Weekend in Jonesborough, TN

My dance calling 'career' gives me an opportunity to lead contra dances in communities in Western NC, upstate SC and in the East Tennessee-SW Virginia (Tri-Cities) area. This weekend I called a dance at Viginia Intermont College, a sweet school of about 600 students with and strong arts emphasis + horses. Yes, you can major in Equestrian Studies. The students I met were enthusiastic about the school and the dance and it was plenty of fun.

On Saturday, I called the Jonesborough dance with the world premiere of the Contra Cowboys, a solid contradance band with a western swing flavor. They played and sang to a terrific crowd of dancers. With LEAF in full swing about 75 miles away,it was a smaller crowd that usual, but that just meant we were able to do dances that require a bit more space than ususal.

Because the dances were a way up the road from my home in Asheville, I house sat for David, the TriCities dance booster. He has a lovely home in a gorgous spot as well as Lucy the dog and 3 charming cats. Because my truck refused to negotiate the driveway (2 weel drive Tacoma with a light rear end and a serious need for tires with actual treads), I took many walks both for Lucy's benefit and because I bought a number of fiber-related chores, we walked the property a number of times. This morning I had fresh raspberries for breakfast; yesterday I had a few delicious figs, grown just outside the back door.

Thanks David, for all you do for the dance community and for allowing me to spend a weekend in this lovely spot.