Ephemerica

One of my lesser known talents is changing the words to songs to fit my own perspective. It started as a way to divert my attention from the subzero cold while walking home after classes at the U of MN. One of my first songs was about the mac and cheese I was looking forward to having for dinner. When I discovered that Sera would come to me when I sang to her, she inspired many new songs from “My Kitty ‘Tis of Thee” to “Are You Gonna be My Kitty” (by the Aussie band, Jet).

This diversion has helped keep my attention from the long hard climbs we have encountered, so I thought I’d share my latest biking related song/poem conversion. In elementary school, we had to memorize the first couple stanzas of “The Night Before Christmas,” and anything more was extra credit. My memory is not so great and so my version leaves out quite a bit of the middle parts.

 ’Twas the first day of riding and all down the road,
 We bikers were biking and carrying our load.
 
 Our new panniers were hung on the racks with great care,
 In hopes that what we would need could be found in there.
 
 A tent and sleeping bags were packed away for beds,
 While visions of free camping danced in our heads.
 
 Matt with his iBook and I with the travel guide,
 Had just settled in for an American ride. 
 
 When all of a sudden there came such a rumbling,
 We looked in our mirrors to see what was coming.
 
 We caught our first glimpse and exclaimed “Oh boy, Oh man!”
 There was one semi-truck and eight huge camper vans.
 
 One by one they passed, giving us way too much space,
 Flying around blind corners like it was a race.
 
 We saw cacti and flowers and fish taco stands,
 As we pedaled our bikes and dreamt of foreign lands.
 
 Through Baja! Through Honduras! And around the Gap!
 Through Peru! Through Chile! To the end of the map!
 
 And as our experiences change with the tide,
 Happy travels to all and to all a good ride!

Posted by cindy on February 17th, 2007 | Filed under: General, Mexico