Ronald Edward “ron” Daniels
| Publication year | 2022 |
| Pages | 0010 |
RONALD EDWARD “RON”DANIELS
YLD President
State Bar of Georgia
ron@danielstaylorlaw.com
Be Well
No one questions whether practicing law is stressful. It is. As we continue to be more open and honest about the stress associated with our profession and continue the conversation about lawyer wellness, it is important to remember there are many outlets for stress. For some, it may be a moment of quiet reflection. For others it may be spending time with family, friends or a beloved pet, collecting records, watching sports or even riding a Peloton.
For me, it's smoking meat (and sometimes vegetables or dairy) for long periods of time. Some people call this “barbecue” and other people believe barbecue can only be pork. Whatever you call it, the process of cooking over generally low temperatures for an extended period of time and imbuing food with smoke flavors has become my hobby. It's how I help deal with the stresses of our profession.
Axiomatically, this hobby can be very stressful. You may stay up most of the night making sure your fire stays at the right temperature. You may have to wake up before dawn to start your fire. Don't get me started on inclement weather and how you may find yourself building a makeshift smokestack from items found in your garage. Then there are things which are wholly out of your control— sometimes you've just gotten bad meat or produce. All of your work may come unraveling when you start to prepare the food for consumption.
And there are lots of varying opinions on the right way to do things. Is it really barbecue if you smoke a brisket? What's in your rub? Lump charcoal or briquette? Does using a pellet smoker really count? Do you sauce your meat? A famous barbecue chef, Harry Soo,[1] often says during his YouTube videos some of these questions will lead to a three-hour debate amongst pitmasters. I started watching Harry's videos not because of how many championships he has won, but because he always tells people to do what works for them; he's just showing you how he does it. As he says, he wants to teach people so they can spread love throughout the world through good tasting food.
I arrived at this hobby quite by accident. I never cooked a lot growing up and had never used a grill or smoker by myself until the summer of 2014. My wife gave me a kamado-style smoker for my birthday—I think because I mentioned at...
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