And sounds!
Human voices and laughter!
Out there in the middle of nowhere, in the midst of this darkness - a light!
A ray of hope!
Obviously we headed in that direction.
And entering that well lighted building, the haunting aroma of Italian cooking filling the air, we brought the merriment to an immediate halt.
Gathered was a group of maybe ten, twelve. Obviously they were just finishing their dinner and still had a healthy supply of wine with which to deal before departing.
And suddenly - silence.
They all looked up and across the room.
Looked squarely at these two strangers who had just walked through the doors.
They looked at us!
And we greeted them.
And they continued to stare.
Obviously, in a place like this at an hour like this wanderers just did not drop in.
But we did.
And so we attempted to explain what had happened and what had brought us to this moment.
And they listened.
And smiled -- and then chuckled -- and then began laughing.
And then they began to stand and ready themselves to leave.
One of the group took the remaining wine and handed it to us. "You need this more than we do. Enjoy!"
And at that point the owner of the establishment presented himself. He had heard our saga and now was inviting us to sit, relax and enjoy the wine.
Like we needed more wine.
Food, we requested. Can we get something to eat?
But, unfortunately, the owner informed us, the kitchen was closed. The cook was cleaning up and preparing to go home. Day was done.
But we can still sit, relax and enjoy the wine.
But we really needed food.
Anything?
Perhaps a sandwich?
He agreed to go back into the kitchen and see if she would be willing to produce a couple of sandwiches before heading home.
Momentarily he returned and with good news. She would fix up a couple of sandwiches and then head home. We would have some solid food!
And wine!
The owner brought out stilll another liter of wine for us to continue enjoying, relaxing and as something to wash down the food that we were about to enjoy.
And then the sandwiches emerged.
They were huge!
We would have some solid sustenance to tide us through the night.
The owner sat with us and we enjoyed conversation, food and, of course, more wine.
We asked about a possible place to stay but, unfortunately, he could recommend nothing.
Those park benches back at that little rustic train terminal would have to serve as our resting place for the night.
Meantime, for now we had a new friend and a reason to be grateful.
Hospitality was real, alive and active in that countryside that night.
And we certainly had wine!
. . . And come back soon for the ending of this saga!
Meantime,
keep praying
and stay safe.
No comments:
Post a Comment