random thoughts – Day 2,094 (Wednesday) – sweet bologna

It was cold his morning but the remote start on the car works again thanks to the new fob, so it was all okay. Mom and I made plans to “go out.” At noon, we headed to Smith’s Country Cheese, but not the way that Waze said to go (Route 2A) and along another route Mom knew. She has always been great at navigation so I always let her co-pilot.

When we arrived, there were at least a dozen empty cars in the lot and we expected a mob in the store. There were two people, plus the worker at the cash register. We had no idea where the people were for all the other cars. Mom bought a small tub of port wine cheese and we headed back out to the world. When we stepped outside the shop maybe 20 minutes later, the parking lot was empty except for my car. So weird. As we drove around Winchendon, we puzzled over the disappearing cars and the big historic homes and how it felt like we were suddenly in a Stephen King novel.

Our other big stops for the day were Family Dollar, where I bought a 12-pack of toilet paper and a can of coffee, and Price Chopper, where I bought maraschino cherries for a cookie recipe and a can of mixed nuts.

Somewhere during the course of the afternoon, we had a conversation about Lebanon Sweet Bologna, my favorite Pennsylvania delicatessen delicacy. X2 and I used to buy it when visiting his family in Pennsylvania and they would bring it to us when visiting. We would also special order entire logs of it through the Fort Campbell Commissary, which, as I recall weighted about eight pounds, and the deli team would slice it for us. Eventually, other people special ordered it as well and the deli began stocking it so we didn’t have to buy so much of it at a time. 

When Mom and StepDad visited us in Tennessee, X2 and I introduced them to Sweet Bologna, and they stopped in Pennsylvania on the ride home to buy some. The locals were quite surprised by the couple that was buying pounds of the stuff.

Since leaving X2 and losing access to the Commissary, finding Lebanon Sweet Bologna was difficult, but I had military friends who could help a gal out. When I left Tennessee, Lebanon Sweet Bologna was nothing but a memory until I finally discovered that Market Basket in Lowell sometimes had the Seltzer brand sliced shingle pack with six or seven slices in a package for about a zillion dollars. 

Since talking about it earlier today, there is nothing I want more right now than Lebanon Sweet Bologna. Price Chopper had no such thing, but they had hard salami, which I also liked once upon a time and is another story for another time. The current quest is to find Lebanon Sweet Bologna, sliced in the perfect thickness, which I will know when I see it. Hopefully, I will find some locally and won’t be tempted to take a quick trip to Pennsylvania.