By the Seaside

Oh I do love to be beside the seaside. Yesterday I took the train to Portrush and had lunch with Swing Belfast dancer Maria, who lives there, and Rhoda, another Swing Belfast dancer from Antrim. We ate in what used to be the Portstewart golf club and is now an Italian restaurant. We looked out on the car park, at the far end of which were the crashing waves of the Irish Sea. Mesmerizing.
Dancing with Swing Belfast has paid a lot of dividends other than the joy of dancing itself. Not only did I have a lovely afternoon with Rhoda and Maria, but Sunday night I went to the concert with another dancer, Luke O’Prey. The tickets were buy one get one free so I offered the spare on Facebook to whoever responded, which was Luke. He was the perfect companion because he also is a joyful person. I love dancing with him because he is having so much fun that you can’t help but laugh yourself. He has this joyful energy that Maria the choir conductor spotted right away. She grabbed him and put him up with the choir to sing. He did very well and, when he returned to his seat, the choir sang: "We love you Luke.” All the feels.
Back to the Autumn Fair, another joyful place. The people who grow all of these gorgeous things must have such love for what they do. We tried growing dahlias and the slugs ate them. The recommendation is that you knock the slugs off every day. That takes some dedication.



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