One Friday afternoon during early July, I walked up to my glowing house on my way home from fishing. With the sun shining off of my sandy blonde hair, I put my hand on the icy cold door knob to go inside. When I walked in, I got punched in the face with an amazingly delicious aroma. But I worked my way through the doorway, I saw my dad’s spiked up, black hair the sun glistening off his glasses, and my uncle combing his dark brown hair back as he walked into the kitchen with my dad who was already in there. I looked at what my dad was doing, and he was throwing this mysterious and slimy, mushy food that I have never seen before into a mixture that looked like the sandy beaches of California and then dropping it in the fryer. When he dropped the food in the fryer, it sounded as if you were popping fresh popcorn on a stove top. I was trying so hard to find out what this food was, but I didn’t have a single clue what it was he was cooking. I asked, “What’s the occasion, Pops?”

“We’re having the family BBQ, remember?” he replied

“Of course,” I said. But really I completely spaced the BBQ. You see, the family BBQ is at a different person’s house every year, and this year it was at our house. “Who’s all here?”

“Just your Uncle Jim and Aunt Susie,” he said. So I ran upstairs to take a shower and change for the BBQ. My whole family was coming to this thing, so I wanted to look presentable for them. Out of all of my family, my cousin Tyler was the one I was most excited to see because we are the same age. Well, I’m three weeks older than him, and don’t think I ever let him hear the end of it, either. Every chance I get, I always remind him of who the “elder” is. Well, anyways, we grew up together and we have always been close. We have some great memories. Like this on time we both went outside to look for a hunting spot for the following week, and we got stuck in the mud for two hours. It was exhausting Tyler is a little bit overweight and has light, light brown hair; it’s almost blond like mine, and he has light blue eyes just like me.

Once the first car showed up, everyone was pouring in the driveway. But, I still had that food in my mind and could not wait to eat it. Once everyone got there, my whole family, even my dad and uncles and all of my cousins, played a huge game of football while my mom and aunts were setting up the dinner table. The football game is kind of a tradition in my family at my family BBQ. I always have a blast at our family BBQ's, but the only thing that could make this one better was trying that amazingly good looking food my dad was cooking earlier. After about an hour of playing football, it was time to eat. My cousins, brothers, and I all ran to the table to get the seat at the end of the table, that we all call the “King's Seat.” my dad got the chair on the opposite side of the table so there was only one winner. To make sure it was me that won, I got a head start to assure that chair was mine. I am the youngest out of everyone, well, besides Tyler, of course. Finally, after what seemed like running for miles, the king seat was all mine. Now it was time for the “King” to dig into that new food that my dad was cooking earlier this morning. We had every food you can think of from crispy fried chicken all the way to milky mashed potatoes. The aroma swept me off my feet, you know kind of like the cartoons and all. The aroma was unbelievably amazing. My plate was full of everything; it looked like a mountain made of food. The last thing I got was the amazingly good looking food. I grabbed a piece and brought it to my mouth, full of fear. I took a bite. The texture felt like calamari, but the taste, the taste was 100 percent wonderful. I asked my dad what this mysterious food was. He laughed and said that it was rattlesnake. At first I was a bit skeptical, but I figured that as long as it tasted good it doesn’t matter what it is. Now I know to be opened minded for all food no matter what it is or looks like. This was the first time that I have ever eaten rattlesnake. Now, every time I eat rattle snake it brings back the memory of a life time, the time I ate rattlesnake. This was the first time that I have ever eaten rattlesnake and no where near the last time I would ever eat it.