Playtime and Other Activities

I knew in my silver/pink years of life my body would not perform the way it did when I was 40. I expected to slow down; may have some aches and pains. I didn’t expect this.. I’ve been very active all my life. I grew up with 2 younger sports playing brothers who taught me to throw a perfect spiral and go long to catch a pass. “Bring it into your chest!” They would tease when I dropped the ball. We played 3-fly’s-up with the kids on our street and I had a pretty good arm. When I played catch with the older brother he would always say, “You throw like a girl.” To which I would always reply, “I am a girl.”

I threw a mean frisbee my teens. I could catch it behind my back, jump up and snag it in a split between my legs and other assorted nonsense one needs to strive for. One afternoon my oldest brother and I were playing frisbee on the beach. It was a perfect frisbee day! A mild breeze was blowing and the sunbathers were few allowing us to throw long soaring passes we’d have to run through the warm sand to catch. While playing a crowd started to gather and cheered when we did our (amazing) tricks. I spied a photographer and I hoped I wouldn’t mess up as he shot some pictures. He walked  off and the small crowd broke up, tiring of our limited bag of tricks. My brother made his way toward me. Wiping sweat from forehead he asked, “Did you see that guy taking pictures?” I told him I had. He replied, “I was really hot-dogging it hoping he would take my picture but it didn’t work.” The next day there was a picture in the local paper of me tossing a frisbee.

A pivotal point in my life was the day we received a flyer in the mail from the Art Linkletter School Of Jazz Tap and Ballet. They provided transportation to and from the school and my Mom gave me permission to attend! I envisioned myself doing endless pirouettes across a brightly lit stage wearing a fluffy pink tutu. I was probably 7 or 8 years old at the time. My recollection of our first “performance” is a bit cloudy but I remember the best parts.

Our grand recital took place inside the studio and the only audience was our parents seated in chairs at eye level. So much for the grand stage! The dance that is most vivid in my mind is The Mexican Hat Dance. We tapped our way around a chair wearing a sizable sombrero. When the dance was over and I heard the applause I knew I had executed my steps brilliantly!

Thus began a lifelong love and appreciation for dance.