Water!

As I was sitting out on the porch this afternoon with Allie, my new roommate who doesn’t actually move in until Thursday, I was looking at a plant still in the cheap plastic pot that is wilted probably beyond repair as a result of not getting watered while I was gone. It’s really quite a sad sight among the other plants and flowers that are doing quite well and looking very beautiful. Sitting there, I thought to myself, “I feel just like that plant.” Wilted, dried up, and in desperate need of water. But I didn’t know what water I needed. Below us was the pool I love to swim in but it won’t be open for another month so no luck there. I felt lethargic, tired from the inside out, and I really needed some water. As I told Allie, having the burning smell on my car AGAIN felt like a second blow when I was already laid on the ground.

So when I went to tap, I was rather drained but despite my sometimes frustrations, tap dancing has always been that activity I keep coming back to. It seems no matter how else my life has changed these last four years, I have been able to go to class and see people who are happy to have me there and to make fun sounds with them. At one point, Stacey had me lead the others in the shim sham dance without the music- completely on my own. I have been struggling with the middle of it for months and am still working on the end not to mention the change of choreography since I first learned it. I don’t know if this is what Stacey meant to have happen but it was a precious glass of water for me. I danced the whole thing and it wasn’t perfect but it was a triumph. On my own, I led the others through the whole shim sham and realized I actually did it better on my own when I’m not trying to follow anyone else. I’m improving and I can see that, and right now, that was really good to see. And Stacey? She wore a shirt of blue, the exact shade a swimming pool is, cool and refreshingly deep.

365-09 #112