Adagio at Five O'Clock

Driving out of town around 5:30, having bought wine and hideously expensive but wonderful cheese (goat bris and a harder cow cheese from France), my IPhone, plugged into the speaker, started playing Barber's Adagio (more popularly known as the Elephant Man theme music).  The piece is so loaded with beautiful sorrow that I decided to keep driving until it stopped.  I went down Middle Road past our barn, going about 40, and then drove through nearby farm land, low green hills and wide fields of dry corn stalks belted by the road curving through them.  The sun diving into the west suddenly splashed the deep shadows of this autumn landscape into  glorious swatches of color until the air itself was gold and red.  The music drifted with the car, matching the shifts in the scenery as if God was playing to its changes.  I reached the end of the country road at the exact moment the music stopped.  It was fucking unbelievable.  That night I roasted local chicken and braised yellow beans from the garden and undercooked potatoes for friends who just bought a house nearby after living in Venice, Italy for 15 years.  We got drunk and talked until midnight.  I don't miss New York.  I never thought I'd say that.