So there I was, reclining in my favorite spot & recovering from months worth of fevered activity at our spot in the Alpine Mountains of Italy when my lovely Madame Francesca comes into the room to show me an Invite that she’d received for us to attend a ‘Cookout’ (in Italian a ‘Grigliatona’) at the local Golf Course not too far where we are fortunate enough to regenerate our groove.
And of course, by instinct, my initial response upon seeing the invitation was:
‘O SOLE MIO ! AL GREEN IS GOING TO PERFORM ! Of ‘Course’ We Are Going !
Which means that ‘I WILL BE GOING TOO’, since my wife would’ve been taking our boys there regardless, being the Social Animals that they embrace being according to her Personality & the Culture that she was raised in & shares with her equally active sons. But my wife Francesca’s laughter immediately betrayed that her husband of 20 years might actually be a bit more of an idiot than he’d be comfortable acknowledging beyond the confines of a Confession Box. And then it also dawned on me the unlikely probability of one of my ( & music’s) great Masters performing at a Cookout in a small Village in Piemonte (FORZA JUVE !).
And THAT’s when I came to my senses & remembered that in this language that I am surrounded by & must daily navigate, ‘AL GREEN’ in this context means, ‘A COOKOUT ON THE GREENS’ of the Golf Course. What might I have imagined had there ever been a Great Singer & Artist named ‘Al Dente’ ? That there’d be Pasta as well as entertainment ?
Among the many other things that I’ve gotten from the brilliance of AL GREEN, it were he who told me as a Young Sprout, that the Key to Happiness for him was the decision that he made every morning upon wakening to BE HAPPY. “I AM HAPPY, BECAUSE I CHOOSE TO BE HAPPY”, which blew my young & expanding mind. WOW, HAPPINESS IS THAT SIMPLE ? According to him, YES IT WAS, A DECISION HE MADE TO BE SO, as HE was the Master of his Fate & NOT the fickle hands of Circumstance, nor the fog bound & prickly terrain of ‘Mood’.
I spent a little time with him that day, wherein after I saw him take a crowd of thousands (in Liverpool England) & place them in the palm of his hand, the one closest to his voluptuous heart. Perhaps having absorbed my misunderstanding at the initial flush of excitement that I’d be listening to the live emanations of the wondrous Master Craftsman I may still consider attending with my family while ‘earbudding’ the Reverend Al Green whilst I’m nibbling on Grilled Morsels ‘Al Green’.
This is one of those beautiful villages where everybody knows who’s who, & what’s what. And maybe I’ll commandeer the DJ situation & throw down some Rich Southern Soul Music Classics to share Playlist Space with some good old Alpine ‘Oompa Loompa’ music & copious servings of Meats, Veggies, Potatoes, Cheeses & Pies, & of course the almost certain Endless Flow of Golden Brewed, Drafted Alpine Beer.
I wonder if ‘The Cure’ ever played a Medical Convention ? If only for the Irony itself…..
Sananda Maitreya !
Tuesday 8 August 2023
Milano, Italy.
#SanandaMaitreya #AlGreen #IChooseToBeHappy
© TreeHouse Publishing, 8th August 2023
