Consider this coincidence...80% of the earth's surface is covered with water and nearly 80% of our bodies are composed of water. For millenia, the sea has exercised a significant impact on the relationships of many before us. Heroes and villains alike, the sea did not discriminate. The first two years of our courtship were punctuated with myriad letters which stretched easily across time zones and watery distances. The promise of marriage usurped the sea and brought us together for 23 years of fruitful partnership. The sea, however, did not concede its influence on our lives entirely during these landlocked years and devised to weave the threads of fate into a fabric of gainful employment for Dan at the office of a marine carrier in Montreal. So that it won't come between us any longer, we shall, together, surrender ourselves to the sea as we wend our way amongst a few of the Mediterranean islands exploring the rich history left behind by all those ancient wayfarers who have preceded us.
One of the most compelling stories about wayfarers is that of Odysseus who took 10 years to return to Ithaca where Penelope awaited him. He had been gone so long, that many had presumed him dead, but Penelope held firm to her hopes of his return.
John Riley is a song which my sister, Kathy, taught me many many years ago during our college days and which I'll never play as nicely as does she. It's a traditional English folksong which borrows it theme from the much older mythological story of Penelope and Odysseus. The Manresa Tour will not take 20 years like the travels of Odysseus nor will it take seven years like the travels of John Riley. It will be a mere 3 months as an initial premise to a new chapter in our lives. Because I have a propensity to mumble incoherently, you'll definitely get a better idea of what the lyrics of this song are by reading them below:
A fair young maid in a garden.....A strange young man passer-by
He Says, "Fair young maid, will you marry me"....This then, sir, was her reply: "Oh, no kind sir, I cannot marry you, for I have a love who sails the seas. He's been gone for seven years. Still, no man shall marry me."
"But, what if he is in some battle slain, or he's drowned in the deep salt sea. What if he has found another love, and he and his true both married be?"
"If he is in some battle slain, then I shall die when the moon doth wane, and if he's drowned in the deep salt sea, I'll be true to his memory. And if has found another love, and he and his true love married be, I wish them health and happiness where they dwell across the sea."
He picked her up into in his arms, and kisses he gave her one, two, three, saying, "Weep no more my own true love, for I am your long lost John Riley."
