The whole concept of a dance card has been disturbing to me since I watched Meet Me In St. Louis with my mom on the Bill Kennedy movie (channel 50) out of Detroit one Sunday afternoon. I love the movie – it’s one of my all time favorites – but it was hard for me to wrap my mind around the whole Dance Card thing at the Christmas Dance at the end of the movie. Poor Esther.
I was not a popular kid – I cried easily, I was waaaay too tall, had red hair and was a bit on the zaftig side, so I knew my dance card would be nothing but empty lines. I knew instinctively that if I didn’t want to spend the evening in the bathroom crying I’d have to approach the guys myself. That’s probably why I skipped my prom. But that’s another story. The idea that – upon his request – you would present a card for a man to look at and see just who you had agreed to dance with before and after him just seemed – well – both precious and too binding. Too much room for judgement, not enough room for just DANCING. I guess that was the point, though – not to let anything get too far out of hand.
My own hands are very full right now, and it makes me very happy. I heard an essay on Joy on the radio yesterday – the point was that joy is different from happiness in that it transcends reason. In the worst of situations there can be joy – that’s why I like the movie Life is Beautiful so much. In the midsts of the worst pain, life still has the power to stop our breath with it’s beauty.
I am relying more and more on my calendar to schedule things, and less on the whim of my knitting soul. This is good – and keeping notes is even better! What I lose in spontenaity, I make up for in sanity. I’m my own little personal assistant. When I look at the next 6 months or so, and see weekends filling up and trips planning themselves, I almost feel as though I’m watching someone else’s life unfolding. The reality of getting on a plane, flying to a new town, renting a car, driving to a venue, teaching a class is so much different than the imagining! I love it, it’s generally a lot of fun, but it’s always so different from what I would have expected. Maybe that’s because I try hard not to have set expectations about anything – but who can really do that?
I’ll finally be going to Minnesota!! Woohoo!! I’ve been asked out by the Minnesota Knitters Guild for an event in late April, and I’m officially looking for teaching gigs the week of April 24th, 2006 in MN. Any takers? Anone like to sign my dance card?
I’ll also be in San Diego for TNNA in January, and while I”m out there if there are any shops or guilds that would like me to come and teach (the week of 1/24/06) or give a lecture, I’d love to know about it!
Coming up sooner that than, I’ll be in Wisconsin in early December for what will certainly be a wonderfully restful and exciting knitting weekend at the Heartland Knitting Retreat. It’s not far from Chicago – and the timing is so perfect! Who couldn’t use a weekend to themselves in the midsts of the holiday madness? I think it may just be a way to reclaim the holiday season and focus on what’s important: friends, peace, introspection and honing our craft!
I have this weekend off – a private group cancelled, and a calendar fluke with another yarn shop have left it open – and I am in heaven! The kids have off Thurs and Fri, so we’ll get to spend some really good time together, I have projects I need to finish for the Men Who Knit book.
Dear Knitting, I missed you so! I’ll be back to spend a weekend with you – just you and me – together at last! Ah, life is good. And I’ll bring a new friend – sewing machine – to our party. Zippers and velcro will be added to felted objects, but my heart belongs to you alone, dear knitting!