There's something about a music festival, about spending a weekend walking between stages, where the only difficult decision is deciding which bands to miss in order to refuel at our campsite, that suspends me from the normal stresses of life, the music acting like a shot of tranquility, transporting me to an easier place, beyond parenthood, beyond adulthood even, where all I have to do is dance.
If only life could be about dancing, even in the rain-- especially when it rains.
During our three days at Salmonfest, a music festival in Ninilchick to support wild salmon, it rained every day, so we all donned our Xtra Tuff boots and stomped down the grass at the fairgrounds, which soon turned to mud, bolstered each morning with bales of hay strewn about by festival volunteers, just so the dancing could go on...
...and on.
The older couple, both with white hair and braids, alone at the front of the dance floor, moving so gracefully in unison that even the teenagers step out of themselves to watch the symmetry of bodies in motion, beauty in comfort, only possible with time.
The tall one who brings an umbrella to the dance floor.
The dreadlocked one, arms like a windmill, eyes wild, dancing to music beyond the stage.
The other tall one, standing in the middle of the crowd. Not dancing. Holding high an iPhone, turning around to take a selfie with the band.
The five-year-old with moves like velvet, part Elvis, part Michael Jackson, wooing all the ladies, oblivious to the smiles in his wake.
The groper, hands traveling south as his partner deflects them, for later, their bodies in constant contact, like water pouring over rocks.
The young ones, who move as a pack, pushing their way through an already jam-packed crowd, hurried along with a pat and a wave by the 40-something women who no longer worry what others think, not on the dance floor.
The tall two, leaning their heads into the window between them, talking loud, missing the music, enthralled with each other.
The barefoot woman with mud-caked legs getting down center stage, friends joining her now and then, her mission to move greater than theirs, content to dance alone, with energy that only increases as the bands play on...
...and on.
The short one, wide-stance-dancing--elbows and hips beware--claiming her space on the floor, tilting her head back to feel the rain, her arms reaching for her husband's hands, a smile on her face that says: This is it, this is all I need.
Oh wait, that's me.
A woman walked up to Nick and me and said: "I've been watching you two dance and its just so obvious that you love each other."
I gave her a hug and said, "Thank you for saying that. We do."
Our life isn't easy.
At times it downright sucks.
It doesn't just rain it pours. Sleets. Hails sideways.
And yet.
We have love.
The kind that calls for kindness between us when the skies unleash, that allows our bodies to move in synch as the drum beats on...
...and on.
I loved this so much.
Posted by: Joanna | 08/11/2016 at 12:00 PM
I loved this too!
Posted by: Toni Rieger | 08/11/2016 at 02:19 PM
Ah, thank you:)
Posted by: Christy | 08/11/2016 at 09:07 PM