It’s a hot summer day, we’ve been playing outside in the water, my night-shirt wet from sitting on the ground. Fiona has gone into the house, is standing on a chair pushing the button that turns on our speakers, but the music’s not on. She’s singing really loud and moving her shoulders and arms. I walk in the house, take off my top, and turn on some music, I flip through a few stations and when I get to teen beats both babies ears stand to attention. Fiona doesn’t have her hearing aids on, I turn the music up loud. The doors are open, they are filming a Netflix movie down at the park, I wonder if they can hear us. We all start dancing, Jack and Fiona run out onto the deck and back in again, I’m tempted, but I would be seen for sure, not that I really care. After the first song is over Jack says “More”. We listen to three more songs dancing away, arms, legs, bodies flowing with the beat, the Teen beat. The music’s not bad for this sort of thing. I’m enjoying this, my naked body four decades old dancing with babies, boobs bouncing, I catch a glimpse of my reflection on the glass door. My body looks pretty good, I watch myself dance, I started watching myself dance in Elementary school. I would pretend I was sick, stay home from school. After my mom and brother were gone I’d dress up and dance. I don’t know where I got the idea, but I loved doing it. In my twenties I went out dancing every chance I got, especially to REGGAE. I loved dancing, since getting married I haven’t gone to see music and dance very much. There’s been family parties where everyone started dancing, my body wouldn’t dance, it’s as if the dance was buried, like the words sometimes, or the creativity. A self-consciousness takes over. But as I’m dancing naked, my oldish body, bouncing boobs, in front of my two-and-a-half-year-old twins, as they dance naked with me I feel a freedom that I haven’t felt in a long time. I almost danced naked out on my deck, I can hear the neighbors now, “Mommy they’re naked” I heard this the other day as some neighbors walked by and Jack leaned up against the railing naked, pushed his body up against the railing as if he was showing them his willy or going to pee on them. I was laughing so hard, I guess I wanted to do the same thing today, then I thought what if we all just walked down to where they’re filming, naked, with shoes on only and hats. We’ll just sit and watch with the other neighbors like nothing is unusual. Tempting. I realized last night at dinner, having so much fun with my sister in law, great conversations, then seeing an artist friend I haven’t seen in forever, who I look up to, love her work, she tells me she was a teacher for seven years and it was the best, she loved it. If you can help one person, if you can make a difference in one person’s life, that is the theme. What I realized was we may not be able to change anything, the people with the guns and the anger and the hate will always win over peaceful people. I used to get mad when I saw people posting on Facebook to pray for Paris or pray for Orlando or Sandy Hook, or the Refugees from Syria, or the kids being shot in gang crossfire, praying won’t do anything I said. But now I get it, all we can do is pray. We can try to change laws and make the world a better place, but it seems like there’s fifty percent of any given population that wants guns, or are racist against this group or that, that aren’t peaceful people. I can’t change them. I can only be myself, I can only help myself, and maybe a few more along the way. I want to go to Pride today and dance naked in the streets of San Francisco.
Category: friends
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February, almost two years ago, the days were still short, I remember carrying the babies into the house, it was dark already. The bassinets were set up ready for Jack and Fiona to lay in. I hadn’t seen Billy for almost five days. I missed her terribly. I opened the back door to let billy in, she ran towards the bassinets, ears pointed, hair raised. One of the babies made a strange newborn baby sound, billy looked like she was going to pounce, she didn’t know what it was, I think she thought it was a wild animal. I had to put her out. I told Alan I had to take her for a walk, he would have to take care of the babies by himself for an hour. I walked up the trail with Billy and cried. I felt like and she looked at me like I had betrayed her.
This morning after I walked down to the park with Billy, Lindsay, Bruce, Jack and Fiona I was going to leave them at the park to play and take Billy up the trail. She walked slow, her eyes twitched, she kept stopping and pulling on the leash. She wouldn’t go, she wouldn’t leave the babies at the park. It was not an option. The first time this happened I felt like Billy loved the babies more than me now, my dog. This time I realized we have become a pack. An unbreakable, inseparable group of people and animal.
Jack and Fiona are hyper aware of me and my presence or absence And so is Billy. And it circles out from there. Family, old friends and new friends.
But what makes the bond? What connects people or disconnects them? How come some people Make me feel like I can be me and some people make me feel uncomfortable or confrontational? People always talk about finding their “tribe.” I believe that is true, there just are people who mesh. I used to think it was an artist thing, that I didn’t relate with certain people because they weren’t artists. Now I think it goes deeper, because I’ve found people who aren’t artists that feel good to be around. I feel like I can be myself and am accepted. Not many, but some!