dancing in the street

one of the things i love about DC is that during the warm months, you can find outdoor music events, film festivals or expos on almost any given day of the week.

on thursdays near where i work, there are concerts in a park in the early evenings. a different band comes each week, so there is lots of musical variety. one week it may be a reggae band, the next week it's a country band, the next week it's an African steel drum ensemble, the next week it's a rock band. something to suit everyone's musical palates.

this past thursday, a salsa band was playing. and seeing how i love salsa music, i trekked down there in the overbearing humidity to hear them play.

the entire park was full of people of all colors and nationalities salsa dancing, singing, clapping and having a good ol' time! scenes like that make my heart warm.

i stood near one of the prize giveaway tents (where i spun a prize wheel and won a sports water bottle and a lanyard!! WHOO HOO!! i love winning free stuff!! :-D) and gently swayed to the music. i had just settled into my solo groove when a older white gentleman approached me and asked if i wanted to dance.

why the heck not?

so i sat my things in the grass and let him lead me in a salsa shakedown. now, i've only taken a salsa lesson or two (literally) so all i know are the basics. this guy clearly does this all the time, because he was stepping all over the place! he kindly and patiently tutored me on the fancy footwork, and before long, i was having a ball and keeping up with him as if i did this for a living!

sweaty and sticky from the humidity and dance fever, i had a blast!

we two must have been quite a sight to behold - a young, 20-something, pregnant black woman and a gray-haired, 50-something white guy with a german accent salsa dancing in the middle of the sidewalk.

it was a wonderful evening.