Highschool Flashback...

Went out last night to a swing dance.

Usually these dances are held in church basements or converted warehouse dance studios because the unfinished old fashioned wood floors are perfect for the fast paced slip and slide dance shoes that the hard core dancers prefer.  However, the onset of lent had displaced this particular dance from it's usual hangout in the church basement to the Gym of the YMCA across the street.

Walking in to the darkened gym... with discoball lighting, wooden bleachers and small groups of people hanging out in the shadows on the edge of the room one could not help but be reminded of all those old high school dance scenes.  The in-crowd on one side... the people that just like to be lost in the music out on the floor, the wallflowers hanging out on the bleachers.  Chinese lanterns hanging from basketball hoops and people criss-crossing the floor over the "Y" emblazoned in the center court circle.  It was great.

I think it might have been even more of a flashback for me since I spent so much time in YMCA's growing up.  I love the Y.  I think that they do wonderful things fro a community and keep alive the spirit of good health through exercise and involvement in positive activities.  They do however, all have the same feel... Except for its slightly smaller size and added security, this Y could have been completely swapped with the one in which I came of age and no one would have been the wiser.  In the age of modern gyms with all the latest and greatest equipment and exorbitant membership fees to match I'm glad there are still places where the philosophy and the people are what matters most.  Staffed by underpaid but caring employees and volunteers they are not really a business so much as part of the community.

The dance turned out to be amazing and fun, with live music (more on this later perhaps) and more people active on the floor than in any high school dance than I ever went to...  Not to say that the wallflowers didn't exist...  I think that the high school ambiance ended up being more of a bonus.  There's something to be said for the illusion of time travel and the freedom of youth.