random thoughts - Day 2,020 (Saturday) - dancing and whining

In the continuation of weekends busy with dance, today the troupe performed at an international festival in Keene, NH. Three of us who live near each other in the western edge of our dance realm carpooled to the event. We have several troupe costumes including lightweight skirts, but we had decided a couple weeks ago to wear our 25 yard skirts which are full and fun and look great on stage. The voluminous fabric is also hot, but the thinking was that it's the end of September and should be cooler. Except it was 80 degrees today, so yes, we kind of roasted. 

Other than sweating and suffering in multiple layers and giant, heat trapping skirts, it was a good day with some highlights. For one thing, the outdoor festival was next to a recreation center with a proper toilet facility. For another thing, there were changing tents near the stage area, but we didn't know about those until after we'd already layered up in the parking. We've never had the luxury of a dedicated changing area and usually arrive on site mostly dressed. 

The performances ran ahead of the posted schedule and we were sent on stage early. That worked out okay for us, because a couple of us had other events they needed to get to.

Two years old on a stone lion.

Near the stage was a lion statue which immediately reminded me of a picture in the family photo album for most of my life. The black and white photo is of me sitting on a cast concrete lion statue at Benson's Wild Animal Farm when I was two years old. 

In the early days of our family, we weren't exactly renowned for our photography skills, and there have been years of mocking over decapitated photo subjects. Whoever took the photo at Benson's managed to crop out most of the statue but keep lots of the sky. Of course, we all know that two-year old me in my sun hat and summer shorts was the star attraction anyway.  

As soon as I saw the lion statue today, I knew I wanted an updated photo on a stone lion, and a dance sister helped me out. Several of us had the same idea and before we left the event site about half of the troupe had climbed onto the lion for a photo. Getting on that things was trickier than first thought. There was laughter.   

Older than two, on a stone lion.

The heat was a challenge, but the hardest part of the day for me was my neck and shoulder. It's been hurting all week, and today it chose to be extra painful. There were stabby throbby pains near my shoulder blade, and the day's bonus content was pain spreading down my arm to my elbow. 

Luckily, I drive mostly left handed so my right arm could hang out and not do too  much, but even without being engaged, driving hurt. Being a carpool passenger hurt. I was able to ignore the pain during the dancing and focus in the general direction of the audience I can never see very well without glasses. It hurt during the carpool ride back to my car and then driving myself home, including when I breathed. 

The afternoon and night have been dominated by an ice pack and tennis balls for pressure. It's feels better with the ice on it, and as soon as the icing stops, it hurts all over again. I'm extra cranky as a result of the hours of discomfort and glad there is nobody around to suffer collateral damage.

The most frustrating part is that I was at the doctor's office on Thursday. My shoulder had been hurting for several days before the visit, but it wasn't hurting while at the office and I forgot to mention it in the barrage of information and stress of being there a day early by accident. It would have helped a lot if I had been asked if there were any recent issues or concerns instead of if my "family history had changed" which is the stupidest question in the world. History covers past events, and if you want to know about recent stuff, especially if any relatives have new conditions, please rephrase the question for clarity. And please consider asking the patient if there are any recent issues. Rant over. Where is the ice pack?