Tuesday, June 21, 2011

The Camino Is Alive With The Sound Of Music

When on the trail and conversation is at a lull or the silence is deafening, pilgrims quite often find themselves bursting into song. And no song is better (by "better" I mean "worse") than one you make up in the moment. Mom and I have been doing this from the start, but were pleasantly surprised, when crossing into Spain and onto the pilgrim superhighway, that we were not alone in this Camino pastime.

Rick, for instance, penned an operatic tune about having to relieve oneself on the trail without any facilities in sight. The piece is called, "I've Got To Whiz!" And he sings it so boisterously and with such conviction that you really do feel the emotion behind it. The man REALLY does have to take a whiz.

Red concocted a delightful marching song about the peanut butter we recently discovered. The lyrics: "Peanut butter sweet and salty; Lends a hand to bread that's faulty". So much truth in this march, as Spain is burdened with a great deal of horrendously faulty bread.

Back in Puente la Reina, mom made up a romantic melody directed at her bottle of L'Oreal hair dye. The lyrics escape me, but I do remember thinking to myself that I could imagine Edith Piaf recording a fantastic cover of it.

My own songs usually have to do with specific daily events, such as ordering a second glass of wine, checking for ticks, filling up my water bottle, suffering through lukewarm albergue showers, swatting gnats, finding a sunny place to hang laundry, spotting a cute cat or tackling a particularly challenging uphill climb.

All along the trail, I have heard many a pilgrim strike up many a song in many a language. It's heartening to know that music and the desire to sing our emotions, desires, complaints and observations, serves as a common thread, linking us all. Here on the Camino the hills truly are alive, the wind carrying our international, spontaneous musical arrangements down, up and over many a mile.

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Ponferrada rest day...











Templar castle.


Red strolling through the castle.








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Location:Ponferrada, Spain

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