I'm writing this some weeks later; I had intended to make a contemporaneous journal but that went the way of good intentions.
Friday June 6, 2014 I spent much of the day working; the little motel room had a good table with a nice view of pond. I had to pay for this vacation somehow!
Afterwards, I drove up to Hadley to locate a Salsa Dance that Lisa had expressed enthusiasm about. It was in a VFW hall that I must have passed by so many times when I lived in Amherst and worked in Hartford; this was my first time in. I was a little early, and could have profitably attended the beginners class, but I was somewhat underdressed (shorts and t-shirt didn't match the classy attire) and I also wanted to get more pictures in.
 |
33 South Valley Road.
I married into the Cole family; Sherry and I lived upstairs
until we got our own apartment |
 |
| We rented to ground floor apartment here |
 |
| The Jones Library in Amherst was smaller when I was there |
I zoomed up to Amherst and got some picture of the places I had lived. 33 South Valley Road looked nice; One of the trees out front I had planted but I'm not sure which.
I got my pictures but didn't want to disturb whoever currently owned it, and moved on. I got a few pictures of the stucco house where we'd rented the ground-floor flat. Eventually Eric moved in with us back then.
Other than homes, my favorite building in Amherst was the Jones library. It seems to have budded a few annexes in the same style.
After those pictures, it was time for the dance. I stopped at a thrift store on the way and picked up a Hawaiian shirt, so I sortof fit in visually.
The long-time dancers were very skilled and enjoyed their art very much. They were also patient in showing me the basic steps. However, my mind is just not oriented around that sort of ritual stepping; I enjoyed the conversation with people; one of the nice things about the basic step is that you can carry on a real conversation while moving minimally.
I talked with one of Lisa's colleagues about the hazards of working with damaged children all the time; from the way that she had spoken I could feel there was an impact, and in a moment of bluntness she agreed. It made me think.
Another dancer asked the usual question about what I did, and somehow we got on the subject of the King-5 interview I was in last week. It turns out she had worked with the guy when he was in Pioneer Valley! I took her card and emailed the two of them when I got back to my room - you just never can tell who you'll run into or what may be the connections.
