Lost Soul - The Ox - 1. Part 1

Yea, you're right. A bit of a tear jerker indeed. Eagerly awaiting the next chapter!

As an aside, I was completely flummoxed when you mentioned rag pudding. Having Googled it, I am now amazed I never came across it when I was growing up in the Manchester area, especially as my mother actually worked in the cotton mills when I was a child. Perhaps the reason was because, even though we only lived six miles from the centre of Manchester, we were actually in Cheshire, not Lancashire. But a favourite recipe of my mother's was steak and kidney pudding, which I suspect may have been the local variant of the rag pudding...

Unfortunately a lot of the back-stories will have those tear-jerking moments, but then for some it is the story of how they ended up on the street and homeless.

And yes rag pudding and steak and kidney pudding are just variants of the same dish, the main difference being that rag pudding was cooked in the oven wrapped in muslin cloth where the steak and kidney pudding was steamed in a pudding basin. I enjoy both but my favourite is steak and kidney pudding cooked to my dad's recipe (it's cooked in a Guinness gravy) I still have the recipe and cook it reasonably often, it's delicious. 

I always think it’s funny how many British foods never made it across the Atlantic to become common foods in the US. I’ve certainly heard of steak and kidney pie, but have no interest in tasting it – when I was growing up, my mother thought it was important for us to eat liver regularly, but in the Seventies, reports started coming out about the inadvisability of eating one of the filter organs and she stopped making it. Considering the percentage of people who claim English ancestry, we eat a relatively small percentage of foods that are specific to the Brits. Apparently, even English immigrants to the US abandoned native British foods (including mushy peas and warm beer) in favor of the foods their neighbors were eating.

And living on the Pacific Coast, my diet is probably much more influenced by Asian, Pacific, and Hispanic cuisines than, say, New England, the Mid-Atlantic region, or the Midwest. Southerners might not want to acknowledge it, but many of their foods are influenced by Caribbean and African sources. New Orleans was colonized by the French. Spain colonized Florida and Texas and there are remnants of that influence remaining.
 

I remember reading that the creators of boxed cake mixes could have included powdered eggs in the box, but the act of adding fresh eggs made the cook feel like they were actually baking a cake rather than merely reconstituting a factory-prepared concoction.
;–)

So it seems that the Major/the Ox was Gay-friendly long before he became homeless and met the boys.
;–)

11 hours ago, droughtquake said:

I always think it’s funny how many British foods never made it across the Atlantic to become common foods in the US. I’ve certainly heard of steak and kidney pie, but have no interest in tasting it – when I was growing up, my mother thought it was important for us to eat liver regularly, but in the Seventies, reports started coming out about the inadvisability of eating one of the filter organs and she stopped making it. Considering the percentage of people who claim English ancestry, we eat a relatively small percentage of foods that are specific to the Brits. Apparently, even English immigrants to the US abandoned native British foods (including mushy peas and warm beer) in favor of the foods their neighbors were eating.

And living on the Pacific Coast, my diet is probably much more influenced by Asian, Pacific, and Hispanic cuisines than, say, New England, the Mid-Atlantic region, or the Midwest. Southerners might not want to acknowledge it, but many of their foods are influenced by Caribbean and African sources. New Orleans was colonized by the French. Spain colonized Florida and Texas and there are remnants of that influence remaining.
 

I remember reading that the creators of boxed cake mixes could have included powdered eggs in the box, but the act of adding fresh eggs made the cook feel like they were actually baking a cake rather than merely reconstituting a factory-prepared concoction.
;–)

When I was in Vancouver recently I noticed that there was very little by way of British cuisine there, strange when you think that it got it's name from the amount of British who colonised and settled there. So it's not just in the states that your comment applies. There are many variants on Steak & Kidney pie, those that don't like kidney substitute it with mushrooms or just add more steak and some do like my dad used to do and make the gravy by adding Guinness or Ale to improve the flavour, either is good. There are many recipes to be found on the internet.

11 hours ago, droughtquake said:

So it seems that the Major/the Ox was Gay-friendly long before he became homeless and met the boys.
;–)

It looks like he was and there is still more to discover yet, so who knows what will come out. @droughtquake we have to remember that The Major was in conflict situations where you get to rely on those around you and become like a close knit family, maybe that is where he learnt to accept without judgement.

3 hours ago, Mancunian said:

When I was in Vancouver recently I noticed that there was very little by way of British cuisine there, strange when you think that it got it's name from the amount of British who colonised and settled there.

The Canadian flag does not include a Union Jack in the upper left quadrant like fellow Commonwealth members, Australia and New Zealand. In honor of James Cook’s ‘discovery’ of the former Royal Kingdom by a European, the Hawaiian flag incorporates a Union Jack – the white, red, and blue stripes represent the eight major islands. Captain Cook, Hawaii was named after a coffee company by that name that was located there within the Kona Coffee growing area. The community is near where Cook was killed for attempting to kidnap the King of Hawaii.

There is even less British influence in Hawaii than in British Columbia. The British, French, and US governments all officially recognized the Royal Kingdom of Hawaii, but that didn’t prevent each of the three from meddling. And neither France, nor Britain intervened when US and European immigrants revolted against the legitimate government with the illegal assistance of the US military.
;–)

Yes a tear grabber but also enlightening.

Thanks mancunian.

Thank you @KayDeeMac for taking the time to comment. Like many who become homeless the events that bring about their situation are never good, with support many can and do manage to get back into a good place in their lives but not all are able to do that. This is The Major's story, the events that brought him down, the times that kept him going and brought him to a new 'family' that hopefully helps him find his place in life again.

I suspected from what we learned about Ox in the second book, that he has been at least gay friendly for a very long time.  Bunny's death was very sad, and Andy letting Ox know he forgave him was very special.

2 hours ago, raven1 said:

I suspected from what we learned about Ox in the second book, that he has been at least gay friendly for a very long time.  Bunny's death was very sad, and Andy letting Ox know he forgave him was very special.

I think both are in need of some healing, that conversation is an important step in that process.

I loved the musical reference in this first book @Mancunian. I am not a fan of The Beatles at all, but I do like some of their songs when sung by others, Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds as sung by Elton being one of them. Bunny's name for Andrew as his "Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds" was very moving, and the fact that Bunny not only entrusted Ox with a letter to his love (perhaps a "farewell" love letter knowing death was nigh), but that Ox delivered the letter without hesitation or judgment to its intended recipient, is indicative of Ox's gay-friendly attitude and his integrity. What a wonderful "introduction" to Ox for Andrew. I hope this is the start of a friendship for both, although I fear it will be one which is short-lived given some of the revelations in The Boot - Three Years On. 

Being an avid Beatles fan I have to declare The Beatles version as the best, but I will agree that Elton does a very good cover version.

Having pet names for a loved one and being romantic isn't exclusive to straight relationships, it exists in gay relationships too and I like to show it. I'm happy that you see and like the normality of their relationship. Ox headed a tight-knit unit and 'adopted' his men as family, warts and all. He accepted his men for who they were, not how others wanted them to be and built trusting relationships with them. That is a part of life in the armed services, especially when in the theatre of war and conflict. Ox is straight, confident in his sexuality and comfortable in his skin, this has resulted in him being totally gay accepting.

I'm happy that you like this first chapter, thank you for your comments. 

A touching beginning to the Major’s story. I’m actually glad I won’t have to wait for next chapters condtantly. 😀

27 minutes ago, Lee Wilson said:

A touching beginning to the Major’s story. I’m actually glad I won’t have to wait for next chapters condtantly. 😀

The Major was, and still is, a man of depth and many talents. His men were his family and he loved them unconditionally.