Columbus, OH –
“Do you play?”
It was a valid question.
After all, I had just walked into his shop, looked around at the various Ouds that he had on display, ignoring the rest of his merchandise, pointed to the one he had hanging in the entryway, and asked if I could take a closer look at it.
Not exactly a typical tourist, looking for a souvenir to take home.
See, it was my last day in Amman, the capital of Jordan.
I would be flying home the next day.
I had just spent a week wandering the country in the company of about a dozen photographers.
It went about like you might expect.
We pull up to someplace that our guide thought we might want to see, and we’d get off the bus and scatter in all different directions.
Each of us focusing on whatever caught our eye.
Focused on various “bright and shiny objects”.
Only very little was either bright (other than the sun), or shiny.
More like dusty and dingy.
Yet oh so interesting.
So for Tony, our guide, it was a frustrating week.
For him, it was like herding cats.
It didn’t matter how long he said we had, we took longer.
We’d pull up to a scenic overlook, above the “Grand Canyon” of Jordan, and he’d say we had fifteen minutes.
Twenty minutes later, he would be trying to herd us back onto the bus…
And we’d suddenly spot a large herd of sheep and goats coming over the ridge…
And poof, we’ve scattered once again, as we each raced to where we thought might be a good vantage point to shoot from.
Suddenly, a fifteen-minute stop took thirty-plus minutes.
And that was one of our shorter stops.
But that was just part of Tony’s frustrations for the week.
See, his job is to be a tour guide.
He wore his official tour guide vest every day.
And each place we stopped to visit, he was offering his services to take us around as he told us all about whatever it was that we was there to see.
Only we weren’t interested.
We were only interested in the “bright and shiny objects” that caught our eye.
So by the end of the week, he had mostly given in.
We’d stop someplace, and he’d tell us what time to be back at the bus…
Then he’d mumble his way through saying that, for those who might be interested, they could stay close to him, and he’d lead them around the place…
Resigned to knowing that none of us would be taking him up on this offer…
That we were more interested in being mountain goats, climbing over rocks to find a better vantage point…
And show up at our meeting point at more or less when we had agreed.
So on our last day, we marked off an hour or so to spend in Amman’s main bazaar.
It was a double purpose opportunity.
We could shoot photos of the bazaar…
Plus we could shop for souvenirs…
If we wanted.
So, as we were walking down the street, towards the bazaar, I looked across the street and spotted it.
In the doorway of what was primarily a souvenir shop, beside a guitar, hung an Oud.
And I made a mental note to stop there on my way back towards the bus.
Which brings me back to the shop owner, asking me if I played.
“Not the Oud,” was how I replied.
And those were the magic words.
“This is a student model,” he told me, as he was getting it down. “I’ve got some professional models in the back.”
So, to the back rooms of his shop I was led, and shown several that, while plainer in appearance, had detail touches that indicated the luthier was building an Oud to be played, not seen.
Well, they were to be seen, but the emphasis was on the playability and sound, not fancy sound holes.
And soon I walked out with a new addition to my collection of instruments from around the world.
With an idea playing in my head.
I knew it would play a part in this year’s Christmas song.
The problem was what song should that be.
But it was already playing in my head.
One I had considered in years past…
Only to reject it.
After all, it’s been done before.
Some creative, some over the top.
Yes, the Ukranian Carol, also known as Carol Of The Bells.
But with a more Arabian feel…
So, without further ado…
This year’s Twisted Christmas song is…
For the full archive of Twisted Xmas songs, click here.
For more photos of Jordan, click here.
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