This Past Month
It has been a while since I last posted. Time gets away quickly. On Easter Sunday I went skiing, up at Gunstock in NH. It was a gorgeous day, 20 degrees at the base of the mountain and 10 degrees at the top. It was a great day, bright sun and a big blue sky. After a few runs I was comfortable enough to let it loose and cruise on down with (not quite reckless) abandon. There was hardly anyone there, no lift lines and little trail traffic.
During the past month or so I've been learning zydeco dancing. It's a fun dance and, while I can incorporate some swing moves into it, I'm interested in learning more of its traditional movements. It's an earthy dance, for sure. I took a private lesson and, at the end of the session, the dance instructor said that she felt comfortable enough with me to say that the dance is really done with the pelvis. I can do that; well, now I can. I'm concentrating on learning to dance with my body more in place than, for example, in swing where there's more movement in space.
Last weekend I went to a wine tasting party. First time ever in my life. I wanted to make fun of it, but couldn't. You know, the bourgeoisie of it all, hah, hah. Instead, I got involved in learning about wine. The color, clarity, legs, noting the subtle nature of the smells the wine exuded when you swirled it. It was pretty cool. I'm not much of a wine drinker, never paid attention to its finer aspects, and know I'll never become a wine snob, but it was neat to learn about it.
What is interesting to me is that while wine goes right to my head and I can get tipsy pretty quickly, I have a strong tolerance for hard liquor. Beer, I find, bloats me and causes me to snore so I stay away from it. Mostly though, I find I can do without any alcohol at all. I don't like to drink and then go dancing since the effects of the alcohol affects my rhythm and timing. I also don't like to dance with women who have been drinking as, I've found, it affects their balance and and makes leading them more difficult.
A few weeks ago I went up to the Boston Tea Party in Danvers, MA for a day (it was actually a weekend but we only went for one day) and took a bunch of west coast swing workshops. At the end of the day I was confused, tired and hungry and wondered if I'd learned anything at all - but I had. Now I just need to go and dance more west coast swing.
I did run across John there. He and his friend, Carol, drove up from Catonsville, MD for the weekend. It was very cool seeing someone from Baltimore. Especially so since John had been part of the men's group I was in in Baltimore. We ate lunch together before heading off into separate workshops. Hopefully, I'll see him again soon.
Dixie's doing well. She's had flare ups of stiffness in her hips, especially the right one, but giving her Novox from time to time keeps the inflammation down. Yesterday she was stalking a squirrel on a playground. She was walking so deliberately, slow, like a lion in the wild. The squirrel finally started paying attention and hopped up into a tree. After the squirrel did that Dixie broke into a run. I just shake my head. Dix, I said, you're a little late and a little too slow. She doesn't care.
During the past month or so I've been learning zydeco dancing. It's a fun dance and, while I can incorporate some swing moves into it, I'm interested in learning more of its traditional movements. It's an earthy dance, for sure. I took a private lesson and, at the end of the session, the dance instructor said that she felt comfortable enough with me to say that the dance is really done with the pelvis. I can do that; well, now I can. I'm concentrating on learning to dance with my body more in place than, for example, in swing where there's more movement in space.
Last weekend I went to a wine tasting party. First time ever in my life. I wanted to make fun of it, but couldn't. You know, the bourgeoisie of it all, hah, hah. Instead, I got involved in learning about wine. The color, clarity, legs, noting the subtle nature of the smells the wine exuded when you swirled it. It was pretty cool. I'm not much of a wine drinker, never paid attention to its finer aspects, and know I'll never become a wine snob, but it was neat to learn about it.
What is interesting to me is that while wine goes right to my head and I can get tipsy pretty quickly, I have a strong tolerance for hard liquor. Beer, I find, bloats me and causes me to snore so I stay away from it. Mostly though, I find I can do without any alcohol at all. I don't like to drink and then go dancing since the effects of the alcohol affects my rhythm and timing. I also don't like to dance with women who have been drinking as, I've found, it affects their balance and and makes leading them more difficult.
A few weeks ago I went up to the Boston Tea Party in Danvers, MA for a day (it was actually a weekend but we only went for one day) and took a bunch of west coast swing workshops. At the end of the day I was confused, tired and hungry and wondered if I'd learned anything at all - but I had. Now I just need to go and dance more west coast swing.
I did run across John there. He and his friend, Carol, drove up from Catonsville, MD for the weekend. It was very cool seeing someone from Baltimore. Especially so since John had been part of the men's group I was in in Baltimore. We ate lunch together before heading off into separate workshops. Hopefully, I'll see him again soon.
Dixie's doing well. She's had flare ups of stiffness in her hips, especially the right one, but giving her Novox from time to time keeps the inflammation down. Yesterday she was stalking a squirrel on a playground. She was walking so deliberately, slow, like a lion in the wild. The squirrel finally started paying attention and hopped up into a tree. After the squirrel did that Dixie broke into a run. I just shake my head. Dix, I said, you're a little late and a little too slow. She doesn't care.
posted by Frank at 9:25 AM
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