Let's Dance!

Sometimes the empty nest is so quiet it drives you out of the house and into ... the dance studio. Tap dance, in this case. Maybe (in retrospect) because it is so loud. But mostly, I think, because it is so much fun.

"Smile," the instructor says. "Don't forget to smile."

And so I do, even though I feel ridiculous wearing a little straw hat, attempting shuffle ball change and a complicated routine that others seem to be picking up much more quickly. Oh, and without tap shoes. (I'm waiting on those until I'm sure I want to stay with this.)

But it's hard to feel ridiculous for long in a tap-dance studio. After all, everyone else is wearing a little straw hat.

So I loosened my shoulders and let the music flow through me.

That's when the awkwardness went away and the dancing began.

(Photo: Tapdance.org.)