Growing up my taste in music couldn’t quite be called eclectic. Classic rock gave way to punk and new wave/alternative. No disco. Occasionally reggae, ska and rockabilly. NEVER country. Ever. Never. Ever.
Then I found myself in South Dakota where I was convinced I’d found my people. I left there with a VERY blingy rhinestone belt and a somewhat tentative respect for country music. Then I visited Texas where I took a two-step lesson and came home with an impressive pair of cowboy boots and an adorable hat. I added No Shoes Radio and Y2Kountry to my XM radio presets and found I could listen to Toby Keith endlessly. I don’t know how it happened, but I became a cowgirl.
While the two-step was fun, I wanted to understand the intricacies of this line dancing thing. Something that has apparently become a phenomenon right here in suburban Long Island with nary a cowboy in sight.
On a humid 90 degree night, decked out in the aforementioned boots and hat and with my trusty partner in crime Suzanne by my side, off we went to Patchogue to Dublin Deck’s Wednesday Country Night. Plans were to get there at 5:00 for the free lesson, but Long Island traffic had another idea and we got there at 5:30 with our hopes dashed. But no worries – the lessons go to 6:00 and new dances are taught throughout. We stumbled. We got caught up in the hitch, the grapevine and the toe/heel tapping, but little by little we were GETTING IT! Like we didn’t totally embarrass ourselves and were actually able to keep up. Somewhat.
By the time the band got started the place was packed to the gills with wannabe cowboys and cowgirls tearing up the dance floor. We met wonderful people who were anxious to bring us into their country fold and we learned where we could take lessons right in downtown Greenlawn!
To say this was life changing is an understatement. This former punk who used to “pogo” to The Blitzkrieg Bop has traded in her white capezios for kick ass boots and is learning how to kick ball change, bump and shuffle. The takeaway? Keep growing, keep challenging and perhaps open your mind to ideas you’ve formerly been averse to.
See ya’ll at the next hoe down!
Completed 7/19/17
Suggested by me