“Isn’t a Shogun a Japanese warrior?” I asked Chris upon returning to the spot where I’d left him on the bridle path.
He looked at me nonplussed and, thinking he hadn’t heard me (well my husband is a tad deaf), I asked again:
“Isn’t a Shogun a Japanese….”
“Yes,” Chris snapped (a bit annoyed that I thought him deaf), “I heard what you said but I was taking a few seconds to compute your words, considering that I was just enjoying the countryside while I waited for you to return to that abandoned bike and photograph it.”
“Well, the bike is a “Shogun” – at least that’s what is printed on it – and it reminded me of that programme on television years ago.”
“With Richard Chamberlain,” Chris remembered.
“That’s right,” I was glad he remembered. “Don’t you think Burt Reynolds would have been better in ‘Shogun’?”
Chris may have heard me but chose not to answer.
“I’m so lucky to have a husband who understands me,” I said.
A bit earlier, when we were leaving Cockwood Harbour (tide out, yet again!), I held my empty coke tin in my hand and asked Chris:
“Do you remember if there’s a rubbish bin around here?”
“I don’t think so,” answered Chris.
“No,” I agreed, “I’ll have to take it home with me.”
Suddenly Chris began singing in a deep gravelly voice (not dissimilar to one of my favourite singers, Leonard Cohen):
“You’ll have to ‘take it for a ride… I’m your can!”
Lucky for me – I understand him too. If you don’t understand just click on the link below to the song on Youtube or look at the words below that. And on a final note, if I go back tomorrow on the bridle path and see that the abandoned “Shogun” is no longer there, i shall rename it “Shogone”.
Leonard Cohen – I’m Your Man – YouTube
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yOnXe8ttmjY
I’m Your Man by Leonard Cohen Album: I’m Your Man Year: 1988 [Lyrics] If you want a lover I’ll do …
“I’m Your Man”
I’ll do anything you ask me to
And if you want another kind of love
I’ll wear a mask for you
If you want a partner
Take my hand
Or if you want to strike me down in anger
Here I stand
I’m your man
If you want a boxer
I will step into the ring for you
And if you want a doctor
I’ll examine every inch of you
If you want a driver
Climb inside
Or if you want to take me for a ride
You know you can
I’m your manAh, the moon’s too bright
The chain’s too tight
The beast won’t go to sleep
I’ve been running through these promises to you
That I made and I could not keep
Ah but a man never got a woman back
Not by begging on his knees
Or I’d crawl to you baby
And I’d fall at your feet
And I’d howl at your beauty
Like a dog in heat
And I’d claw at your heart
And I’d tear at your sheet
I’d say please, please
I’m your manAnd if you’ve got to sleep
A moment on the road
I will steer for you
And if you want to work the street alone
I’ll disappear for you
If you want a father for your child
Or only want to walk with me a while
Across the sand
I’m your man
If you want a lover
I’ll do anything you ask me to
And if you want another kind of love
I’ll wear a mask for you