Do-Si-Do at the Grange Hall

My friend dragged me to a square dance at the old Grange hall on a cold Saturday night in January. I said I didn't dance. She said, "Nobody here dances. We just follow directions."

There was a live fiddle band and a caller in a cowboy hat who sang the moves: "Allemande left! Do-si-do! Swing your partner!" Two hundred people of every age, from teenagers to a couple in their nineties, swirled around the room in squares of eight.

I went the wrong way constantly. I bumped into a very kind dentist. I swung a grandmother so hard she whooped. But nobody cared. When you messed up, someone just grabbed your arm and steered you back into place, laughing.

When the fiddles finally stopped, my cheeks hurt from smiling. I was sweating through my sweater. I've been back every month since.