I drove in the Shenandoah Valley on the highway with the beautiful leaves covering the mountains on both sides. The leaves were a bright yellow, red, and burgundy as if they were glowing with ambers of fire. We had driven through gorgeous fall foliage past Skyline Drive and the Blue Ridge Mountains. The beautiful leaves along the mountains were against a sunny blue soft sky background which seemed to move with me as I drove with my elbow on the car window. I was driving to nowhere toward Williamsburg that memorable weekend of the Fall in October. We at last parked the car on the lovely Winery Grounds surrounded by acres of grape plants and walked into the Italian Festival grounds.
There was so much of wine, art, crafts, drinks, special breads, sausages, a thousand aromas from Bar-B-Queue grills whose smoke bellowed slowly as it twisted and meandered high to kiss the blue cloudless sky. There were raised voices of glee, wide smiles, laughter, and happiness. The sweet accordion music greeted my ears.
My attention was drawn to the music under the big tent. The woman who I have children with and has satiated my life-long romantic dreams for the last twenty years, was with me. It was a magical experience. When I finally sat under the huge tent to listen to the band, that’s when it happened.
Something drew me to this special music. The music, like an incendiary device, tagged at the chords of the romantic feelings that enveloped us. My soul suddenly yearned for the bygone mysterious distant past that is shrouded in a mist of desires and memories that make the heart ache with infinite fondness, nostalgia, sadness and joy. I realized then why people sometimes pregnant with soul fall to their knees and choose to die for romance that is life itself as they experience intense enchantment and rapture. They may weep silently with tears rolling down their cheeks.
There was an instrument in the band that continuously slashed open my deep romantic feelings and desires that could only be consummated in the aura of my lover’s touch, the aura of her sacred presence, powerful natural scent of a woman, laughter, and teary smiles. The area in the tent around us glowed, as it was pregnant with the electricity of deep emotions of lovers laughing, tasting wine, dancing while throwing their heads back gleefully exposing their open mouths and teeth. People were drawn to each other like a thousand twins of emotion. It was a marvelous celebration of life. The experience has been etched in the deep crevices of my memory forever. I later found out it was the little known Allodola Band playing Italian folk music. Later, I sent a note to the band thanking them for providing the magic of life that is some of the most soulful music I have ever heard.
by Mwizenge S. Tembo, Ph. D.