Friday, January 13, 2023

Long Lonesome Detour: Use Your Words

Caramel Oreo Pie | recipe developed by www.BakingInATornado.com | #recipe #dessert 

Today’s post is a monthly writing challenge. If you’re new here, this is how it works: participating bloggers picked 4 – 6 words or short phrases for someone else to craft into a post. All words must be used at least once. All of the posts will be unique as each writer has received their own set of words. That’s the challenge, here’s a fun twist; no one who’s  participating knows who got their words and in what direction the recipient will take them. Until now. 

At the end of this post you’ll find links to the other blogs featuring this challenge. Check them all out, see what words they got and how they used them.

I'm using:  lost ~ highway ~ dark ~ metallic ~ rosy ~ laughter
They were submitted by Jenniy of Climaxed.
 
 

                          
"On a long lonesome highway, east of Omaha." 

Wait. Lost, not long? 

OK. Lost on a long lonesome highway, east of Omaha.

Bob Seger "Turn the Page" earworm aside, I gotta tell you, if you're looking for a long lonesome highway, west of Omaha is the way to go.

East of Omaha, well, way, way east, is "Boston you're my home."

For those of you not in the know, that's a quote from one of Boston's iconic songs.

There are a few songs well known as being associated with Boston. Not exactly complimentary, but . . . One of them is Dirty Water," sung by the Standells. It's about the not so clean Charles River: 

"Down by the river,
down by the banks of the river Charles."
"That's where you'll find me,
along with lovers, muggers and thieves."
"Well, I love that dirty water,
Oh, oh, Boston you're my home."

Yeah, we're super proud of that one.

And then there's "Charlie on the M.T.A." (the Metropolitan Transit Authority, Boston's subway system) sung by The Kingston Trio. It's actually a really fun, funny, and political song about a man who got onto the M.T.A. and due to price increases could not get off:

"Charlie handed in his dime at the Kendall Square station,
and he changed for Jamaica Plain,
when he got there the conductor told him "one more nickel," 
Charlie couldn't get off of that train."

"Did he ever return?
No, he never returned, and is fate is still unlearned, poor old Charlie.
He may ride forever 'neath the streets of Boston,
he's the man who never returned."


Boston may be a place of beloved dirty water and never ending M.T.A. rides, but it is decidedly not a place where you'd find long lonesome highways. Unless it's first thing in the morning on New Year's day. Which is where I found myself many years ago.

I don't remember the exact year, certainly long before cell phones, which would have impacted my situation greatly. I think that I was home from college for winter break, and staying at my dad's house. He and his wife were going on vacation, they were leaving at dark o'clock in the morning of New Year's day, and guess who was elected to drive them to the airport.

If you know Boston traffic (or can even imagine it), you'll understand why, on the way back, I'd mistakenly think that my 30 minute drive would be a breeze. Everything was rosy, had the highway to myself! No traffic congestion, no one merging at the expense of the life of others (me), no one weaving in and out of traffic. The revelers from the night before had made their way wherever, and no one in their right mind was awake yet. 

But what about someone not necessarily in their right mind?
 
 
Long Lonesome Detour | graphic designed by, featured on, and property of www.BakingInATornado.con | #MyGraphics #blogging

 

I had just started out,was cruising along in dad's big metallic land boat, radio turned up high, when a car pulled up beside me. OK, there was one other person on the road. But he looked at me, then he pulled behind me. And stayed there. 

I was concerned. So concerned that I was watching him more than the road, and missed the turnoff to the other highway that would take me home. By the time I figured that out, I was, well, who knows where.

I was lost. I needed to get off that highway, but was afraid to take just any exit, I didn't want to end up on any route where I may have to stop at a light, not with this guy behind me.
 
So I needed to get off that highway, and I needed to not get off that highway.

At one point he came up beside me again and was waving at me to pull over. Nope. Maybe he was a nice guy, wanting to buy me a cup of coffee. Maybe his plans included me sleeping with the fish in the dirty water of the Charles River (insert maniacal laughter here). I wasn't about to find out, after all, I had kids to make, sweets to bake, pies in which to partake . . . 



 
 Caramel Oreo Pie | recipe developed by www.BakingInATornado.com | #recipe #dessert
Caramel Oreo Pie
 
 


I kept driving, he kept following, and I started singing snippets of those 3 songs still jumbling around in my head.
 
(singing): Will she ever return, no she'll never return, and her fate is still unlearned . . . 

I'm happy to report that I neither ended up taking a long nap in the Charles River, nor suffered Charlie of the MTA's fate (but it was close). 
  
 (singing): "Charlie's wife goes down to the Scolly Square station,
every day, at quarter past two,
and through the open window she hands Charlie a sandwich,
as the train comes rumbling through!"

The guy followed me for a while, tried again to get me to pull over, followed me some more. At some point he took an exit. I, of course was still lost. And nothing was open.

(singing): "And you don't feel much like ridin', you just wish the trip was though.
 
Now I could get off . . . but where? 

My strategy turned out to be taking any route with a number I recognized, till I got to another route with a number I recognized, heading in a direction I thought I needed to go, until I eventually (miraculously) made it to my home town.

(singing): "You pretend it doesn't bother you but you just want to explode."


Although it had been a while since I'd seen the guy, I was spooked. I didn't want to go to dad's empty house, down a long lonesome driveway, (with woods on one side and backing up to the reservoir), so I went to Mom's. I parked the car in her driveway, ran into the house and locked the door. My 30 minute drive had only taken 3 hours.

Mom: Hi, I'm surprised to see you here.
Me: I'm just coming back from the airport.
Mom: Now? Their flight was hours ago.
Me: I took a little detour.
Mom: Oh, where?
Me: I kinda came home via Cape Cod.
Mom: Cape Cod???
Me: Don't ask. 
Mom: {{blink, blink}}.
Me: Got any pie?
 
 


Use Your Words, a monthly group writing challenge | developed by and graphic property of www.BakingInATornado.com | #bloggingchallenge #MyGraphics
 
 
Here are links to all the other Use Your Words posts:
 




Baking In A Tornado signature | www.BakingInATornado.com | #MyGraphics





 

Caramel Oreo Pie         
                                                                         ©www.BakingInATornado.com

Printable Recipe

Ingredients:
1 (9 inch) Oreo pie crust
3 egg yolks
1 can (14 oz) sweetened condensed milk
1/3 cup caramel sauce
1/2 tsp vanilla
6 Oreo cookies, crushed 
 
OPT: chocolate sauce, caramel sauce, and/or whipped cream for serving

Directions:
*Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
*Whisk together the egg yolks, sweetened condensed milk, vanilla, and caramel sauce.
*Mix in the crushed cookies. Pour into the crust and bake for 30 minutes. Remove from the oven carefully, the pie will be browned but the center will not have set yet.
*Allow to cool to room temperature before refrigerating. Once pie is cold, slice and serve topped with chocolate sauce, caramel sauce, and/or whipped cream for serving, if desired. Keep leftovers covered and refrigerated.


16 comments:

  1. That was some story and the recipe looks doable, even if I can’t have it. Good job. ❤️Donna

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Figures, the recipe is something you'd be comfortable making, and you can't have it.

      Delete
  2. This post gave me chills - because, for too many of us women, something like that has happened to us, one way or the other. The pie sounds really rich. It will be good for Pi Day!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yes, I'm so glad there are at least cell phones now, I could have used one back then.

      Delete
  3. Yikes! That doesn't sound like a fun trip at all.

    (And do you know there was another version of the "Dirty Water" song from the early 1980s where they substituted London for Boston? I think there also might have also been a customized promotional version where St. Louis was swapped in.)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Well that's interesting, I'd never heard it sung with anyplace other than Boston.

      Delete
  4. Dirty Water could also be the Mighty, Muddy Mississippi. The scientists say otherwise, but most people here call it cancer alley for a reason.

    It sounds like a very scary ride and i'm glad you got safely to your mother's place.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It was a miserable trip, but I can't tell you how good it felt once I knew I was getting close to home.

      Delete
  5. I've always had a good sense of direction, but when we moved here it was all skewed and since I rarely drive anymore I don't know my way around well. It makes me nervous.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I have the worst sense of direction no matter how much I drive.

      Delete
  6. That pie sounds so good. I hate driving because I get lost too easy.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I learned from this day long ago that even though I may get lost, I'll eventually find my way back home.

      Delete
  7. Love the sarcasm behind what the stranger's ill intent for you may have been. I've picked up female hitchhiker's I'm afraid to say, but never men. I kinda pick up legal hitchhiker's everyday according to My UBER job. I tell myself to believe in Humanity, sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. (sighs)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I'm surprised you come across that many. I can't remember the last time I saw a hitchhiker.

      Delete
  8. Love this little glimpse into Younger Karen's past life! What could have been simply an adventure took a bit of an evil turn with your cling-on, but so glad it all turned out well. With pie.

    ReplyDelete

Warning: Comment at your own risk. I have Comment Moderation, meaning I approve all comments before they show up here. So go ahead, I'm not scared!