Dancing Tigers

I've been square dancing for about 5 months now, & our class (inc several teens) just 'graduated' in January. (Here I am with my certificate & our teacher /caller, Leonard)
I'm still getting the mind-body connection, making the leap between what's called & what I'm supposed to DO - after several years excelling at ballroom, I am humbled by my many 'oops!' moments - when I'm headed left & should be going right, or I'm facing out & should be facing in, . . . or not moving when I should be . . .

Our club dances the 1st & 3rd Saturdays, & I was working on talking myself out of going Saturday (classes ended several weeks ago, 'everyone' else got to attend Mid-Winter the weekend before - with lots of clubs, classes, demonstations & dancing - while I was hanging out with my grandkids . . . I was rather tired) when my college roommate Charlotte phoned, telling me she & her husband were coming to our dance!! YEA!

Now I need to go back a few (mumbldy mumble) years:
Feb 1968, college 'priview' weekend at OCE (now WOU) in Monmouth. I came over the mtns with my dad, & Char was there from the next town, to check out the school. Two shy, bookish & musically inclined gals, we decided to be 'alone together' & went to the orientation meetings, walked around campus, checked out the library & the dorms, . . .
We both opted to attend OCE (not a hard choice for me, since I wanted to be a teacher, & both an aunt & Great Aunt attended in the 20s, when it was 'Oregon Normal School' (teacher's colleges were 'normal' schools - setting the norm)
Char put me as her roommate choice (we wanted to live in one of the older dorms, not a modern one! & my mom wasn't sure I 'knew her well enough' to list her for a roomie choice - but I didn't know anyone else, either! I think she was nervous 'cause Char was one of 10 kids, & I was an only - we got along fine!!)

She was a music major, with Secondary Ed minor, I was El Ed with Music Minor . . . & that first year we jumped out of bed ~ a quarter till 8 FOUR mornings a week, for our music Theory class! I was in Honors Western Civ, we took creative writing together, & worked on getting those 'basic' classes out of the way. She took flute lessons, while I studied voice, we sang in her church choir, & I only locked her out once! ('No, you can't lock me out, I don't have anywhere else to go!!')

A friend of Char's introduced me to my boyfriend, she began dating as well, & a few years later, both Charlotte & I were married & raising kids (her daughter just turned 39 on Feb 3rd, mine on the 7th) . . . Char went back to school (while working) & finished several degrees over the last 40+ years, most recently a Doctorate in Psychology! I became an LMT in the early 80s, & though I have lots of education, mostly in the healing arts & music, I don't have a degree.

We have one of those psychic connections, & would often 'think of each other' just before one or the other called. She went on to adopt several children from two of her sisters, & we visited back & forth. Our kids looked like they were siblings or at least cousins! We ate a lot of popcorn, slathered in butter, had giggly slumber parties, & drank white russians (our kids liked it when we did that, then we were sure to stay overnight!)

In the 80s, Charlotte began Square dancing, & I was taking Ballet. With her beautiful voice, she decided to become a 'caller.'
Now women don't often 'call' - it's pretty much a men's world - tho women often 'cue' the round dances. (One of my best friends from Grade & High School was square dancing as well, & BOTH those gals met their husbands @ sq. dances!!)

Back to the present: I'd been regretting that when I began taking Sq. Dance lessons, Char had taken a break from calling - boo~!~!~! OK, So she was finishing that degree program, her husband had knee & hip replacements, & her music is all in 'vinal' form!!

So a few weeks ago, she was at that Midwinter Festival, & talking to our Caller Leonard, & mentioned that her friend took the fall lessons at his club ~ but I going by a nick-name, hard for old friends to adjust to - so she used my 'old' name!! It took awhile for just who I was to register :)
When it did, Leonard urged them to visit our club, & invited her to 'call a few tips!' She & Leonard began calling at the same time, & would often run into each other at used book/music stores, & 'fight' over the records, & often called at each other's dances. I appreciate the graceful way he includes other callers at our dance. Our Cuer, Jackie, is great about that, too; down to coordinating outfits with a gal she frequently shares cuing dances with!

That weekend Char ran into another old buddy caller, who told her he could transfer her music to disk (or computer?? They have some pretty fancy systems these days!) So she's decided to begin calling again!!

I told her she was just picking up my mental 'prodding' to do just that!! Well - it just didn't seem fair that she was such a fantastic caller, & I'd begun dancing after she stopped! I was 'on the ceiling' the whole evening!! That whole 'only child' bit - I get to 'choose' my siblings, & those oldest & bestest friends are so precious.
Char & Bill invited me to visit their club (in Milwaukie) next weekend - &, as the other dancers say, I need the 'floor time' to really integrate the dance!! &, when she rejoined Leonard to sing harmony on his last call, he told her she doesn't need to ask if she wants to jump in on a call - just - jump in!!!
He reminds me, just a bit, of my dad or one of mine uncles - this is a good thing . . . .

December Daze

Does the season seem to be racing by to you, too?? I think my mind is still in November. It's grey & rainy (was COLD last week, with my first frozen pipes in this 100 yr old farm house!) Threats of bad weather kept my group of galfriends in town on the weekend, rather than our planned Holiday trip to the big city (Portland). We had coffee at our regular watering hole, & dinner at a lovely restaurant where I've played several times - to the delight of all! The food was delicious & well prepared, & blissfully gluten free (yes, there was bread on the table, but not in the sauces! & since the others chose 'cakey' deserts, I got a poached pear with house ice cream & chocolate sauce all to myself!)
My grandkids, as well as my son & his wife are all in 'Nutcracker' last weekend & this, so I went along to help backstage (& watch from the wings) for Sunday's performance. I began dancing with the senior teacher 30 years ago, after seeing this show, so there's always a bit of magic! Emily, almost 6, was a little sister of 'Marie' (often 'Clara') & had a duet on the front of the stage during party scene! She loves ballet - took classes in the summer up in their area, & seems to thrive with all the dance. The 9 year old is a clown & an ice princess, so again has some extra bits.

I'll be playing over the lunch hour at a local ins. office, You can head over to my Ladyharp blog for my post on the season's Holiday Music.

I've been working on more fingerless gloves, & somehow yesterday misplaced (lost??) my bag of knitting - sigh!! Where?? Had it (I thought) when I went to the car, didn't have it when I reached my office!! Was distracted by texting back & forth with my dau-in law about something she's making for a friend (she created the pattern for me, so I was sending her measurements, etc)
& I'm working on the presents for my 'Mom's Group' gals for our brunch next weekend. For several years our group has been a steady 6 or 7, several have joined so 10 - 12 could be present next week!! It's a simple item, & I'll make 12! My 'treat' for the Brunch will be the yummy Gluten Free Scones - no nuts, as one of the gals is sensitive to tree nuts. & head over to Hanlie's blog for a great re-cap of the info on coconut oil!!
The year I joined the group, I knew there was a holiday 'brunch' - but not that it included presents! So sat in amazement as gals with full bags made their way around the table, placing a small bundle in front of each plate! I've made ornaments, blessing stars, & etc, & recieved similar gifties. Last year, one of the gals had gone to France in the summer, & brought back a cutwork placemat, another year, we had a glass 'candy' from Italy from another adventurer!

Off to work on the presents!

12 Secrets - week 1

Chocolate - that's what I need to begin, right?? Isn't Chocolate a KEY ingredient for creativity? Ahhh :)

OK, here we go, exploring our sense of our own Creativity, for the 12 Secrets book group!
I was lucky to be the only child of older parents, my dad creative in music, my mom with colour, home making, cooking, story telling, praise.
A fav. author, Kim Stafford, son of Oregon's Poet Laureate William Stafford, talks about sitting around the dinner table, sharing ideas, & his dad reframing (after praising the idea) 'Abe Lincon said it this way: . . . Walt Whitman expressed that idea thusly: . . . ' always affirming the idea had merit, then restating it with elegance.

I grew up playing piano & singing with my dad, crafting with my mom. She crocheted & knit, an aunt commented that with her colour sense, she could have done very nice graphic art, if she'd been so inclined. This was in the 50s & 60s, when moms stayed home; but my mom was from pioneer stock, & KNEW strong women! She'd gone to secretarial school in the 30s, on disability money (polio at 9) & saved the family farm. Her grandma birthed babies, her mama grew herbs. She reminded me that at Grange (a fraternal farm Organization) women could hold any office but one, which was 3 more than men could hold! - the 3 graces had to be women!)

I recall dying rice & making mosaics, carving lino blocks, cutting out paper dolls & snowflakes, making candles, learning to crochet & knit; & learning to knit again, & again!! Hearing stories, both from books & from my mom's childhood. 4-H sewing, choosing pretty fabric, & eventually making my own patterns. Paint by number sets, & then using the left over paint for my own pictures. Taking art in HS, with a gal teacher, who enjoyed art & enjoyed encouraging her students! I learned to do watercolour & enjoy washes, rather than just painting with them like the oils.

Playing, drawing, reading, taking piano lessons (from the best local teacher, a woman who'd gone to NY to study voice, Marion Coe); going to community concerts, going to musicals, being in musicals in High School, having a crush on an older boy, so joining the Church Choir (after an obligatory year in Jr Hi choir), & then on my HS choir teacher, so working HARD to learn to accompany our 'Girls Choir.'
& writing - I loved horse stories (lived across from a dairy that also had ponies, & learned to ride from my neighbor, who'd been a jockey (the woman! Another strong female role model :) So I wrote horse stories. & copied poems, had a black book of poetry, written by hand. & jourals - I've journaled since I was about 12, have loads of journals. Usually just words, with an occasional drawing - am working at creating an ART JOURNAL!

I took Creative Writing in HS, & again in college. After leaving my marriage, dated a HS teacher for awhile, & he taught 'imaginative writing,' which I asked if I could sign up for! He, my HS room mate, one teen & I were easily the best writers in the class! Last year at my 40th HS reunion, we toured the old HS, & while I could remember teachers & classes, I looked at the rooms, wondering how the other students could recall which was which!

By my Sr. year, I accompanied friends at 'solo ensemble' (voice & violin), was one of two classroom accompaniests & played for one song in a choir concert. I did better at my piano recital than ever, & was 'musician' for Grange, as well as Pomona, one of the 'graces.' My & I did duets in church & Grange at least seasonally, & I was in Church choirs for a few more years.
My mom's family often 'read' plays, & she was in a few (usually the 'old grandma' so she wouldn't have to move much with the crutches), so when I was in plays, she'd help me rehearse.

One grade school teacher made an unkind comment about my singing (which used to sting, now I can hardly recall the remark!); I was disappointed when my dad & I weren't invited to be part of the 'dad & daughter' performance when I was in HS choir, . . . but I sang with him at Church & Grange, & adapted his 'I can' attitude. & I was very sad I didn't get to dance in the May Day celebration in 5th grade - I got sick.

Movement came harder - with my mom on crutches, I hiked with my dad, & we camped under the stars (& sang - I loved it when he sang us to sleep!) & did day hikes. But I hate, hate, hated PE!! I was abysmal at 'ball sports' with the jockish women & mean men PE teachers. & I almost drown river swimming with a gal friend; tho my mom had taught my cousins to swim at the pond at the family farm! So no swimming, & grace?? & did I mention my rotten posture?!

In College I took one gymnastic class, & enjoyed that (was fairly good, too :) & volleyball, oh, & archery! I thought I'd enjoy archery more than I did, lol. I was a Music Minor, with a great background in Theory (thanks to Mrs Coe!), tho didn't really enjoy getting up for an 8 AM class 4 days a week! I tried for swimming, but got sick partway through the term, so didn't learn yet again! (I'd failed beginning swimming a couple of times before the near drowning - how does a child FAIL beginning swimming??)

I took Life Drawing, & was in the first 'Fine Arts' class - brainstorm of an artist I've recently re-met - graphic art, music & drama! We drove to Ashland (5 hours) to see a few plays, & got to play with abstract art (early 70s) I'm one of those kids who didn't stop drawing at 12 - just kept on, & felt good about my skills with that.

When my kids were little, I kept up with crafts & drawing, often having a sketch pad along when we went to coffee or Kinko's with friends. I made dolls, I journaled, sewed clothes, made ornaments. My mother-in law is a Renaissance woman, & also crafty. We learned to spin, we knit things (I'd finally learned how!) we embroidered, crocheted, drew, did watercolours. She is a Biologist, & loved pastels - has some very realistic paintings she's done over the years.
My biologist former hubby & I went 'bog-stomping' with our entomologist friends, looking for small iridescent beetles that live in the moss just under the surface; 'stomp' on the moss, & they float to the top. I took along the watercolours & some paper, & painted the scenery as we drove, painted the hills around the bog.

My grandma Mary made rose beads (mom's mom) & in HS I found an article on that craft in one of my girl's magazines. My first attempt looked like raisins!! The author hadn't mentioned grinding the paste! So I experimented with the recipe, & finally made smooth beads! Later, in an herb class, the instructor suggested keeping culinary herbs relatively whole, & grinding them before use (larger quantity) in a coffee mill. Aha!! I tried that with 'crispy dry' rose petals, & viola! Lovely rose petal 'powder' to reconstitute for a lovely, smooth bead!
She also made 'switches' of women's hair, & my mom taught me how to do that, & we made a few. My hair & my mom's from her teen years were the same colour ! I gardened & kept a garden journal (that had drawings! & garden designs)

30 years ago, my niece was in The Nutcracker, & we were invited 'up' (~ 30 miles from where we lived) to watch her. I was enchanted! All those ballerina paper dolls, & 'Francis,' my tall ballerina doll - I'd always wanted to take ballet, but our small central Oregon town didn't boast a dance studio. & our Grange didn't hold Square Dances, so I'd only danced around the living room with my dad to Lawrence Welch!
I tagged along when my sis-in law went to her adult ballet class a week later, & the teacher 'talked me into' taking class, too; even though I wasn't dressed for it! (probably in jeans :)

I love love loved ballet!! & it was an hour's drive. I surprised myself, as I thought of myself as 'hating exercise' (I really hated "PE"!!) I tried taking ballet back 'home,' a much larger town, but no 'World Class teacher!' (Lynn studied Russian ballet with Branaslava Najinska, Nijinsky's sister; & taught Peggy Flemming some of the grace when her own daughter was figure skating in Ca) . . . .
So I began commuting for ballet classes, & we eventually moved here. It took me several years to really feel confident & competent, but I loved ballet, & my posture improved as I took class. My hubby, son & daughter all began taking class, too, tho my son didn't stick with it long, the rest of us danced off & on for years. At 33, I went 'on pointe,' didn't do a lot of that! - but COULD! :) & after moving to Breitenbush, I came down for a 3 week summer workshop with the head teacher from the Bolshoi ballet! 2 classes a day with him, & a class or two with Lynn - by the end of that time I was IN SHAPE!
I'd begun taking Tai Chi after ~ 5 years of ballet, & so taught that in the community. & have studied Qigong & a Cherokee movement form as well.

My daughter was a dance minor in the same college my aunt, great aunt & I had attended, in a great dance program. She took modern, jazz, belly dance as well as ballet, & I've branched out as well.
Last night, she went to ballet with her 8 yr old dau (who was just in her first Nutcracker - Lynn's 25 yr old daughter Emma has taken over teaching) while I went to Ecstatic dance with the almost 4 year old!

So I've always thought of myself as musical & 'artsy craftsy,' with dance & the harp later additions. I've been lucky to feel creative all my life, though I have expressed it in different ways, & to have my creativity enhance my health & vice versa. Reading some of the others stories, I feel truly blessed!

Attitude of Gratitude

I so enjoyed seeing 'Gratitude' for Friday - & it was a lovely, blue sky day here in oregon!! I walked to meet a gal who wants to learn Reiki - she found my card ~ 4 years ago, in a Library book!! & contacted me then, but cancelled before meeting me - now is ready to proceed! I love the synchronicity :)
I walked to pay my property taxes, I got my loan from a local S & L ($ stays in county, they have a large part of their budget allocated for donations to local charities each year, & we that bank there 'vote' on our favorites, or can add new ones!) & am grateful to be able to support local libraries, schools, roads, fire & police, . . .
I am grateful for many things:

• family
• sunny days
• abundant water (& yes, those rainy days)
• health
• Reiki
• being a Massage Therapist, & enjoying my work
• dance, dance dance!
  
• loving friends
• my sweet pup companion, Gracie Mae
• my kids & grandkids
• food, shelter & warmth
• clients & students
• teachers & elders
• babies
• siprituality & spiritual community
• this circle of Soul Sisters
  
• My 'sister' groups
  
• my harps, drums, flute, & musical interest/ability
• a wonderful community
• grace

Thank you for your presence & support!