And on to warmer thoughts....

Yes, it is a messy, snowy, blustery day outside.  And, as usual, I am looking around for something to do...inside.  I have lots of family pictures that need to be scanned and organized so that is my job for today.

I came across this picture in a pile of childhood photos.  Yes, indeed, that is me in my hula girl outfit.  I remember it well.  My mom had a dancing school and gave lessons for many years.  And my brother Paul and I were always enrolled.  I loved it.  Paul...not so much.

One year Mom decided to teach me how to do the hula.  And hula I did.  I remember when the hula skirt came in the mail.  It was something else.  Many strands of cellophane fastened to a cloth waistband...it did the trick.  No grass skirt for this little girl.  The rest of the outfit was made by a local friend.  And the paper flowers must have come from Woolworths or Ben Franklin.  I really thought I was something.  You can tell by the smile.

One occasion I remember dancing the hula was for a show in the local gym in Galva, my home town.  It was a freezing cold night in early January.  Snow may have been on the ground.  I really don't recall.  What sticks in my memory is how very, very cold it was out there on the stage in the gym.  Cold on my little bare feet, cold on my arms...and legs.  But when the music started I did my dance and the applause from the audience took care of my shivers.

I really loved that little hula outfit.  My mom kept it for years packed up in a box.  When we moved from our house in Gainesville I debated what to do with it.  The skirt had morphed into dusty plastic shreds, but the rest of the costume was in perfect shape.  I put it in the auction with my other memories.  I hope whoever bought it enjoyed it.

As for me, I get warm all over remembering that cold night when I warmed up the crowd with my hula dance.