2015/03/14 – Saturday (Cascais, Portugal)
... tension...on our way to the Saturday morning market for some fresh produce... our couple thing is not going well... switching on the radio... to break the uncomfortable but welcomed silence between us... one of my favourite albums... Pink Floyd – Wish You Were Here... is being played in a tribute format... not sure it was as a commercial success, especially since it came after Dark Side of the Moon... I actually remember saving money to buy this album (late 70's)...since my coins were few, I was extremely selective with my purchases... often, I would ask my mom for additional money... as an impetuous 16-year-old teenager... when I listened to the lyrics I'd think/ agree... I'd rather die than live a mediocre life... and today, mediocrity is almost acceptable, as long as you have a loving mate who tags along for the ride even in silence...then again, perhaps my reasoning at 16 could hold true today...
...deal breaker...being a rock music fan as if it were a religion...buying Pink Floyd albums in a trendy Phantasmagoria record store was cool...but buying an Abba album for my mom because it had a song called Fernando... well, it did not fit my wannabe cool image... principles, integrity and whoring... I needed and wanted money to buy records... so I would end up buying her the record and in return she would throw a few extra coins my way... for my mom, the name Fernando meant a lot to her...not because it was my name, but the name of her first boyfriend/love...while dating my mom, this chap had moved from Portugal to Brazil and due to the inefficient postal system of that era, the letter exchange dwindled to the point where he ended up finding new and improved love in Brazil...can the postal system really be blamed for the failed relationship...?...
...delectable...if you never heard the Abba song Fernando... then you are in for a treat... it was released in 1976... later on, international covers were also recorded as my mother had a French and Portuguese versions of the song... it was such a huge hit that even on my cell, it's the ring tone...I know... it makes me all the more adorable...
... delinquent... it was the spring of 1976 and I had just finished high school for the year...having spent most of the school year wasted... my parents in their infinite wisdom felt it was best to send me to Portugal for the summer... and to spend quality time on the grandparent's farm... they concluded my friends were influencing me into drugs...I did not have the nerve to tell them that it was the other way around...as their son was the bad seed in the lot... suffice to say, a free trip is a free trip...and besides I was exempted of the drudgery of a summer job... yet, was provided with pocket money for my overseas stay... can life get any sweeter?
...sweet injustice...after the Montreal to Amsterdam flight...there was an 8-hour layover before taking off to Portugal...do you suspect I was the one who made the travel arrangements... ouufff!...so much time in Amsterdam... surely not to be wasted in an airport waiting for a connecting flight... this was the time before the Euro currency fiasco kicked in and I did not have any Dutch money (guilders) on me.... so, I left the airport and just walked around in the city...I ducked into an alley, and nearly bumped my head on a café sign... POT CAFÉ...I know, what a pleasant surprise, duh!!...I looked through the glass window... the place was packed... I could hardly distinguish the human shapes as there was a thick smog and it was permeating through the door frame cracks... my keen sense of smell quickly analysed/ identified the scent as marijuana smoke...
... for non-blondes... with no Dutch money in pocket... I figured if I walked in and pretended to look for a table that maybe I can rush a few lungs full of smoke... with every inhale, my smile widen... I guess, it caught the attention of the brunette sitting at a table, she motioned me to the empty chair in front of her...we shared a water pipe... it was far from romantic... though this tall brunette reminded me of the Abba singer... which I found was the cuter one of the two singers in the band... but I also guess, when stoned the mind can play tricks as they were both gorgeous ladies... anyway she was much older than me... we talked, actually she talked as by this time I was so high and not able to articulate a syllable let alone compose words into a coherent thought/sentence...
...lost...time and space was no longer in my control...and I had a flight to catch... I asked her for the time... she pointed to the clock tower outside and it had a drummer boy figurine beating the hour on the drums... she asked...Can you hear the drums Fernando?...yeah! I can hear them, but I'm not able to maintain a count...she laughed and I added it would make a good line for a song, no?...
...happenstance...Can you hear the drums Fernando?...is the first line to the song...is it possible that inadvertently I put into the collective cosmos the opening line?... I never got any acknowledgement or even royalties for coming up with the opening line to the song...this is not an issue as the best things in life are free... wonder if the brunette I met that day, thinks of me when she hears the song... I am sure she is thinking of me as I'm simply... that adorable...
YOU ARE READING
Paper Cigarette
Random...... ...Paper Cigarette (slices of life)... ...for better or for worse, what happens on the Camino does not always stay on the Camino.... .. it's a journal style novel (fiction)....... it's about a man who inadvertently finds himself on the Santia...
