July 19, 2023
Most Tuesday evenings will find Judy and I at the nearby Legion, attending a great ‘Open-Mic’ where around thirty people expose themselves by singing and playing for those gathered. About seventy people usually attend. There’s a large dance floor so many folks come just for that.
I love to go just to listen and observe. All performers get a good ‘hand’. Some are very talented. Others can barely hold a tune. It doesn’t matter. How wonderful! Last week an elderly (my age) couple sat at the table, just down from me a bit. We nodded and smiled, seeing each other many times before, but not really knowing each other.
He had carried in a case, but one not shaped for an instrument, as could be expected. After they seated themselves, he proceeded to open it. From inside he took two pairs of shoes and placed them on the table. They then both removed their footwear, placed them carefully in the case and donned the new Then he took a small can from the case and shook from it, onto the floor between their two chairs, some white powder. After placing the can on the table, the two proceeded to rub their newly shod feet around the whitened floor in a most serious manner.
After a few minutes of this, he went to the case again, this time retrieving a small hand whiskbroom and dustpan with which he bent down to clean up the powder and, after carefully doing so, poured the recaptured wax back into the can. The three items were then returned to the case. They were ready.
The next song was a two-step, and off they went.
What a wonderful picture. Two people who had loved each other long and well, adapting with time as to how to enjoy each other. What better way than to dance. And as knees become tender and weight seems to grow, good dance shoes and less friction help a lot. They know what to do, what works for them. I imagine they look forward to this weekly ritual where they once more swing around the dance floor, and in the doing, blend with the innumerable other times, people and places in which they have enjoyed each other.
They might reside in a mansion or in a one-room hovel. It wouldn’t matter. The loving ritual and nearness of the dance said all that was necessary. They had learned what was most important to them and were living it. What a great lesson for us all. No matter our circumstance.
This past year has been one of ‘no dancing’ for Judy and me, because of my right knee. It’s now, finally, on the mend and I dearly look forward to us joining this couple and others on the dance floor. But first, I’m going out and buying myself a designated pair of dancing shoes. And maybe a can of magic white powder.
Anthony, still dancing
anthoygifford42@gmail.com
