Snowed In

The snow has repeatedly interfered with our dance plans in the month of February. Last Friday a snow storm blew in and cancelled our club dance and today another came before the day was out both our club dance and our weekly dance lesson had gone by the wayside. None the less we resolved to practice a couple new moves - one for the Puerto Rican salsa and another for the Rockabilly Swing. Though the wind is howling and whipping the snow around our windows we still managed to dance through it all.


That's something to remember - dance through it all. I'm on a positive thinking kick lately, a difficult task sometimes, and I'm doing my best to apply it to all phases of my life. That includes dancing. There are a million little things that can get you down and make you want to hang up your dance cleats. Bad bands, bad dance floors, clods crowding the floor, add in all of life's un-dance-related troubles and you've got the makings of some real heartbreak.

Dance is like life, you get through it by practicing the right steps and by having a good partner. Good doesn't mean skilled - you don't need Fred Astaire or Ginger Rodgers to make it. Good means someone who knows, loves, and supports you through all those rough spots. I can't tell you how many times I sat and banged my head when Kelly and I first took up the Lindy Hop and the Rockabilly Swing. They're tough dances and neither of them came naturally to me. I had to screw up a hundred times before I got the basic right in either dance and there still are days when I'm an absolute menace on the floor. But I can't give up. I won't give up. To quote a corny song from White Christmas, "the best things happen while you're dancing…" Why give up the best things for the mediocre things - I'm not shooting for mediocrity!