down Clark Street. As we crossed Addison, a bus actually rubbed against my arm as it drove by. It really didn't hurt me or anything but it scared the hell out of me. I was carrying my baby. What was wrong with that bus driver. I felt like handing Taylor to Teresa and going after him. 

In that apartment, we had a magnet of the Elvis stamp on the refrigerator. I had sideburns at that time and when I wasn't home, Taylor used to look at the magnet and say "Daddy".  

One night after I finished feeding her, she was standing up as I was holding her arms. I let go and she took her first step. That was exciting.

Those memories made me happy. As I was sitting through the green light, the guy in the car behind me, in the Chicago tradition began honking his horn. I sped away as I ate that jerky. My mini memory trip was over.

The Alley

 The garage sale was a block south of Fullerton in the alley that runs behind the east side of Western Avenue. The garages in this neighborhood are behind the houses and they open into the alley. I had parked near the end of the alley and had to walk down it about five or six houses to get to the sale. As I was walking, I came upon a house where a guy who looked like Charles Mingus was bent over the engine of a car doing some repair work. Two dogs came running up to the fence to bark at me. One dog was a large mixed breed with a lovable face and floppy ears. The other was much smaller and looked like a Jack Russell terrier. He was the boss. These two dogs were like the ones in cartoons where the big dog is goofy and not too smart and the little dog is very smart and in charge. They both barked at me loudly as I walked. Then, they began barking at each other. Finally, they started biting each other. A total fight. Mingus dropped his wrench and came to break things up. He got between the dogs and waved his right hand, yelling hyah!, hyah! It sounded like he was driving a team of mules. The fight was over. I was impressed. I continued on to the sale which was bad. Lots of children's clothes, VHS tapes and an old television.

As I walked back through the alley, I hoped for another dog fight where Mingus would yell hyah!, hyah! I loved that. I'll always remember him and his dogs.