rainy day

She sat in her room alone, a book in her hands and the windows open to let in the sound of the rain falling in the trees outside. She wore jogging pants, an old Cotton Ginny sweater and had her hair tied back in a ponytail - the perfect outfit for a day indoors. It was one of those quiet summer days when her friends were staying at home or busy - she didn't mind being alone though - it was a day for writing in The Penny Journal and thinking about everything that had been happening lately.

As usual, she was listening to the Tragically Hip, one of the Best Bands Ever. Just like always, she started with her very favourite: "Wheat Kings", singing softly along with the music as the rain added a rhythm of its own (that somehow fit perfectly). She picked up her the journal and filled a few pages with the teenage angst that seemed so important to her 17 year old self - dreams and drama, notes about her friends and all of their crushes - things that years later she would read and smile as she remember how innocent they all used to be.

Letting the music continue, she put the book in her lap, sipped her cup of chicken noodle soup, and listened as the chords for "Fiddler's Green" filled the silence...


September Seventeen
For a girl I know, it's Mother's Day
Her son has gone alee
And that's where he will stay
Wind on the weathervane
Tearing blue eyes sailor-mean
As Falstaff sings a sorrowful refrain
For a boy in Fiddler's Green

His tiny knotted heart
Well I guess it never worked too good
The timber tore apart
And the water gorged the wood
You can hear the whispered prayer
For men at masts that always lean
That the same wind that moves her hair
Moves her boy through Fiddler's Green

He doesn't know a soul
And there's nowhere that he's really been
But he won't travel long alone
No, not in Fiddler's Green
Balloons all filled with rain
As children's eyes turn sleepy-mean
And Falstaff sings a sorrowful refrain
For a boy in Fiddler's Green


She wondered what exactly the song was about (one of she and her friends' favourite discussions seemed to center around the meanings of song lyrics, particularly ones by The Hip) and then realized that it was the middle of August - school was starting soon, and it would be September 17th before she knew it.

Not much time left to enjoy the summer...

She picked up the phone and dialed a number, "Hey - what are you doing? Want to come out to the lake?", smiling as she and her friend made plans for another sleepover night.

Maybe today they'd figure out what Gord was writing about...