I’ve been enjoying starting my days with a walk so much that I didn’t want to miss this morning, even though I was scheduled to sing for Sunday service.
So, I left extra early — with Sunday clothes, sandals, and breakfast shake in my backpack — and walked to the amphitheater!
It felt really good being out in the beautiful morning sunshine and all of a sudden a song from childhood popped into my head: “I love to go a-wandering along the mountain track, and as I go, I love to sing, my knapsack on my back.” The only other verse I remembered was: “Oh, may I go a-wandering until the day I die! And, may I always laugh and sing, beneath God’s clear blue sky!”
I felt so happy as I sang it inwardly the whole way!
Of course, I had to look it up after I got back home. Here’s a video — in case you somehow have never heard the song — and the complete lyrics. What a wonderful example of joyfully singing while feeling at one with the world!
The Happy Wanderer
I love to go a-wandering,
Along the mountain track,
And as I go, I love to sing,
My knapsack on my back.
Chorus:
Val-deri, Val-dera,
Val-deri,
Val-dera-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha
Val-deri, Val-dera.
My knapsack on my back.
I love to wander by the stream
That dances in the sun,
So joyously it calls to me,
“Come! Join my happy song!”
I wave my hat to all I meet,
And they wave back to me,
And blackbirds call so loud and sweet
From ev’ry green wood tree.
High overhead, the skylarks wing,
They never rest at home
But just like me, they love to sing,
As o’er the world we roam.
Oh, may I go a-wandering
Until the day I die!
Oh, may I always laugh and sing,
Beneath God’s clear blue sky!