Friday at Avenidas, in the one o’clock hour, our activities director had a new entertainment group. That’s ‘group’ as in two young sisters. One played a marimba type instrument, and the other played banjo, flute, and sang. Rather a good voice. One thing that was different was the different types of music they played -- calypso, Irish, Italian, Hawaiian, and one or two others that don’t come immediately to mind. But there was one other thing that happened really astounded me. One of the participants there is an older, (we’re all older) heavy set woman who has sat next to me a couple of times. Frankly, I don’t think she is ‘all there’ but many participants (including me?) are in that state. Anyway, when the sisters started doing Hawaiian music, this lady got up and was doing the hula. And I don’t mean that she was simply shaking her hips; she was doing all the hand motions that went with the song, and she was most graceful about it! At the end the singer gave her a big hug, and she received a big round of applause from the rest of us. All in all, an amazing performance!
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Dental Update --
The other day I had a call from the dentist’s office filling me in (unintended pun) on What Happens Next. Which happens to be a visit with my dentist, where he will give me all the specific details of extractions, follow-ups, and the like. In addition they will take more impressions for the stay plate (I thought they’d already done that). That gadget with teeth is what I will wear (in my mouth; not on my head) while my mouth heals. Additionally, he will fill a couple of teeth -- not the ones coming out.
Then -- Oh Joy! -- an appointment will be made for me with the dental surgeon. Finally, a follow-up visit with my dentist to see how things are going. I thought they’d already be gone. More as things progress.
How about a bit of fun --
I wonder how she learned to hula dance. Rosalynn Carter learned when Jimmy was in the Navy in Hawaii. I can't remember which book mentions it.
ReplyDeleteOliver Sacks writes about patients who can remember to music when much else is lost.
ReplyDeleteI have a friend who is half Hawaiian; she explained that traditionally, in Hawaii, if a child survived till their first birthday it meant this one was going to make it and the family threw a big celebration. That is what a traditional luau is about, she said, when her own daughter turned one.
Her native mother flew to the Bay Area to do the deed properly. The grandma's luggage was full of true Hawaiian food--can't get those ingredients fresh enough away from home, if at all--the party was marvelous, and the grandmother, the mother, and the mother's sister got up and danced.
And that grandmother, a large woman, could DANCE! Such grace. Such a gift. And when her daughters didn't quite get the hand motions perfect, she nodded to them and reminded them along the way, showing them how, you follow me, dance! Celebrate!
glad that you enjoyed the music and the impromptu dance recital - it was different and really nice, I thought.
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