Fort Texas

As soon as in-service got out on Tuesday, I escaped to the Chili Parlor Bar down in Austin. I keep an apartment above it for occasional escapes. Loosey’s Chili Parlor and Saloon is a hangout for retired teachers and veterans of the Amish Civil War. I go there for the dominoes and the free peanuts. The women that come in are from former Senator Charlie Wilson’s staff, and have a wit that would charm even the Ayatollah. They keep a television on in the corner with the Home Shopping Network on that no one is watching.


Behind the bar they have a poster of Bob Will’s. I sit at a table in the back with Tom Wait and Guy Clark playing dominoes. The bartender is a refugee from the Amish Civil War, and always greets me with a stare of a person who would like to see me lost in west Texas.

I and the boy’s always have a plate of chili fries at the table covered with jalapenos and ketchup. Although Wait and Clark drink Mad Dog Margarita’s, I drink Momma’s Sweet Tea.

Wait always greets any new woman in the ‘Parlor’ with, “Don’t you feel more like you do now than when you came?” They scratch their head just like you are doing now.

It is there at the Chili-Parlor that I spend my first week of summer vacation, so do not panic if you can’t find me up in Iowa.