Our Farewell Party!
An epic poem: BYAWULF
(wait, wait, some will get the pun) …OR…
As the Moose Panteth
for a Fisshhh at Kingstone Market, So My Soul Hath Words Put in Mouth (along with foot) on a New Day of… Fertility 1
Yoost as Burchard’s “Ecce” vould echo old Palestrina, zo
Wolff writes a poem mit style of Ty Green-uh.
Da meter may be variable from time-uh to time-uh, but each
couplet must end mit approximation of rhyme-uh.
At San Miguel concert, in a mouth dere be fly dere; and encore found Rosie great getting’ up
HIGHer.
From L.A. ve
came and in Stockholm ve’re landic,
and right by de park is de nice Hotel Scandic.
Ve stumbled thru Old
Town, at City Hall singing, mit Kath
still in purple; no luggage been bringing?!
De brass band accomp’nied de change in de man guard; de old
ship vass raised, but my soul had been anchored.
My mind vass so yet-lagged cuz had not been sleepind; de
body not vorking, yust passing some ooten-vind. 2
At Uppsala U.,
ve yoost roamed in de garden; De town vass zo closed-up, vun rabbit vass de
varden.
Ve learned of Linnaeus and saw an IKEA; then on to
Stiffsgarden, a quite grave idea.
Da kids vere all dancing on shores of Lake
Silyan; dey made so much noise that
I vowed I vould kill vun.
At Midsummer’s Fest, all da dancers vere lit up; but de
pole, it took SOME guys so long to get IT up. 3
Ve sang out in Svedish, da fiddlers more playing; den off to
de long bridge mit energies fraying.
On New Day, cute Sigfried vass full of…fertility; he made up
his history mit gnomish agility.
He told of May Poles and of chimneys so tall, but Jen said
his own ..footsies ..vere awfully small.
According to Kit, speaking up from her stall, “Once you’ve
seen yust vun .. chimney, den you’ve seen dem all.”
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1.
Footnotes re in-jokes: We sang “Sicut Cervus,” which means “as the
deer panteth …(etc) and “Jamaican Market” & “My Soul’s Been Anchored in the
Lord” & “You are the New Day”; and the “Ecce” words are about God putting
words in Jeremiah’s mouth. Later reference
is to “Great Gittin’ up Morning” (sung higher than usual in San Miguel).
2.
The
Swedish song we sang starts with the words, “Vem kan segla for uten vind.”
3.
It
really took the townspeople an hour to raise their giant may-pole.
Ve saw de vood horses and sang in da quarry; Dalhalla vas vitness, da basses vere sorry. 4
Dat night in de concert de people veren’t clapping; but da
girl gave us flowers to prove SOME veren’t napping.
Some people vent out on de bus to go drinking. How could dey be singing while England
vass sinking? 5
De church grounds in Mora vere nice as you get, vere ve sang
psalms in Svedish and bottoms got vet.
Den ve …“go –in’ to de chapel unt ve gon—na eat ca-a-a-ake, cry—in’ in de concert from de..speech dat Gary
ma-a-a-ake.” 6
It’s time now for leaving, so “get in the truck.” (So goes “cowboy foreplay, if you vere in
luck.)
Da road to Urabroo, ve takin’ all our goods dere including
Jill’s petticoat, I still under my trousers wear.7
Da tour of de city vass awfully dry; not knowing “stonecutter”
vass answer, it made us all cry.
8
De dungeon had scaring, de church – mushy sound, but “Bad
Dude” had his birthday and Ruth bought de round.
Ve head out past Karlstad,
vere food ve be bringin’; de sun’s always shining and Abba keeps singing. 9
In Oslo, my vife
tinks de “lift” is qvite tiny; but de room is so vast, in our bed she can’t
find me. 10
De Drammen hour of “do-re’s” conspires yust to veary us; Gary
says dey’re real useful, but he’s clearly delirious.
Ve drop him at de asylum and ve take off for partyin’; Dey
tell him “take two aspirin and call in de mornyin’.” 11
Old Oslo iss
sveet, as is Rakkestad too. Ve thank all
our helpers and our dear fellow travelers –
Vat a vonderful yourney; happt trails to you!
___________________________________________________
4.
We sang “Witness,” though not at Dalhalla, where
another piece gave slight problems to basses
5.
Soccer was a major preoccupation of the locals and our
British courier, Jennifer, whose team lost that night
6.
We surprised Lamprechts with 40th Anniv.
Party; Gary surprised all with moving tribute to Pat at concert
7.
Jill never recovered her petticoat, which some
believed had been left behind at an earlier concert venue
8.
Odd city guide kept quizzing us on the meanings of
bits of sculpture in a church
9.
Our bus driver played
the “Mama Mia” video for us on the trip to Oslo.
10.
The Oslo elevator
and especially the rooms were VERY tiny
11.
Gary actually
had some major foot pain & swelling; was evaluated and advised at the
hospital in Drammen
TOURIST (sung to the
tune of “Witness”) In Honor of Jennifer
and Magnus
Who’ll be a TOURIST for my Lord…(etc)…I’ll be a tourist for
my Lord.
There was a guy from old Sweden
land, his Mama called him Magnus – such a Renaissance man
A preacher’s kid, you know the kind; he never learned a way
to restrain his mind
Now our Magnus was so fun, we desired to know how a man acts
so young when he’s old.
He treats all of us just like a friend –Ma-an, we’d ride
with you again!
Magnus – is the greatest guy…(etc.) He is the greatest we
can find.
Ya learn about Jenny, from her birth, she was the wisest
courier to live on earth
Way back yonder in London Times, she played great sets
between the Wimbledon lines.
Then dear Jennifer went touring amuck, telling folks “Keep
your peckers all up.” 1
Till she came to Scandinavian parts, and said, “Please don’t
give me Vocal Arts.”
But the company said, we’ll pay real high, and Jen-ny said,
“Oka-ay, I’ll try.
I ..can.. han-dle the worst there are, cuz I’m marginally
better than Monica.”
Jen-ny__is a lovely lass…(etc.) We’ll “knock her up” next
time we pass. 1
She’s___the greatest courier….He’s___the greatest
driver…(etc.)
Oh, it’s true________The tour was a blessing,
THANKS____To-o____YOU!
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1.
British
figures of speech with different meanings than in American usage
Homes on the way to Mysen for our farewell dinner at Bamrsudlaven.
They were set up for a wedding the next day in the other room!
Our entourage!