Done with the 4 day contra dance weekend that was 'Almost Heaven'. An amazing group of dancers, callers and musicians all coming together in one place, Camp Thunder Ridge, for the sole purpose of having, and creating, fun. And boy was it fun!

    From the very first tune played on Friday night by the band Elixir, to the last contra dance this afternoon with both bands joined together into some form of super-uber band, it has been nothing but none stop enjoyment. For those with the stamina and willingness to get up early there was more than 40 hours of dancing that anyone could of done. Me.... I'm a bit more conservative these days, a combination of getting smarter, older and more breakable. I don't do many of the dance workshops anymore, where you might learn some advanced waltz steps or how to do some Dutch Crossing. Nor do I do many of the afternoon squares or specialty contras, although I had good intentions on doing one set of advanced contras yesterday... but my nap got in the way.

   No these days I like to spend my energy on the evening 3-4 hours of hard dancing and then head over for an after dance party somewhere. All of the dancing was enjoyable for sure. Lots of very good dancers and beautiful women of course at this weekend, and it was cool enough that you weren't melting into the dance floor by the end of the first dance. I have to admit that my favorite band this weekend was Elixir because of their unique sound with the horns and clarinet adding to the guitar and fiddle. But it should not be misconstrued that there is anything wrong with Swallowtail. The guys in that band are all phenomenal musicians in their own right and there is no slight to their sound or ability intended.

    So I'm on the road to Oswego this evening. A little more than 400 miles is all, but I'll be doing it over two days just to make it easier and to break it up a bit. Have already done more than 100 of it and want to do another 80 or so more before pulling in for the evening.

   Looking forward to meeting up with some good friends before the dance and then 3 days of dancing to the Great Bear Trio starting on Friday. Hope to be back on a more regular schedule now.... but I doubt it. With any luck I will get a few pictures posted in a day or two, there have been a whole lot of them taken in the past week or so, but most haven't even been downloaded yet. But that is part of what happens when you are travelling around the country looking at things and having fun. So who knows?