Motown muse
March 6, 2010Jon Brooks Comments OffIntrepid blogger Mary Hannington writes about the perils of living in crime-afflicted Detroit.
Guns and the Weber Grill Wars (Vagabond Guru)
I don’t know if it was a trend unique to my city or if it was popular everywhere, but everyone I knew in Detroit had a Weber grill and we barbequed all summer. We cooked steaks, ribs, chicken, brats… roasted corn and potatoes. We still all do. BUT I don’t know anyone that has a Weber grill anymore.
I lost three of them. How they got the damn things over my six-foot fence I’ll never know, but they did it somehow. And in later years, as Slouchy NEVER emptied the ash until it was overflowing, I imagine it was a messy affair.
I had a friend who found his at a pawnshop down the street and convinced the owner that the intelligent thing to do was to let him take it back home.
After the third grill left the backyard at the Hannington compound I said, “Screw this!” I found a grill made by some artisan in his garage. A western type deal, it was welded steel with cast iron parts and had a little horseshoe that you could swing out over the fire and heat up a cup of coffee or some barbeque sauce and an overhead bar with various hooks that allowed you to hang pots of beans or other barbeque-like fare.
Not only did it look cool, but also there was NO WAY anyone was lifting that f**** over a fence!
I’ve lived in Detroit for over twenty years.
I’ve been a victim of crime…
Mostly, these “sprees” could be traced it to a new crack house nearby…
I’ve lived here for a long time and have played in this city for even longer and I have never REALLY been in fear of my life. At some point you get streetwise, you know how to fit in and people just don’t mess with you.
When you live here you become a part of a neighborhood and for the most part if you dig on folks in the hood, they will dig on you and let you do your thing. On the east side, where I am, there is Berry Sub, Indian Village and West Village, to the north is Boston/Edison and Brush Park and to the west Cork Town and Mexican Town….
