Sauntering

Sauntering. This is a little used word in the 21st century. It’s a leisurely walk that implies one isn’t going anywhere specific but is just walking to look at wherever his feet happen to take him. I see people walking leisurely sometimes. I see people walking purposefully often. Sauntering is rare. It’s got attitude. It implies that everyone else has it all wrong and the saunterer has it right. Whatever “it” is. It helps that the guy I saw today was eating an apple. He was walking on Konigstrasse clearly at peace with his existence. He put a little extra motion in his stride and slowed down to look at a beautiful woman that passed him. She smiled briefly at him. Maybe she has a weakness for men who saunter. He looked at children playing by the fountain. He took small bites of his apple and looked at whatever caught his eye. Finally he passed out of my sight. I’ll bet the Dali Lama saunters when no one’s looking and he doesn’t have to be holy. Maybe he wears a fake goatee and Blues brothers sunglasses so no one notices and thinks he’s not being holy enough. Being holy all the time, like the Dali Lama, must be tough. In my whole life I might have managed to be holy, if you add up all the moments, maybe 12 seconds total. Before I die I want to get it up to a minute. I played a gig last night that I play often. I am background noise to most of the audience. Some listen, most don’t. No worries. I gotta pay the rent. The irony is that I generally play very well here. I pull out songs that I don’t do usually. I kick back on a stool and sing. Someone has a request, I play it. The owner and staff are friendly. I play original material, party songs, everything in between. They applaud when I least expect it. At some point I won’t be playing this sort of gig anymore. I will have outgrown them. But I will miss it. The freedom to saunter musically on the supposition that almost no one’s paying attention so it’s ok to get a little loose; to go where my fingers and voice take me without any sense of trying to amaze, amuse or pump them up with energy. Perversely it makes for a good show. Too bad so few hear it.

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