Quiet

It's been an afternoon of realizing the shifting paradigms. Today I slowed down for the first time all summer it seems. After an amazing morning waking in her arms and making love I drove the truck back to Spanishburg. Hit Athens Rd. down to Highway 19 and turned right on my golden road of homeward country bliss. Passed school buses leaving Spanishburg school. Waved at a neighbor outside the Valley General Store, crossed the Hank Williams Sr. Memorial Bridge and slowed down, pulled into the gravel lot in front of the Spanishburg Post Office, gathered my mail, nodded at another gent and continued on home.

I can honestly say without a moment's hesitation or doubt that I don't want to be anywhere else in the world other than here. Meadows and fields stretch and roll over hillsides and down valleys, leaves are just beginning their late summer fading. The sky is the most brilliant shade of blue. There are pinkish white clouds drifting lazily above the deep green mountains. There is a pause, a respite, a break. The lawnmowers are quiet today. The gardens that have been sowed, hoed, weeded, watered, fertilized and kept up all summer now sit heavy laden with fruit. Immense rolls of hay dot fields as far as the eye can see. Horses and ponies wag their soft feathery tails standing in the cool mountain breeze as they are warmed in pulsing late summer sunlight. The highway weaves through this pastoral scene with breathless efficiency and economy. The windows are open in the truck. Ryan Adams belts out one of his heartbroken cowboy songs and I ease up on the gas and drift into yet another mountain turn.

The pace of the summer perhaps behind me. If not beginning to fade. Changes. Buried father. grieving mother. Distant sisters. Nights spent cooking cooking cooking. Hot nights over the grill, twirling my tongs and saute pans. Grilling meats over a red hot barbecue. Searing fish. Dressing freshly picked vegetables in butter and herbs. White plate after white plate. Table after table. Unlock the restaurant, turn on the lights, bring in the mats, turn on the hood, unlock the fridges, pull out the equipment, glance at the prep list, cut meats, fillet fish, trim vegetables, reduce sauces, chop herbs, set up my station, meet with the wait staff, prepare and eat staff meal, take a break outside and stare at the river, text with my sweety, start service at 5:30pm, end at 9pm, break it all down, wrap it all up, wipe it all down, carry out the mats, lock the fridges, write the prep list, cut off the lights, lock the restaurant for the night, another night in the book.