Folklife!

Every year over Memorial Day weekend, I celebrate the start of summer at the Northwest Folklife Festival. I usually go to the big Balkan participatory dance on Sunday night and of course sing with my choir, Dunava.

This year, being on chemotherapy made going to Folkife complicated. On Friday I was supposed to meet a friend from California for dinner, but I had a crappy day and it was too cold and wet to go out again. On Saturday I felt fine in the morning but crashed hard in the evening. On Sunday evening I felt better, and asked Rik to take me to the Balkan dance. Although I limited my participation to the slow and easy dances, it was still great to be there, to hear the music, see my friends, and get to dance a little bit.

Today started with morning minyan for my dad's yahrzeit. Afterwards I needed a break and tried to nap, in the hope that I'd feel well enough to hear Dunava sing. Although I couldn't sleep, that rest helped me to get out again at noon. We went to Folklife, bought some lunch, and the food also helped give me energy.

I sat in the main court at the Center House, eating my lunch and watching the dancers. There was Cajun music playing, and I felt out of breath, tired, and hungry. I had my own small "pity party." I thought I would never get to dance again and was so jealous of all the people having a good time without a care in the world (or so they seemed to me).

But we went down to the theatre where Dunava was to perform, met up with friends, found a seat, and I began to feel better. Maybe it was the food kicking in, Maybe it was getting to listen to friends sing beautiful Balkan songs. Either way, my funk lifted and by the time Dunava came on stage, I was back to feeling my glass is half-full.

In the end, despite my hitting a wall after only 2-3 hours of activity, I still was able to do everything I normally do at Folklife. The sun came out after a long, cold, wet weekend. And that felt good.