galadhir: Sutton Masque border morris side dancing, they wear top hats with feathers, green man t-shirs and flowing tattered green jackets (morris - Sutton Masque)

Lovely evening at the pub tonight. We (the Ely and Littleport Riot morris dancers, along with some strays from the Sutton Masque morris dancers) normally practice on Fridays and then go to the pub afterward, which means we have our musical instruments on us, and frequently we have a sort of mini-session while we're at it. Tonight, a couple who has just moved into the area were around too, and they were so visibly overjoyed and delighted to find a music session going on that it made the whole thing seem more special to us too.

She broke out a whistle and joined in with several of the tunes. He - being a harmonica player - had a go on one of our melodeons and discovered he was a natural on it. Then we cleared some of the tables and chairs out of the way and taught her one of our dances. According to him, she had not seemed so happy for years - and of course this made us all feel excellent too.

Of course we invited them along on any further Friday they might see fit to attend, and hope to see them around again (and maybe to recruit one or both to one or the other of the morris sides involved.) I guess it must be nice, when you have moved to a new area and don't know anyone, to come across a bunch of people playing, singing and dancing, who are eager to socialize with you. But honestly even if you are a bunch of people playing, singing and dancing, it's also really nice to meet new people who think of that as something special. Everyone, I think, had a jolly good time.

galadhir: a blue octopus sits in a golden armchair reading a black backed novel (morris)
Well that was a very Morris weekend! Went out as a musician with Coton Morris on Saturday to perform at Mill Road Winter Fair.

Even as a musician it's a physically strenuous day given that you're on your feet from 10.30 til 5 in the cold. The dancers get warmed up by dancing, but the musicians need to be wearing enough clothes for the Arctic. This year I went for three thermal vests, a t-shirt, a wool jumper, wool cardigan and fur coat - which was great for the torso. But the legs only got thermal tights under white trousers and were chilly.

Last year Mill Road Winter Fair was cancelled for Covid reasons, so this year it was absolutely heaving. For the past 15 years of my life, it's been the beginning of Christmas for me. Taking place in the centre of Cambridge, its very multicultural, and there's usually samba bands and a couple of lion dogs, and food stalls from all over the world. Even when I was dancing all day and absolutely exhausted by the end, I've always enjoyed it.

So I'm sad to realize that this year the amount of physical endurance required outweighed the fun - I'm getting older now, and I have fibromyalgia, arthritic knees, and being fatter makes everything more effort - and I found myself bearing it rather than enjoying it. I hate feeling physically disabled, but I'm not sure that there's anything I can do about it.

Then on Sunday I was dancing with Ely & Littleport Riot for March Christmas Fair. A much more low key affair out in the Fens, where we were only on from 11am - 2pm. I did manage to pull my weight and dance at least half of the dances. And I thought that I wasn't as wiped out as Saturday, but by the time I got home I had to sleep on the sofa for the rest of the evening.

I hate getting old and unfit! It's hard to enjoy dancing when half of my brain is dedicated to monitoring my knees to see if I'm injuring them.

Fortunately there are no signs of fibromyalgia flare-up today, so I seem to have gotten away with it, but I find myself contemplating dieting again, as though that would solve all my problems. (I don't think it really would. I just wish there was something I could do.)

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