Paper Girl

I went back to Pape for a few hours this afternoon, despite a very messy day of weather. Last night we had a heavy snowfall, which today had turned to freezing rain. I got the feeling that nobody really wanted to be tramping around in it, but many people had no choice because Christmas was closing in.

I added several Christmas songs to my repertoire today, including Silent Night (with words now), I’ll Be Home For Christmas, Walking in a Winter Wonderland (only once, because it has a very tricky chord change) and, by request, Jingle Bells. (Until now, I hadn’t considered playing Jingle Bells because it’s so simple. But I realized as soon as I started to sing it, simple is always good. As a songwriter, I often have to remind myself of that. Jingle Bells is a good example.)

I was feeling a bit giddy today, because I hadn’t slept much the night before and I hadn’t eaten enough before coming out to play. I hadn’t slept much because I knew that an article about me was going to appear in a major newspaper today. Appear it did—and so I felt a bit self-conscious when I arrived, wondering how many people read the entertainment section of the Toronto Star.

I had the feeling that some people had indeed read the article this morning—many seemed particularly cheerful and were meeting my eyes and donating generously--but then again, they could have simply been reflecting the holiday mood and my own upbeat attitude. One woman said "I just finished reading about you! Congratulations!". The rest just smiled and gave me thumbs up and loonies.

As always, many wonderful things happened in those few hours, quite apart from the money I earned. The man mopping the floor, who had many floors to mop today, stopped to listen to me. (At first I thought he wanted me to move so he could mop the floor.) A mentally-disabled young woman joined me in singing "Jingle Bells". A man asked me if I knew any Joan Baez…and I managed to sing a verse of "Where Have All the Flowers Gone?" (Yes, I know Bob Dylan wrote it, but she sang it too didn’t she?)

And finally, when I had been singing too long and was shivering, hungry and unable to quit, a man stopped and asked "Would you like one of these?"

I said, "Yes, I’d love one!"

And he placed a high-protein bar in my guitar case.