Joe R.

If I knew for a certainty that a man was coming to my house with the conscious design of doing me good, I should run for my life. - Henry David Thoreau

[NOBUNAGA🇯🇵🏯_夏樹蒼依 @japan_nobunaga]

USA. A backyard. A man. A grill. Four hours.

He never left it once.

Everyone else drifted, drank, wandered, laughed.
He stood before the flames, turning meat with a long fork, immovable.

I knew him at once.
The keeper of the sacred fire.

I took my place beside him.
I said nothing.

This is the first rule.
You do not speak first to the man at the grill.

After a long while, he spoke.

"Low and slow," he said, eyes never leaving the coals. "You can't rush it. Rush it, you ruin it."

I bowed my head.

A blade. A tea. A life.
None can be rushed.

I had crossed four thousand miles of ocean to hear my grandfather's words spoken by a man in a "KISS THE COOK" apron.

"Everything worth doing is slow," I said.

I have never cooked meat in my life.
But I said it as if I had said it a thousand times before.

He glanced at me.
Something passed between us. A current older than language.

His voice dropped, low, almost ashamed.

"My wife says just use the oven."

He shook his head at the fire.

"She doesn't get it."

"They never do," I said.

And this is where the man transformed.

For the first time in years, he had been understood.
He rose to meet it.

His back straightened.
His shoulders set.
His voice fell half an octave.

A teenager reached for the grill.
He lifted one hand without even looking.

"Not yet."

The boy retreated. He did not argue. He could not have argued.

A woman asked when the food would be done.
He told the flames, not her.

"It's ready when it's ready."

Three people approached.
Three were turned away with a single word each.

By the fourth hour, no one questioned him.
The whole party had arranged itself around the man and his fire, the way a village arranges itself around a shrine.

Then he turned to me.
He held out the fork.

"Watch it a sec. I gotta pee."

I have stood at the gate of lords with a naked blade in my hand.
Nothing has ever weighed as much as that fork.

I did not move my eyes from the coals.
I did not touch the meat.
I did not know how.
I would not learn.
To learn would be to break the moment.

When he returned, I handed back the fork without a word, as one returns a sword to its rightful master.

He served everyone before himself.
He ate last, standing, still watching the fire.

We never traded names. We did not need to.

He believed he had finally met a man who took grilling seriously.
I believed I had finally met America's last samurai.

Neither of us will correct the other.
Not now. Not ever.

So I have made a vow.

Every summer of my life, I will return to this country.
I will find a backyard. I will find a man at a grill.
I will stand beside him and say nothing until he speaks.
And when he says "low and slow," I will bow my head as if my grandfather had spoken.

I will die before I tell him I do not know how to cook meat.

"KISS THE COOK," his apron commanded.

I have obeyed.
I will obey again.

[David Zagaynov @DavidZagaynov]

The sheer scale of a trillion dollars can be hard to comprehend. Let me put it in perspective. You would be able to buy 42 miles of high speed rail in California with that much money.

[Jacen @JacenSolo645]

@agraybee There’s no way this guy is doing anything useful

[richard @richard_normal]

good sketch here. very classic. good bones. great delivery. this is the kind of stuff they used to make on the internet. but not anymore.

[Woody P, WBS®️ @woodypanama]

Image has been released of the Special Forces soldier who bet on ops.

[Awni Hannun @awnihannun]

Adopting Claude speak in my regular life, episode 1:

Partner: Did you do the dishes tonight?
Me: Yes they're done.
Partner: Why are they still dirty?
Me: You're right to push back. I didn't actually do them.

[Joe R. @JoeRisko]

@CaseyMattox_ So what they have in VA is just sparkling redistricting?

[Joe R. @JoeRisko]

@Daisyaos @davidharsanyi @instapundit @Ahmed_Nashwan_ Absolutely none of what you point out can be laid at Israel’s feet.

[Joe R. @JoeRisko]

@BillboardChris That's the Joker.

[Jarvis @jarvis_best]

My god

[𝗗𝗘𝗔𝗗𝗦𝗢𝗨𝗡𝗗 💀 @DeadsoundApp]

Wow, not a lot of interest in this — clearly many of you have not accepted the newfound man and set the twilight reeling

[Roy Rogers Happy Trails Music Shop  @RoyRogers_HTMS]

Who can name the Female guitarist ?

[Dead AllOver ™️ @RealDeadAllOver]

Today on Dead AllOver Experience the #GratefulDead "All Along The Watchtower" from 8/11/87 in Morrison,CO. Be Kind & Repost&Share,it really helps & it's free.Follow here,Facebook & Instagram @ RealDeadAllOver. Become a Facebook member for full concerts & more,see homepage link for info.Enjoy the music & have a Grateful day! RIP Bob Weir
#rock #music #livemusic #BobWeir

[Dead AllOver ™️ @RealDeadAllOver]

Today on Dead AllOver Experience the #gratefuldead "Shakedown Street" from 12/31/1981 in Oakland,https://t.co/hA4sk35WCQ,comment & Be Kind & share,it helps & it’s free.Follow us on Facebook,X & Instagram @realdeadallover.Become a Facebook member for full concerts & more,see homepage link for info. Enjoy the music & have a Grateful day!
#music #livemusic #rock

[Empire State Building Observation Deck @EmpireStateBldg]

Tonight we will shine in tie-dye to honor the life and legacy of Bob Weir @GratefulDead

[Joe R. @JoeRisko]

@DougHenwood It's shorter to just say kulak. No need for "landlord class".

[KnightCziwi⚔️ 🇵🇱 @KnightCziwi]

Meanwhile in the ZOO in Poland

[Illia Ponomarenko 🇺🇦 @IAPonomarenko]

This. Is. Brilliant.

😆😆😆😆

Russian Z-fascists talks about Venezuela and the U.S., recorded just weeks ago.

This is essentially all that Russian war propaganda bravado and chest-beating is worth.