Take Me Home Country Roads

Life is old there, older than the trees
Younger than the mountains, growin’ like a breeze

Country roads, take me home
To the place I belong
West Virginia, mountain mama
Take me home, country roads

My last moments in San Martino di Castrozza were truly an unforgettable part of this adventure in Italy.

On our final night together, our group had a party with musical numbers, comedic sketches, and dancing. The kids had a blast participating and one of them proudly strutted around in a blow-up Dino costume.

Somehow Pier and Martino convinced me to sing with them for the party. I’m usually just a sing-in-the-shower or sing-while-doing-dishes kind of person. They wanted me to sing “Country Roads” by John Denver because they knew my American accent would be on point. I also ended up singing “You Can Count On Me” by Bruno Mars, and teaching the whole group to country dance.

As fun as it was performing in front of an engaged, supportive audience, practicing the songs was my favorite part of the ordeal. During the afternoon, Pier and Martino met me in the big green tent where we had all our gatherings. Pier had set up the instruments, mics, and speakers. I hoped on stage, and we stumbled our way through the songs a few times while Martino played the guitar, Pier on the piano, and them both harmonizing with me. Ever had a jam sesh with an Italian priest and research professor of ancient texts? I have, and it was awesome. Their voices are like chocolate: dark and silky and make you want to close your eyes to savor it.

“Okay, let’s run through the whole thing from the top,” Pier suggested. Martino’s fingers started to strum and I leaned in to the microphone.

Almost heaven, West Virginia
Blue Ridge Mountains, Shenandoah River…

This time I forgot to try and I just started to sing… from the heart, ya know? I closed my eyes and saw I-15 in the middle-of-nowhere Utah taking me past Cedar City and down to the Green Springs Drive Exit. Signal Peak and red rocks. Mountain mama. Snow Canyon and Bryce Canyon and Big Cottonwood Canyon and Sardine Canyon and Logan Canyon. Kings Peak. Uintahs. Rocky Mountains. Wow I love Utah.

The last note of song faded and I heard clapping. I looked down to the sea of empty chairs and found Andrea with a handful of girls cheering. I laughed and smiled at Martino. He smiled back. His eyes are an icy shade of electric blue that shoot through your heart like an arrow. Too bad he is a priest. Still not over it.

I love country roads and I miss country dancing. In St. George I would go to The Heart of Country Swing and in Provo I went to Peak Nights. I’m no expert yet, but I sure have fun with it- especially when my partner knows how to lead. I took this opportunity to share a little bit of dancing with my Catholic friends here, who by the end of the week felt like family.

I encouraged everyone to get on their feet and find a dance partner! As I walked them through the steps, Martino helped translate words for me here and there. At one point everyone laughed because I was speaking in Italian and Martino had just repeated me word-for-word. “She can speak!” someone shouted from the crowd and I took a little bow as they cheered.

I taught them the basic step and the cuddle bop… and they almost got the hang of the triple sweetheart, but we were out of time. We danced to “Homemade” by Jake Owen. I think they enjoyed it. My dance partner was a real trooper, a cute kiddo about half my size. It was fun but made me want a legit dance partner again like Mac Bird. Everyone was smiling, so I think they had fun. They also seemed to really enjoy “You Can Count On Me.”

“We are going to miss you,” Alessandro told me at the end of the night with sad eyes as he puffed his cigarette by the hotel entrance. I nodded. I am going to miss them too. All of them.

This morning at breakfast I asked Andrea what her three favorite moments of the trip were. She said if she to pin down exact moments they would be 1) The hike to The Thinking Christ with the wildflowers and making it to the top. 2) Listening to me sing. (Really sweet of her to say. She sang a gorgeous Mexican song that night too and nailed it.) 3) Our final dinner when we sat with the young adults and ate spinach/cheese filled crepes in tomato sauce, apple strudel, and shared a tiramisu. Her top three moments aligned with mine, but I chose an additional three for the sake of the conversation. 1) The night we went stargazing and saw fireflies. 2) The afternoon jam session rehearsing for the party. 3) When I took Andrea to a waterfall I had happened upon earlier, and a friendly butterfly came to say hello. That’s a good omen, you know.