A simple night out...

The night started a bit slow. I was late, coming off of a game of cat and mouse with the little one…the one with the energy of a raging bull in the smallest possible 2 year old package. She finally relented and snuggled into her mothers arm. Freedom.

As I joined them the group was already deep in discussion, a trivial business chat here and an existential question there.

Someone poured me a glass of Grenache. It may as well have been a sour ale; clearly there wasn’t an adequate sample tasting offered by the busy waitress.

No matter, the pours went down the hatch and we were off to our next spot. Then another, and another after that.

The casual walks may have been more notable than the ambience of numerous taverns — a strikingly balanced kiss of breeze in the midnight air.

A simple night punctuated with deep explorations, light hearted insults capped off with a comfort meal enjoyed at the cozy and clean rear patio of a hole in the wall — a respite from the squalor of the city’s southern quarter.