Saturday, May 23, 2009

Sunday Favorites

Sunday Favorites

Thanks once again to Chari at Happy to Design for another Sunday favorites.  Make sure you visit her to see all of the wonderful ‘oldies but goodies’ we are re-posting because we thought you might enjoy them.  Here’s mine.

PS.  Thank you again to all of you wonderful bloggers.

PSS.  The music is important.

 

                        I Just Want to Dance

     One of the strangest disconnects in getting older is how little dancing is part of my day to day existence. There was a time when I 'practiced' it so much, daydreamed about it so much, and enjoyed it so much, that a day without any of the above would have been unimaginable. 
     A mini-memoir about being a classically trained dancer is not going to follow.
     I am talking about in front of the mirror, door locked, music blasting on my record player dancing. My Saturday morning routine, as a young girl growing up on a ranch far from town, involved watching American Bandstand and running down the hall to my bedroom to practice what I had seen.
     These events in front of the mirror were not vanity. I know what vanity feels like. My youngest daughter Katherine has kept me humble about the allure of vanity and its pitfalls by saying- whenever she feels I need to hear it, "Oh Mom, you're just trying to show off."
     Dancing isn't like that. It's more like the first few words of Chubby Checkers' The Twist: "Come On Everybody".
     This practice paid off. Whether I had the beat or not, I had to have the beat. It was so much fun practicing in the dorm at Saint Mary's Hall (it was an all girls' school, afterall, where would we dance), or dancing at Eastwood Country Club in south San Antonio ( it was not a country club), or learning the bus stop in college, or collecting and savoring every Motown record I could find.                                            I could almost dance while driving my car, with the radio blaring( long before cell phones and to do lists and rehashing it all thinking began to interfere with all of that great fantasizing).
     But this is not a sad tale. Every year, whenever possible, my family travels to New Orleans so Mom can dance. There, in the anonymity of Bourbon Street, it may as well be the Falfurrias Teen Club with The Bondsmen from Alice playing. I am in heaven. 

PSSS.  Go find a mirror and start dancing

22 comments:

Domestic Designer said...

Oh my! Growing up I danced for hours in front of my mirror! I was really good....I thought!:-) My husband has promised to take lessons with me before my daughter's wedding. You see he is a little "challenged" in this area. We will see if this actually occurs. Hope all is well!

xinex said...

Oh, I would love to go on a cruise with you so I can see you dance. Dh and I dance a lot on the cruise and that's pretty much the only time we dance...Christine

Marty@A Stroll Thru Life said...

I grew up dancing to all the records too, and I still have a hard time standing still when some of the old favorites come on. That was a sweet and innocent time of life. Glad I lived during that time. Hugs, Marty

Rebecca said...

That seals it, we're sisters! Good thoughts and prayers for your husband and family.

Sandra said...

Yes, dancing is the best. And yes, I still do it!! I also love Motown. In college, we would be the Supremes and sing "Stop - In the Name of Love" over and over again!! Such fun. A few years ago I got to see Diana Ross and the Supremes. I was in heaven. Sending thoughts of those wonderful oldies your way. Hope today is a good day for you and yours. xoxo

Marjorie (Molly) Smith said...

I loved to dance, now that is not saying I could dance...lol...just that I loved to dance, We used to have sock hops at the gym and the Twist was my favorite dance.
Thanks for sharing.
Molly

Barb said...

Hi Laura, I loved reading your post and I love dancing. Like you, it isn't as much a part of my daily life as it once was. Thanks for reminding me....I may just have to find a mirrow.

Happy Sunday Favorites!

Barb

Chari at Happy To Design said...

Hi Laura...

Ohhh...I love your post and I love to dance!!! I'm 52 yrs. old and know that I don't move like I used to...but it doesn't matter, I love to dance anyway!!! I also remember watching American Bandstand...never missed it! Girl, your post brought back so many fond memories to me! I remember having "girl parties" all evolving around watching and dancing to American Bandstand!!!

How exciting to get to go to New Orleans...I'm sure that you have the time of your life...dancing in the streets!!!

My friend, I just moved to Colorado about 9 yrs. ago. I had a place on Lake Corpus Christi...near the town of Mathis. Do you know where that is at? I also lived in Corpus Christi for a short time and I went to A&M at Kingsville for college (went back to school when I was 42..hehe!) What a small world...our little Blogland is!!!

I'm so glad that you joined in with Sunday Favorites once again...I really enjoyed your post!!!

Have a blessed and safe Memorial Day weekend, my friend!
Chari
PS...I coming to south Texas next month to see all of my family. My three daughters and all my grandchildren are in Corpus...I can't wait!!!

The Texas Woman said...

I spent my 'dancing' years as a Southern Baptist so no mirror dancing for me. I like to dance now but I'm not real good at it!

The Texas Woman

Lady Katherine said...

OK, you have brought back so many memories for you and for me! Yes the music is important! Dance like nobody's Watching! Yes! I ran away from home a few weeks ago and I had the music blaring! lol

Lynn said...

I danced with the post on the stair railing.
Later I danced with taps on my shoes.
Thank you for bringing it all back to me.

June said...

Hi Laura,
What memories. American Bandstand. Loved it! Hubs and I dance every chance we get. We used to teach western swing dancing. We go to barn dances anytime one comes up. Some of my favorite dancing happens right here in my kitchen when it's just me.
Smiles,
June

Anonymous said...

Oooh. how did you know that I've been thinking about dancing lately? And wondering where it went.

Miss Laura Lu/RMS4291960 said...

So glad you came by and visited! Thank you for your nice compliments! HMMM...Okay Laura, the English teacher...what is that? An oxymoron? I'm glad to meet another Laura! There are a lot of us aren't there? Your blog is wonderful! I will be an avid follower from now on! I was so sorry to hear of your husband's health struggles! I will say a prayer for you all! I can so relate to those hospital stays! I, myself, have been dealing with those situations with my parents since I was a teenager and that was a long time ago! Anyway, I was more of a singer than a dancer! While you were dancing I was doing the singing with the brush as my microphone! Still love to sing! My poor family! LOL! God Bless! Lauralu :)

Angie Ledbetter said...

Same era for me. Glad I live right "nextdoor" to New Orleans!

Great blog here, lady. :)

The Stylish House said...

Laura,
I see you are a gifted writer as well as recently retired English teacher. I would love to dance on Bourbon Street, hopefully sooner then later. Wishing you and your family a happy Memorial Day. ~Cathy~

Blondie's Journal said...

Hi Laura!

I noticed that you made a comment on one of my older posts and I am visiting you a bit late to say thank you.

Dancing. Hmmm... A long while ago, my daughter was watchinh MTV when a video/song came on by Robert Palmer. Victim Of Love, to be exact. I started to sing along and she looked at me in amazement, well that sort of Ican'tbelieveyouknowthewordstothissong sort of amazement and to keep her reaction frozen as long as I could, I started to dance. And I danced to the whole song. Her 17 year old brain was thinking both "Is this my MOTHER????", and "Maybe she's not so old/bad/crazy/boring..."

Later, while lying on my bed pretending to read but actually trying not to move my aching thighs, hips and shoulders, I thought, maybe this is a good exercise~something my daughter and I needed to address a long time ago. And then I thought of really and truly dancing to get in shape...

Please know that I am thinking of you, your husband and family during this ordeal.

xoxo
Jane

Connie said...

This is so true. I used to dance more too! I used to clean house to Billy Joel and was a bathroom mirror singer/dancer. Still love to sing in the car with the windows rolled up or when no one is home...I can't sing here on earth but in heaven baby I am gonna sing a solo and you can do a dance!! Connie

trash talk said...

The music made me do it! Seriously, dancing just happens when the right song is playing...just can't keep the old twinkle toes still. I can still chair dance witht the best of them.
I hope everything is going well for you.
Debbie

Wsprsweetly Of Cottages said...

LOVED this post! I love to dance but at 72 I don't want a mirror.. :) I still dance..like crazy...but with NO ONE watching..not even myself. Believe me, no one wants to watch some old woman with everything going South jumping around the room, beat or no beat!
Such a cute post! Enjoy!
Mona

Dixie said...

Laura... I came by Sunday and read your wonderful Dancing post... but my laptop won't let me leave a comment on blogs whose comments are embedded... (and I'm not savy enough with computers to figure out why?!)... so I'm back today to say... I loved this post! It brought back memories of being with girlfriends in Highschool and college... line dancing in our mom's livingroom with furniture pushed against the walls or down the corridors of our dorms... Remember "Let's go Strollin"? Ricky and I frequently dance in the kitchen while cooking supper... not the Stroll... usually the Bump... LOL What a memory reviver you are!

RachelD said...

We dance---DH will hit PLAY on a Leonard Cohen CD and waltz me across the kitchen, or we'll all get up and wiggle to something on TV, as long as it has a good beat.

And for six months or so, WAY before she should have known how, our now-20-months little GrandDaughter has been smitten with Joe Cocker's Feelin' All Right. She's been going to the CD shelf to "get Mr. Joe" for months now, all by herself, and when we start it---we ALL get into high gear. She moves those feet, and does the Roll 'em Out right on cue. And something the kids call The Washing Machine---one of the turn-in-one-spot moves.

And at every family gathering or even with guests---before we sit down, we all get our napkins off the table and have just one napkin-waving, booty-shaking session with Mr. Joe.

Guests talk about it for weeks, and everybody who comes to see us wants to do it.

You're welcome any time.

 

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