Fried Bologna and Wine


On a recent trip to Atlanta, on a particularly delightful evening, we found ourselves sitting on a restaurant patio with old and new friends, enjoying the company, the music and the beautiful spring evening. 

 As I settled into my chair, I sat and took a deep breath to soak in the evening and all the sounds, sights and smells.  I took a moment to glance over my menu and around the table and I the sight was truly amazing.  Dear friends to my left were leaned in sharing a moment with smiles on their faces.  Across the table, an old friend and a new friend were talking and filling the air with the sweet sound of their laughter.  To my right, my husband was quietly pursuing his menu and glanced up at me and winked sending my heart a-flutter.  All this while the patio around us hummed with conversation, music, and laughter combined with the detectible aromas of food and drink.  It really was a heavenly moment and there is nothing like stopping to observe and bask in those precious moments to remind you how blessed you are and what life is all about. 

 The restaurant itself is what I would consider a mid-range eatery, offering a range of cuisine and beverages to suit just about any taste – from the trendy to the basic comfort food.  As we were all chattering and deciding what to order, one friend posed the question to the group, “Is it weird that I want a fried bologna and red wine?” 

 That question and the basic truth of it has stuck with me.  The juxtaposition of those two things in that simple question really is the crux of a happy life, is in not?  The simple and the comforting combined with the complex and the elegant.  Life is not single faceted.  And what a boring life it would be if it was.  Not only that, but what boring people we would be if we lived that way. 

 I suppose there are people that want to dispose of and leave behind who they are and where they come from.  As a matter of fact, I know persons who have spent their whole lives endeavoring to prove that they are above or better than their beginnings.  While I don’t disparage those who want to make more of themselves and would venture a guess that forgetting to be true to all aspects of who you are will leave a person feeling disconnected and lost in their quest. 

 And so, I say, EMBRACE it all…The fried bologna and the wine!



 
Fried Bologna & Wine – By Autumn Boyet Stinton (May 2017)
 I am Bologna.
 
            Simple and easy, basic and true,
                    This is the basis of me and of you. 
            Not costly or trendy or even gourmet,
                    Reminiscent of easy and children at play. 
            My being is comforted soothed & at rest,
                    I doubt not that I am, and I am my best.

I am Wine.

            Complex, multi-faceted, precious, that’s me,
                    Growing and striving to be all I can be.
            Not satisfied to amble in the slow lane,
                    Resilient, determined not afraid of the pain.
            My being is restless, craving movement and change,
                    I want to be more, desired, different and strange.

             I do not ignore the truth of my past,
                    Creating spectacular in my life that will last.
            Chasing big dreams and spectacular finds,
                    Opening hearts and changing their minds.
            But no matter the places that I will yet roam,
                    I’ll always find comfort in the simplicity of home…

 And Fried Bologna and Wine!

           

           

 

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