D is for Dance, Drum and Dan

Dance:

I love to dance. I don't do it as much anymore because going out to dance usually means going out late and having to hire a babysitter. Every once in a while Fridays After Five has a danceable band. Sometimes I can get Tashi to dance with me, but mostly she is reaching the "mom you embarrass me" stage. One of these days I will convince Dan to take swing dancing lessons. When living in San Francisco, right around the time Dan and I had our first date, I was going to contact improv dance jams. This was always very fun and powerful. I loved having the dance evolve and revolve around the point of contact, learning how to lift a person, being a part of a beautiful and spontaneous unfolding. I fell in love with Reggae music while living in Ann Arbor, mostly because it was such great music to dance to. Here in Charlottesville I feel a little dance deprived. There just don't seem to be a lot of opportunities unless a good band comes through. So every once in a while I cut the rug in the living room. Tashi will join me there, especially if playing the soundtrack to Lagaan, a Bollywood film with great music.

Drum:

Dan gave me a beautiful djimbay drum for my birthday in 2001. He feels that I'm a natural born drummer and every once in a while I feel that way too. But mostly I know nothing about music. Nothing. I did take a djimbay workshop which was helpful. And recently Dan and two of his bandmates came over and I was able to jam with them a little. I felt shy and confused but there were some good moments. Over the weekend Dan and I camped and we brought drum and guitar. We had a great time and experienced this great cosmic connectivity through the musical jam. So perhaps I may just become part of the band, in one configuration or another.

Dan:

DanDanDanDanDanDanDanDanDanDan. He is my husband and best friend. He does the dishes every night and once in a while makes a mean Aloo Gobi. He is passionate about his work and his music. He is highly intelligent and can pull out the most obscure trivia. He is the most awesome Dad a child could ask for. He is silly and loves to play. He is handsome and sexy. He is supportive of my hair brained ideas, and I his. We are good at staying young together. We met long ago while in college. I was visiting a mutual friend in Madison, WI. Dan's intensity and warm smile stuck with me. Many years later I mentioned to the same mutual friend that I'd always had a little crush on Dan. When he was visiting San Francisco a few years later, we were set up on a sort of "blind" date. And thus our love was born. Our relationship started on the blue moon of 1993. It was a long distance relationship for about six months. This was before everyone had email, so we actually posted letters to each other. Dan moved to the Bay area in 1994, we moved in together a couple of years later and tashi was born in 1998. We were married as a family in the Mendocino Woodlands in 1999. Sometimes I just can't believe the turn of my life. Dan is a blessing beyond description.