Thursday, January 6, 2022 Dancing Fool

Every child instinctively likes to dance. Put on some music and watch your toddlers start to move with their funny little ways of bobbing up and down, interspersed with interesting jerks and twists. I was no exception. Here I am at around 2 years of age, obviously having found the perfect dance partner.

But the urge to dance didn’t die out as I got older. When I was in my teens, I used to wait until everyone was gone from the house so I could try out my impromptu dance routines. This didn’t happen as often as I’d like since there were eight souls living in our house, but occasionally the coast was clear. I’d close the curtains, turn on the music (LOUD) and dance from one side of the room to the other doing fancy moves, leaps and turns, etc. I really thought I was something else. Part of me wanted to open up those curtains in case someone should go by – why should I hide my talent under a bushel? But the other part of me, the sane part, knew that I might not get the acclaim that I conjured up in my delusions of grandeur. What if someone guffawed, or worse, threw some rotten tomatoes at my efforts? No, better to keep this a solo act without an audience.

I don’t get many opportunities to dance these days, but recently saw an ad for an app that has short, uncomplicated dance moves as a way of exercise. I hate exercise, but I love to dance. I also hate spending money on something I can do myself, so I decided to give it a try in the privacy of our living room, just like the old days.

I quickly found out that I’m not a teenager anymore. After about 60 seconds I was out of breath. Then my knees began to hiss and jeer, threatening to shut the whole operation down. There was no leaping and jumping, that’s for sure. The dance playlist that I’d randomly chosen sounded vaguely obscene – oops, I should have chosen one from an earlier, more innocent era. Oh, and I left the curtains open, having realized somewhere along the line that people are not, in fact, just roaming around hoping to see somebody in their house dancing. Still, if I’d spotted anyone, I would have quit instantly, just in case. No use taking any chances.

Would I do it again? Absolutely! Will I tell any of you when I’m about to commence this madness? Absolutely not! Better keep this a solo act without an audience.

I’ll probably close the curtains and delete this in the morning. Don’t look.