The Art of the Brick

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the PlaCes

You’ll Go

Mask

My father inherited a number of remarkable traits from

his adoptive Lebanese American parents. One was an

enthusiasm for Lebanese cooking: falafel, kibbeh, and

infinite variations of barbecued meat. To this day, my

dad, Dick, likes to construct elaborate meals from a

battered, ancient Lebanese cookbook whose recipes

often begin with instructions like “Step one: Slaughter

the lamb.”

Dad also inherited a love for baseball, and the New

York Yankees in particular, from his father. Dad had an

all-American childhood and loved his hometown hero

Roger Maris.

“Today is your day! Your mountain is waiting.

So...get on your way.” —Dr. Seuss

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I grew up with my dad and mom in Veneta, Oregon.

We were a uniquely American blend: We were the

only Sawayas there, for sure. We were one of many

families in town who idolized Don Mattingly, but

probably the only ones who could cook a passable

shawarma.

We lived out of town a little, surrounded by forest.

The nearest neighbor was more than a mile away. Dad

worked for the National Forest Service as a civil engi-

neer. Mainly he designed roads and bridges before

moving into forest management and environmental

protection. Growing up in Oregon, and having a

guy like Dick for my dad, I had an outdoorsy kind of

upbringing, with lots of hiking and looking for things

in the forest. The first baseball game I ever saw was

when my father drove me all the way to Seattle, where

the Yankees were playing the Mariners.

The population of Veneta was, and remains, about

2,400. The town was so small that Veneta’s kids had

to ride the bus to the next town to attend Elmira

High. The gas station was the town’s big hangout

for teenagers. The other place to be was the Dairy

Queen. I ate hamburgers and an ice cream cone for

lunch at the Dairy Queen nearly every day. But at

night, the gas station was where the high schoolers

collected, at a group of picnic tables. You’d get a soda

or some Twinkies, and you could get a hot dog for 25

cents.

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