On Grillin and Chillin

As I’ve talked about many times on this here blog, my apartment doesn’t have air conditioning. This means, that during the height of summer, even around 7pm when the world has begun to cool down to a perfect summer evening temperature…my apartment is just chilling around 92 degrees. Just the idea of turning on the stove or, heaven forbid, the oven, turns this humble apartment into a kiln that bakes a poor boy and his girlfriend into fragile simulacrum of human clay, ready to shatter at the slightest bump or jostle. On these sweltering nights, I thank the lord and our former neighbors and wonderful friends for leaving the hand-me-down grill they possessed in our care…because when it’s hot as hell inside and nice as hell outside, there is nothing better than sitting in the driveway and grillin while chillin.

We used to be like normal people, and grill in the little shared patch of dirt our apartment calls a yard…until our evil landlords decided that was too much fun and told us we couldn’t, because it was a fire hazard (it wasn’t). For a while we stopped grilling entirely, even though we loved it, because we didn’t want to get evicted…until a stroke of genius hit us. Why not grill in our drive way? It’s legally far enough from all flammable things, flat enough for a grill, and still on the property! It’s perfect (except for the fact that if you’re not paying super close attention when you’re backing your car out, you can knock the grill over and spill hot coals all over the ground but it’s fine, I sprayed everything down with water, we’re good)!

Additionally, now while I’m grillin and/or chillin, I get to live out my wildest white trash/King of the Hill dreams and nod and raise my Coors Lite at my neighbors as they walk by! But really, grilling in a place that isn’t as isolated and feels much more connected to the rest of the neighborhood is such a blessing. It’s a real joy to sit in a camping chair while the coals heat up and see the life that exists around us. Having a neighbor who I’ve never met walk by, only to be dragged into the parking lot by their adorable dog forcing us to meet for the first time is something that would never have happened were we still grilling in the patch of dirt.

Also there’s just something so Zen and soothing about grilling in general. It’s a process that can’t really be rushed. Things are going to take as long as they’re going to take, and as the grill master, you’re really the grill apprentice, just along for the ride. You do your prep work, you set things in motion and then…you just chill. Grab a beer, grab a sparkling water, and grab a seat as the pungent aromas waft around and grab you by the nostril like a cartoon pie seducing a cartoon cat.

So, what about you? Are you a grill master or would you rather cook from the comforts of your own kitchen?