Oh, Canada!

Sunday morning, (tomorrow!) we travel out to Calgary for yet another adventure. Two weeks in Canada, Alberta and Toronto. I shall have to dust off my Leonard Cohen, Joni Mitchell and Neil Young discs (or virtual discs as its all on mp3 now) so I can fill my head with lovely Canadian music on the way there. It all came about following a few conversations we had. First, together, just the two of us, when Anna asked me what would I really want to do to celebrate turning 60. I have always loved travelling, and central Canada is one of those far off places I’ve never been to. Then a conversation with our friends Rod and Donna Black, who live in Alberta, and it was sorted.

"On the back of a cartoon coaster
In the blue TV screen light
I drew a map of Canada
Oh Canada
With your face sketched on it twice"

Such poetry - Joni Mitchell, who, in a few spare words, can express both a deep longing for place and for person. Come to think of it, not unlike the spirit of fado music *  that I’ve come to love here in Lisbon.

And then another amazing Canadian songwriter, Sara MacLachlan ** :

"Spend all your time waiting
For that second chance,
For a break that would make it okay.
There's always some reason
To feel not good enough,
And it's hard, at the end of the day....

...In the arms of the angel,
Fly away from here
From this dark, cold hotel room,
And the endlessness that you fear...."

Well, for us, it’s not exactly a dark, cold hotel room... but, we still need to get away. And, in our case, the Canadian angels God is sending are Rod and Donna, who have promised to whisk us straight off from arrival at Calgary airport up into the Rocky mountains.

Time to rest, reflect, think, pray, converse, listen, walk and talk, smile, laugh, and.... Bring it on, Rod!!

* “A Case of You” from  Joni Mitchell “Blue” (1971)  And for a genuine fado version of this song, you can’t get better than Ana Moura, complete with black shawl and Portuguese guitarra - www.youtube.com/watch?v=uiC_J8kCmzM

** “Angel” from Sara MacLachlan “Surfacing” (1997) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7CbAjj80NIM