THE RED SOFA: COOKING OVER AN OPEN FIRE (Dutch Oven Lasagna and "Hobo Stew")

The Flats serves as our moat. The area above us boasts the highest crime rate in the city. Meth houses abound; children run loose and reckless about its streets.

We pass through there daily to get to the “outside world,” and often our “neighbors” come down to the Crossing too. They come with enormous Rottweilers, heaving against their chains or sometimes strolling casually and unleashed with their owners. The children of The Flats ride bikes down to our neighborhood to get to a favorite swimming hole. I call them the Potty Mouth Brigade because they know more dirty words than I do and call them out frequently in loud child voices. Still, they are only children. We’ve bandaged their legs when they have fallen off their bicycles, hugged them when they cried after finding a dead dog in the bushes, and pretended not to notice when we’ve looked out our windows and saw them stealing fruit from our trees.

Sometimes those from The Flats steal things from us, like lawnmowers, papers with our personal identification information from our mailboxes, and once a car belonging to one of our beloved teenagers, Brook. It was an inexpensive little Toyota circa late eighties with a little hula dancer on the dash that swayed with the movement of the car. Brook and Concetta drove up and down the streets of Felony Flats looking for the car with the little hula dancer. When they found it, policemen had surrounded the little blue car and had the thief and his girlfriend in handcuffs. They had spent the whole day joyriding. The car was returned, hula dancer and all.

People dump garbage in the grassy area above our neighborhood--big piles of discarded furniture, automobiles, and children’s toys. These discarded items reek of lives in disharmony. “Pigs!” we yell at the piles of garbage as we drive by. There is a particular railroad underpass that when we drive beneath, we cross ourselves. It possesses an eerie, evil feeling. We sense that horrible things have happened in its dark shadows. Often cars are parked here, engines running, lights off, their passengers apparently engaged in activities they don’t want the world to witness.

Once, in early summer, someone dragged a big red sofa down the tremendously steep embankment from The Flats to the river. I jogged by there each morning and there was new drama every day. First there were the revelers–a group of about five large, tattooed men sitting on the big red sofa, a big bonfire flaming in front of them, drinking beer and playing ‘70s hard rock music on a boom box. They partied down on the banks for three days. Some homeless teens moved in next. They slept there at night and disappeared during the day.

We all got together and decided to haul this sofa away from the river. This would require packing it an eighth of a mile down a very narrow trail and into the Crossing, where it could be loaded onto a truck and taken to the dump.

I went down to see the sofa after work one day, knowing the sofa-evacuation project had been planned and was to be executed the next day. But now someone had put the sofa halfway into the river and the sofa was waterlogged. It was now way too heavy to carry!

The next day the sofa was gone. Someone had pushed it into the water and the current carried it away. At the end of summer, while picking blackberries four miles downriver, I found its battered remains scattered about the shore.

I set on a log for a while just thinking about its journey to this place. All the while, the river’s current sang to me sweetly. Inside me, bones shifted. I think to my self, “That’s not me. It’s a red sofa.”

We may not want to think it could happen to us. Our fear of losing our ability to pay bills, our sanity, the organized appearance of our utilities drawer. Sometimes you have to admit that there is a freedom that comes with it too.

My Papa Milo road the rails during The Depression. Those were hard times. He made what he called "Hobo Stew" over an open fire. In my childhood, he'd recreate this dish for us (on a stove) and tell stories about this reckless, frightening adventure, when he and Don Riddle at the age of fourteen roamed about the U.S., searching for work. You could tell that despite what must have surely been a harrowing time, he kinda dug it.

Maybe that is one of the reasons some of us are drawn to camping. It gives an opportunity to temporarily remove ourselves from the many responsibilities of the civilized world. Something about watching a fire, shivering a little in the night air, cooking our food in a manner similar to the way our distant ancestors did thousands of years before. It is an opportunity to contemplate all you have to be grateful for. Sing a Janis Joplin song about "having nothing left to loose." Cook a good hot meal. Invite some friends to join you.

However, when you’re had your fill, I recommend you get your butt back home where it's safe, comfortable and your responsibilities wait. Ultimately, there is no utopian freedom, just a different set of strings to attach yourself. Don't be lured into this sad enchantment. None of us really want to be the red coach floating down a river in spring.

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I've cooked a lot of food over open fires or coals. This vegetable lasagna is a pleaser.

LASAGNA COOKED OVER HOT COALS

Ingredients

• 1 package no-boil lasagna noodles

• 15 ounce full-fat ricotta cheese

• 1 egg

• 2 cups shredded cheese mix- I like a mix of cheddar and mozzarella

• 2 cups fresh baby spinach

• 28 ounce jar of your favorite pasta sauce

• Cooking oil

• A dutch oven or cast iron pan with a good lid..

• About 30 hot coals and a prepared fire pit. Dirt, cement or stone foundation, surrounded by rocks and far away from grasses, shrubs or other flammable items. The key is to surround the pan with heat so the lasagna cooks evenly.

Use a dutch oven or heavy cast iron pan with a good top. Heavily oil the sides and bottom to prevent sticking. Begin with one cup sauce, followed by layer of lasagna noodles. Spread a layer of the egg and ricotta mixture. Add another 1/2 cup of sauce. Followed by 1 cup of fresh spinach and 1/3 of the cheese. Continue to layer until all ingredients are gone. Ending with sauce and cheese.

If cooking over coals, use 10 hot coals to create a bed for your dutch oven. Once the lid is secured over your assembled lasagna, place another 18-20 coals on top of your dutch oven. (One option is to turn the lid up-side-down and fill the center of the lid with coals.) Cook for 30-40 minutes. Cooking time will vary depending upon how hot your coals are. You will know when it's done when the sauce is bubbling and cheese is melted. You can also cook these in a Big Green Egg or other BBQ. This is a simple recipe, but the dutch oven and the use of fire make it exceptionally delicious.

"Hobo Stew"

My dad cooked this in a tin can when he was riding the rails during the depression. I recommend using a foil packet. Thank you modern conveniences.

Use your own favorite vegetables.

Here are some possibilities

• Onions

• Garlic

• Baby carrots

• Corn

• Peas

• Green beans

• Mushrooms

• Cherry tomatoes

• Baby potatoes

• Cut sweet potatoes

Favorite seasonings

• Olive oil

• Fresh rosemary

• Fresh parsley

• Ketchup

• A splash of soy sauce

• Optional Precooked hamburger or sliced summer sausage

Cut up vegetables into bite sized pieces. Place on an 8- inch long sheet of aluminum foil. Place 1 cup of mixed vegetables on the center of the foil, add a small amount of precooked hamburger. You can use put the aluminum foil into a small bowl to create a nice form for your vegetables or do it free style. Fold sides of the aluminum foil into the center and fold securely to create a strong "seam." You can put these directly into the coals, on a BBQ or place on a baking sheet and cook in the oven. They are done in about 30 minutes, when vegetables are tender.