You may recall that my husband and I struggle to find rhythm with each other to smoothly cut a piece of wood with a two-man saw. So, I knew going to a dance hall to do some Texas two-step was likely to end in some sore toes. But, it was my husband’s birthday request, so I put aside my barn boots and pulled on my fancy cowboy boots and took his arm with a smile. I agreed with my husband that everyone who owns land in Texas should know how to two-step. Thankfully, it isn’t that complicated of a dance. But, we soon learned it’s way more difficult than the simple back-n-forth motion of the two-man saw action. It’s two quick steps and then two slow steps. Instruction videos (yes, I admit, we practiced on our franch before we left for the evening) had promised it’s an easy dance to learn, “It’s just like walking.” That doesn’t sound hard, does it? But, add in some turns and spins and side-by-side moves and then somehow my husband was on the first quick step and I was on the first slow step. And, it doesn’t work unless I let my husband lead and I follow. I kept forgetting that. We had a couple of near collisions with other dancers. Thankfully, they were all friendly and forgiving. Maybe because our lack of skill had them feeling good about their rhythm that evening. Others had noticed our fun and they smiled at us as we laughed at all our mistakes on the dance floor. At one point, an older couple tapped my husband’s shoulder. My first thought was that we were so bad we were actually getting tapped out and it wasn’t even a dance competition. To my surprise, they actually wanted our permission to take pictures of us for some dance hall advertisement! The caption of our photo will likely read, “Everyone is welcome, even those who don’t know how to dance.” You see, the definition of “dance” is to move rhythmically to music following a set sequence of steps. And so, I don’t think I can say we ever “danced” that evening. We both occasionally moved with the rhythm of the music during the evening but hardly ever at the same time. Since it’s a partner dance, that’s a problem. We did the steps but not always in any sequence that made any sense. In the end, all our missteps didn’t matter because we had a blast doing whatever you want to call it. We are now determined to attempt all the moves of the Texas two-step. So, don’t be surprised if you overhear us in our barn repeating “quick-quick-slow-slow” (pause) “quick-quick-slow-slow.” We’ll probably be shoveling dirty stall bedding into a wheelbarrow. But, maybe, one day, you’ll find us dancing.
I hope to be in your barn next month learning to do the two step also!!! The animals will sure get a laugh when they see Poppy and I trying it!!