random thoughts – Day 1,278 – (Saturday) – dance day

Hubbardston Field Day.

Last spring, Salaamati, the belly dance troupe, committed to dance at the Hubbardston (MA) Field Day event hosted by the Hubbardston Lions Club. We cut our usual summer hiatus short in August for rehearsals as we polished our repertoire.

The weather forecast had us on high alert, but we proceeded with preparations and plans as if Hurricane Lee would not be a factor. At Friday night’s dress rehearsal, we discussed costume layering to combat the forecasted chill. We crossed our fingers, hoped for decent weather, and prepared for the day to go off without a hitch.

At 6:00 this morning, the alarm clanged and there was a trip downstairs to start the coffee. While it brewed, it was back upstairs to start getting ready for the performance day. The first layer of chilly day costuming was leggings for under the big skirt. A long sleeve mesh shirt was added. FYI – mesh fabrics can be surprisingly warm. 

Dance bag!

Soon, the first bit of coffee had kicked in enough to be awake enough to apply makeup. Powdered eye shadow and shading were successful, but by the time I got to the eyeliner, it was at least one caffeinated sip too many for a steady hand. There would be no makeup artistry awards for today’s raggedy eyeliner. 

It had been raining in Lowell all morning, but at the performance site, 45 miles to the west, it was dry with a cloudy sky. The breezes were cool and plentiful.

We had the luxury of a place to change and leave our stuff, which is a great convenience. Clad in jeans, leggings, and sweats, we dropped off our bags and crossed the wide lawn to the gazebo to check out the grassy surface where we would dance. We plotted our entrance, then walked back to the building to finish dressing.

The event had some fun activities. There was a beautiful baby contest, a bouncy house, and a chicken poop bingo game. The aroma of chicken barbeque scented the air.   

Our dancing went well. There was one tiny glitch when the music cut out, but we kept going, and a few long seconds later, it came back on and we hadn’t missed a beat.  

The audience seemed to enjoy our show, and we enjoyed dancing it. And then we were done.  The paillettes and stick on bling were stripped off and packed away, and we were back into our jeans and civilian clothes and scattering our separate ways. I went to Mom’s and we went out for lunch, followed by a visit to an antiques and collectibles shop. Before long, it was time to head back home. By then, I was tired, so it was a quiet rest of the afternoon.