April 6, 2013

28 of 65

Spain

Every morning there’s a halo hangin’
From the corner of my girlfriend’s four post bed,
I know it’s not mine but I’ll see if I can use it for
The weekend or a one-night stand.
–Sugar Ray, “Every Morning” (1999)

It was the Spring of 1999 at the end of a very long day. We spent the previous night in Malaga, Spain, rose early and drove our rented car to Gibraltar. After some sightseeing, we boarded a ferry to Morocco where we spent the day on a whirlwind tour of Tangier. Like all tourists, we visited the Kasbah and the British colonial quarter of Mershan. For lunch we ate couscous and delicious vegetables and drank mint tea, with belly dancers for entertainment. Suzanne and Michael rode camels, and we had many opportunities to purchase souvenirs (we didn’t even need to go into shops; vendors followed us down the street). Then it was back on the ferry for the return to Europe, and then to the car for a 250 mile drive – even longer in kilometers – to Almeria where we were staying.

By midnight, the Moon was reflecting off the Mediterranean, I was driving at least the speed limit along the Costa del Sol and Costa de Almeria, and Cathy and the kids were sleeping. I tried not to wake them, but to keep from falling asleep myself, I turned the radio on at low volume to listen to Spanish music. The first song I heard was “Every Morning” by Sugar Ray, a California group. When commercials began, I changed stations and again heard “Every Morning.” As stations faded out of range and I scanned for something new, “Every Morning” was played time and again. The song got me through the night, kept me awake and stayed in my head for days afterward. Wherever we went the radio kept playing it for days afterward, helping it to keep it in my head. Not the flamenco I was expecting, but catchy. Continue reading →