Summer, cont.

4. Dancing

This summer has been filled with so much dancing.

We line-danced multiple times.
We danced in celebration of a good meal in Ocean Springs and of our independence on the streets of Birmingham.
We danced when Dana and Zach tied the knot.
And we danced even more when Ben and Hannah said their vows the following weekend.

Dancing and I have not always gotten along, mostly because I can't do it if it isn't choreographed. (This summer, only two years late, I fell in love with the "Cupid Shuffle." I thought it was the "Cuban Shuffle" for a while.) But, and this might sound creepy, I love watching people dance. I love how much laughter it invokes, how much personality. I love that people surprise me with their outlandish moves. I love that, despite it sounding so cliche, it seems to free people as they get lost in the beat of some stupid song.

There have been moments this summer when I felt sick to my stomach because I was laughing so hard while people danced. I LOVE that kind of stomachache.

Why don't we dance more often?

(Insert comment: I am NOT speaking of the kind of dancing that happens at most high school dances. That is called humping, and it is not freeing, fun to watch, or surprising...except when I see students who I respect in the middle of the mass of nastiness.)