The greatest thing about living in California was being able to grill every day – because it’s nice every day!  Well, here I am in Ohio and my neighbors are all focused on the summer being over.  They’re talking about putting their grill away,  tuning up the snow blower, putting the porch furniture in storage, getting a new leaf blower and I’m looking like a deer caught in your head lights!

I’ll put the furniture away and I’ll look at snow blowers, but nobody touches my grill.  I’m going all winter long and once a week at least the grill is going to get fired up and I’m going to stand outside, winter parka and all and grill a hot dog!    I may live in the midwest, but that doesn’t mean I have to act like it!

Last year at Hallmark Institute there was a student who went the entire year wearing his sandals and I couldn’t help but laugh over the pain of walking to class in flip flops when it was ten degrees outside…in fact, I thought it was the dumbest thing I’d ever heard.  Well, here I am taking the same stand with my grill and suddenly I have new found respect for Tucker Stokes from Alabama and his quest to keep his identity through a New England winter.

Hear that Tucker – you’re my hero!  And when I’m out there in my Tommy Bahamas in January with my neighbors all laughing at me – I’ll think of you for inspiration!

Okay, so shoot me – it’s not one my most poignant posts, but it does make a point about keeping the passion for things we love alive.   For me there are few things in this world better than a slightly burnt hot dog right off the grill in the middle of January!