Steppin' Outside the Box

Whew! So much is going on around here these days, I can't seem to find time to blog, and don't know where to begin when I do. Let me see if I can take a stab at it this morning and at least say hello and let you know that I haven't fallen off the face of the earth.

It is a cool Sunday morning here in my corner of the country, the house is quiet and cozy, and I don't have anywhere I have to be in the next five minutes. Ahhhh, time to sit and relax, and maybe even write. What a treat.

I mentioned in Brain Drain that I was suffering from transplantation wilt and didn't quite know what to do with myself in this new pot on this strange window sill. After sitting back and relaxing and getting lost in my books for awhile, I decided to gather up my courage and send some new shoots out into this unfamiliar soil. I had to take some action and branch out. I started by calling a couple of the neighbours we had spoken to in passing on the street, and invited them in for lunch one day. They seemed surprised but pleased with the call and gladly accepted the invitation. AC made his famous sweet potato soup and it was a hit on the cold Autumn afternoon we got together.

The snow has already started to fall here, so our bikes have been put in the basement and won't be dusted off for use again until next spring. Sigh! Now the bikes are in storage, AC and I have been looking into fitness clubs and other ways to get exercise to keep fit during the winter. We snowshoe up at Riverwood,but it is a little harder to do here in town, and just not as much fun when we have to drive to a park to do it. At Riverwood we just step out the back door and we have 120 acres of snowy fields and forests to trek around in.

During lunch with our new neighbours one lady mentioned that they and some of the other couples on the street go dancing at the local Army/Navy club every Thursday night and invited us to join them that evening. Now, AC and I have danced at a couple of weddings, but we are NOT dancers by any stretch of the imagination! We looked at each other and our eyes clearly reflected our thoughts:- Seems scary and totally out of the box for us, but we will meet new people and it might be a lot of fun, so what the heck, why not give it a try. We turned to our new friends and said "Sure!" After our company left with promises to pick us up at 8:30, we polished up our dancin' shoes and got ready for a new experience. What a hoot!

We didn't know any steps to any dances, but got up with the rest of the group each time the music started to play and lumbered around the room like two sticks. Nobody cared that we couldn't dance, and we didn't either, we just got up and moved our feet to the music and had fun! We sure laughed a lot and had a great time.

When the band took a break during the evening, one lady plugged in a CD player and a group of people got up and line danced. I was fascinated to watch the choreographed routines play out in front of me and wanted to get up and join them. The lady next to me said that this group got together on Tuesday evenings and they also taught line dancing if I wanted to give it a try. It was free, it was exercise and it looked like fun. What more could I ask for in a way to keep moving and fit during the winter months? I signed up on the spot and said I would be there next Tuesday. AC said he would have to think about it!

Tuesday rolled around, and much to my surprise AC said he would join me for the evening and give line dancing a try. I will let him tell you about his experience that night and what his thoughts and feeling were, but let me just say, he was less than enthused. The routines were rather complicated and not easy to learn. We were totally out of our element, but hey, our feet were moving and I was having a blast. I kept turning the wrong way and was wrong footed on most of the turns, but everyone knew that we were just learning and they didn't care, so why should we? It was much more fun that walking on a treadmill or working on a stair machine. I loved it and knew I would be back for more sessions. This would be my winter exercise for sure. AC? Now that is another story! Check his blog (in a few days) for all the details.

I am steppin' totally outside of my box these days and am lovin' it out here. Take a step across the line and go outside your box today to try something new. The whole world awaits and who knows what fun is waiting for you just on the other side of that line.

Now, if you will excuse me I have to go practise the Electric Slide and Changes. Grapevine to the right, then the left; step back three, touch your toe down; step out and quarter turn and start again…. Fun, fun, fun!!!!