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9:02 p.m. - Tuesday, Jun. 17, 2003
Ms Leslie and THE DANCE
In my intermittent master plan to make myself learn to dance, I made progress today. Unbeknownst to me, a local casino (BoomTown) has been hosting free line dancing lessons every Tuesday night for more than three years. So tonight, I cleaned up a little bit and drove over there. Mistake number one was getting there at five-thirty for a class that didn�t start until seven. That made it necessary, of course, that I go pay thirteen dollars for the buffet and eat myself silly. I shouldn�t be too hard on myself though, because I really only ate a pretty normal meal. Fresh salad for starters, a single small piece of country fried chicken, two small pieces of BBQ sausage and a tantalizing dollop of mashed potatoes and gravy, something I don�t often eat. The dining room was filled with oldsters.. mostly locals, I think, but they weren�t so old that they had lost their appetites. Amid the tables piled high with crab shells, BBQ ribs and dishes of chocolate cake made soggy by an overabundance of melting ice-cream, my table looked like that of a true anorexic.

I are slow, but even after a most leisurely cup of coffee� OK� and a sliver of pecan pie.. Sheesh!.. I was still too early for the classes. The doors were open and a few people were standing around waiting to get started, but I couldn�t make myself go in just yet. If I had courage even the size of that sliver of pie, I would have just gone and sat at a table by the dance floor until starting time, but no, I took the coward�s way out. I went and sat at a nickel slot machine for five minutes and fifty dollars. By the time I had emptied my purse and gone to an ATM to replenish it, the lessons had started. At last, I found thenerve to slip in and sit quietly at a table while the class of twenty or so went over a new step.

I was a little disappointed to see that all of the students were women, except one. But at the same time, I was pleased to see so many women who were uncoordinated enough that I thought they might detract from my own ineptitude. I saw a could of women who were heavier than me, two who were more masculine than me, and one who even had a thicker beard than me. I wish them no ill whatsoever, but I think I�m learning that the best place to fit in with a group is dead in the middle. I think there just might be a chance of that with this group.

As they began to get their new steps down, some of the ladies were looking at me. Everything inside me was aching to get out on the floor and commence making a dancing ass of myself, but I suppose I had come far enough on this first expedition. Too bad, because when the instructor put on the music, what had looked lke a kind of boring and lablrious activity suddenly took on a beat and some joy. The students were able to loosen up and enjoy moving with the music. Some of them slipped up, of course, and got out of step and out of position. But the casino walls didn�t come crashing down in a cloud of dust and old cigarette smoke. They just laughed at themselves and tried to find their place again. They were allowed to survive.

One of the ladies who outweighed me gave out before the music did and came over to get some water from the pitchers and ice on a table behind me. She stopped to chat and encourage me to get out and dance with them. That was sooo sweet, but it also nearly gave me a heart attack. I swallowed the panic well enough to explain to her that I felt better to learn by watching this first time. She sat by me for a few minutes. From her I learned that it was pretty much the same group that came out week after week and that yes, they did learn new steps each week. The instructor is having surgery in July, so there�ll be no lessons that month, but there is still one more lesson this month.

So I told he to watch for me. I promised that I would come next week and start out right from the beginning with them. It didn�t mean a lot to her, I don�t suppose, but to me, it meant that I had made a commitment. I take those kind of seriously. Refreshed, she encouraged me once more to getup and dance. That was enough for me. I told her I had to go, but I�d see her next week. Then I rushed home and ordered a line dancing video from amazon.com so I can try to get a head start on some of the steps.

If I can only just go back there next week and forget myself long enough to move my stupid feet� I just might have a little fun. Postive energy is in order, eh?

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