Saturday

was hectic. We had Summer all morning which means I did nothing of use (except hopefully to her small self). failure to practice on Friday resulted in failure to play music at all adequately in the afternoon. However I suspect everyone else must also have had a grand or other child underfoot because I was not the only one struggling.
We had a gig in the evening and fortunately lack of practice stimulates some sort of adrenalin/fury response so it went really well. also playing folk for dancers is less exposed than playing violin 1 in a rehearsal for a concert. I may have made an error or twenty but it seemed to come out in the wash OK.
It was a tennis club do so all reasonably well off and middle classish. So all fit and fairly bright. This was possibly less entertaining than a wedding or a drunken office do but quite satisfying. You wouldn't think a barn dance would sort out classes and genders and types so sharply but it does. and you wouldn't think people would be so skittish about whether they will be able to do it right but they are.
And it always amazes me that people come to barn dances even though they can be heard to swear in front of witnesses that THEY NEVER DANCE. Often it's true! Equally often it's not. Actually I know why they come...they have a partner who does love to dance and they are (probably genuinely) too kind to deny said partner the chance to dance. But there's this game thing of sittng there NOT DANCING all evening.
Now I'm deeply resistant to being persuaded to do something I don't want to do just because the crowd want us all to be in it together. I am absolutely not a team player. I will make a fool of myself in the general melee if I like the idea of the thing we're all meleeing about but not if I don't. (Like)
I went gliding for my birthday...I absolutely loved it . But not only had I no desire to take the controls of that fragile thing, I didn't want to spend my half hour in the sky worrying about left, right, up and down. Not to mention sideslip and is there anything else in the sky. I didn't want to spend any of my half hour worrying! There was naturall anxiety but I decided to overcome the desire to prove anything about anxiety and just enjoy. I was up there for the ride and it was totally a amazing and fantastic ride. curve of the Earth or what!!! Whoosh!! But everyone I told about it couldn't understand why I didn't have a go at flying it. No need...
So it's odd that I can't quite get inside the mind of the man who sits at his table at a barn dance refusing to dance. While all the world and his wife have a riotous time and make happy fools of themselves on the dance floor. And entertain the band while they're at it.
The other best thing about Saturday night I've just remembered was we played 2 or 3 of my new tunes and not only did people stop to listen but our caller made lovely compliments! Wow.
After the delight of making a new tune and getting the band to play it (or the group if it's classical) is anyone hearing it and saying nice things. Have to say though the absolute best thing is making it and thinking yeah. That works. I can never play them though. I always write about two grades better and higher than I can play. Sad. Oh but once I got a group of really good players to do one of my quartets at a party and it was fantastic...a million times better than at home on the computer. they liked it too. double wow.