Warning: this is a post from the provinces. City folk will sigh and say, ‘so?’.
Today, like Monday, was half-work, half-play. But both happened in Glasgow.
It’s not often I stop for street performers. There’s a piper who I think is superb whom I slow down for. A man who plays with a crystal ball who is fun to watch on a sunny day (this is about balence and object manipulation, not fortune-telling). A South-American dance band that occasionally raise a smile.
But today, I was so distracted that I walked straight past where I was going and crossed the street before realizing it. The piper and the African drummers had teamed up. Reel of the Royal Scots like I had never heard it before. Lots of happy people laughing at the surprise of it. One rural priest thinking: hmm, how can we do this to Liturgy?
Not the drums or the pipes, necessarily, but the totally-unexpected mixed with the very familiar.
You sure you don’t want the drums and pipes?
Ooh, I’ve seen them in Buchanan Street too – they were fantastic!
Did you dance?