I Love to Dance...

Not ballroom dancing, or line dancing, or tap dancing, or ballet, or folk dancing. Just dancing. You know: music playing have to get up and get happy? Snap my fingers, shake my booty, rock around, smile, and get happy.

It all starts with music. I love music, too. Naturally. Although, I have witnesses who can tell you that I can dance with or without music. Maybe it’s just in my head. The music, that is. Listening to music makes me happy and being happy makes me want to dance. Simple enough.

The first music I remember was sung to me by my daddy: he didn’t know any “baby tunes” so he just sang Broadway tunes. The first music I really remember listening to was a recording of the Marine Corps Hymn, Anchors Away, etc. I learned them all…….ever seen a little 4-year-old girl, with piggy tails, singing the Marine Corps Hymn?? It’s pretty funny, actually. I would stand as straight and tall as I could, with my hand over my heart. Bless my parents; they were able to listen without laughing. I don’t know how.

We used to go to the Marines Memorial Club in San Francisco when we were in the city (in California, no need to say San Francisco, it is”the city”). My daddy would dance with me: my feet on top of his shoes, and twirling around the dance floor to the wonderful music of the dance band.

When I was a little older, he tried to teach me to follow……..listening to his music on the radio. I guess I just didn’t get it. Didn’t matter: I spent my high school years being a “wallflower”. Who would want to dance with a girl who is too tall, too smart, and wears glasses?? Let me answer that for you: nobody.

Then came college. And college dances. Football game and dance. Basketball game and dance. And finally, I got to dance! A guy would smile at me and I would turn around, behind me, to see who he was smiling at, just like Ducky in “Pretty in Pink.” And we danced. And I couldn’t follow. So we did the fast dances. I would look around at the other girls and just mimic what they were doing.

First husband: two left feet. Didn’t like to dance, didn’t want to learn. We went to our class reunions and he had all his friends ask me to dance so I would leave him alone………..

Second husband: two left feet and deaf in one ear. Did you ever see the movie “Best in Show”?? There’s a guy in it who really has two left feet! Well, not really really but, in the movie really. No need to worry about dancing. We didn’t.

No, I dance solo. Nobody to “follow”, no feet to step on, no dependence on being asked to dance. Just me, my stereo, my eclectic taste in music, and my two happy feet. I usually don’t like to dance when anybody is watching; I am very bashful about it. In fact, there is only one man who has ever seen me dance and he was smiling so, I guess it was okay.

Dancing makes me happy. That is proven scientifically: exercise releases endorphins which give us that “feel good” feeling that we also get from S-E-X and from substances that are obtained illegally. I get to feel good without being addicted. I have also found that it is hard for me to dance without smiling. I don’t know why, maybe it’s the endorphins.

I have music loaded in my laptop: I “rock out” at least three times a day. Music from the 80’s, mostly, with a few favorites from the 60’s. No disco, no line dancing. I can do the “Mashed Potatoes” with the best of ‘em, the Twist, the Bristol Stomp (the kids in Bristol are sharp as a pistol, when they do the Bristol Stomp!), and I can even do the hula. I like the arm movements; very graceful.

Dancing, for me, is relaxing. It is a good way to de-stress after a stressful day. It is also good exercise, believe it or not. I have lost nearly 30 pounds recently and people are always remarking about the weight loss and asking me for my secret. That’s easy: cashews and dancing. I eat one, sometimes two meals a day, and handfuls of cashews in between.

It isn’t the cashews that have helped, though, it’s the dancing. I eat when I’m stressed and, if I can get rid of the stress, I don’t need to eat. It’s that simple. The dancing has also put my cholesterol levels back in the normal range.

My LDL (bad cholesterol, think Lucifer) is at high normal. My doctor wants the level at 70. I do not and will not take statins for cholesterol control, so I asked him: “how?” He looked at me and smiled:

“More ‘Mashed Potatoes’!!”