The tables were wooden with plastic checkered tablecloths. I was around 12 at the time and entering that horribly awkward stage. I remember sitting and listening to the conversations around me. I was always doing that, listening to adult gossip and wondering what my own life story was going to be like. I was rather determined that my life was going to be an interesting life full of sighed upon scandal. It certainly seemed better then the alternative.

This party was in a big barn and the band was playing near hay bales. They were playing old timey music, fiddles and banjos. Lots of people were dancing. The food was excellent, my first taste of smoked salmon (a dish I still relish). I remember dancing for the first time with a partner. This was a new experience, a young woman being asked to dance. They were mostly older and it was all rather innocent. They just made it effortless for me. I loved the way that felt, a man taking the lead and pulling me along to his movements.

To this day, I have a certain feeling of joy when I hear old timey music. It always pulls me into those first moments of really feeling feminine. A certain magic that still echoes, even today as I drove home. I was listening to the now defunct band The Heartbeats and remembering those dances. It made me smile as I sang to it. In my mind I was pulled along with a hand resting just so on my back, and my body gliding across the hay strewn floor.