I made an accidental discovery this past Saturday that had my brother and I laughing.
So first, let's rewind a bit to late Friday night. I'm chilling in our apartment's living room, watching some creepy videos on YouTube (Mr. Nightmare, for your info, and don't say I didn't warn you!) when I remembered what our plans were for supper on Saturday.
Barbecued ribeye steaks, baby potatoes and carrots. Mmhmm, sounded good to me.
So I ducked into the storage room where our freezer is and grabbed the steaks. 'Whoa, these suckers are big and have some serious heft to them!', I thought to myself. I placed them in the kitchen sink to let them thaw out overnight before I'd prep them for cooking in the afternoon.
By the next day, it was time to start the seasoning and enhancing process. I tear into the package of steaks and marvel at the size of these beauties; great-looking ribeyes, with just the right amount of fat scoring. I reach into the package and pull them out to place them on a platter, and I....wait, what's this under this black piece of liner paper? Are those, wait, are those two OTHER steaks?!?
Yes, they were. Unbeknownst to me, this particular package contained four very sizable ribeye steaks when I originally assumed that there were just two. I showed them to Brendon, and the both of us just laughed. If ever there was a happy accident, this was one of them. They too were thawed out like the ones up top, so they went on the grill as well. Cooked medium rare, with just the right amount of seasoning to bring out the full flavor of the meat, and paired with baby potatoes (locally grown!) and carrots.
My friends, that is good eating.
They were the first steaks I've grilled since Brendon and I moved here to Outlook last September. See, it was all about the timing involved with the move. We moved during the Labor Day long weekend, and we were too tired and preoccupied with the move that cooking on the BBQ was kind of the last thing we were thinking about. Then, it seemed like before we all knew it, the cool weather had started to settle in and BOOM, winter had arrived.
Barbecue season over.
But now that the snow has finally shoved off for the season, things are really greening up, the air seems fresher, and people just have more pep in their step now that spring has arrived. With that, I once again got the grill going, and indeed, we enjoyed our steaks this past Saturday night.
Standing out on our balcony as the meat sizzled and seared, I couldn't help but smile at the things that await me over the next few months. After all, this will be my first spring and summer as an actual resident of this town, and let's be honest, the dynamic has certainly changed. No longer am I a guy who simply drives to Outlook very often for work and then drives back home to Conquest. Instead, I'm a guy who works and now l-i-v-e-s in Outlook.
Here's the way I look at it. For the longest time, I felt like an outsider looking in at all the goings-on in this community. Because for one, I literally WAS someone looking at everything going on in Outlook because it's my job, but I also felt like a daily visitor because Conquest was my home. It always felt like I was someone on the outside looking at things that are happening in this community. Now that I actually live here now, I feel a lot more significantly connected to all the happenings that are taking place all around me.
I'm very much looking forward to the next little while for a litany of reasons.
I'm looking forward to going for walks around town and seeing not only other people on this street or that, but also the abundantly high population of deer that like to stroll around Thomson and Semple Street.
I'm looking forward to grabbing my current reading material, something cool to drink and parking myself on one of the benches at the Veterans Memorial Park. I'm telling you, folks, on a warm afternoon, those benches at that location just look so inviting, and I never see anyone using them! Although, maybe after just saying that, people may pick up on the idea. Damn, me and my big mouth.
I'm looking forward to the events that are coming up in this community over the coming months. The Prairie Festival at the end of May is going to be such a memorable time, with a laundry list of activities and things to see and do. My family is so excited to witness the reopening of the Bounty Theatre, and I'm looking forward to seeing another energetic, kick-ass show by Outlook band Bad Influence. Add to that the multiple food trucks, a classic car show, and the presence of alcohol, and who wouldn't be looking forward to a weekend like that?
I'm looking forward to Canada Day on July 1, which this year actually manages to fall on a Saturday. Now, truthfully, Canada Day is always a hectic day for me because I sometimes feel like I'm being pulled in nine different directions, but on the flip side of that coin, it's what I like to call being "good busy". Lots of things to see and capture with my camera gear, and lots of things to see and enjoy on what is routinely my favorite day of the year.
I'm looking forward to all of it in my first warm weather months as a new 'Outlooker'. For the first time in a long time, I'm much more happy and positive, and I truly believe that it's because of the environment of which I now surround myself.
Now if you'll excuse me, I have another steak to eat that's waiting for me at home.
For this week, that's been the Ruttle Report.
