Category: square dance

Hot August Nights: Collaboration at Its Best
My Thoughts · square dance

Hot August Nights: Collaboration at Its Best

Larada Horner-MillerLeave a comment
Hot August Nights Committee, 2024
Hot August Nights Committee, 2024

The 18th Annual Hot August Nights Square and Round Dance Festival is over for another year and I saw collaboration at its best.

First,

The Hot August Nights event, from its inception, has been a collaboration of dancers who love to promote square and round dancing. The present-day committee for this event spans multi-states: New Mexico, Arizona, Virginia, Utah and Idaho. As the committee morphed and changed, we added this multi-state dimension and it has worked.

Second,

We have hired top-notch staff each year and have collaborated with them on a variety of aspects about the event, including them when their schedule allows to attend our Follow-up meeting on Sunday at the close of the festival. Listening to advice from national callers and cuers, we have changed our schedule, honed in on specific details of a successful festival and even changed the location of the logo on the front of our 10th annual t-shirt.

Third,

This year, we collaborated with a local square dance club, Duke City Square Dance Club, to provide a Recycle Shop for our event. We have done it ourselves for many years but gave it up after last year because it became too much of a time-consumer for the committee. When Duke City’s president asked if they could do a Recycle Shop, we agreed and it worked out smoothly.

Fourth,

Our staff this year (like so many other years) collaborated with us in a variety of ways. I had made a mistake on the schedule so Mitchell Thompson, our cuer, reminded me of some time changes we needed to do, and it worked out fine.

Friday night we made a schedule change for the Saturday afternoon square dance program, moving the “High Energy” from last event of the afternoon to start it. I didn’t change it on the website and we had local dancers who missed this fun activity because of the time change. Tony Oxendine graciously added another “High Energy” tip so those dancers had a test of that energetic dancing.

True collaboration works!

Last but not list,

Committee members collaborating! Hot
Committee members collaborating!

The Hot August Nights committee is one of the best committees I’ve ever worked with, and this year I saw it in full action. Because of the dog attack wound I had, I couldn’t do my usual duties, so each one of the committee members took extra care to cover my duties, especially my husband, Lin. The event in my estimation hummed like a well-oiled machine.

Finally,

Dancers, staff and committee at Hot August Nights
Dancers, staff and committee at Hot August Nights

Because of the many facets of collaboration, our dancers had a great time at this Hot August Nights. What a joy it was to see all the smiles, hear all the laughter and listen to Tony’s beautiful renditions of so many beloved songs and enjoy Mitchell’s cuing and Chelsea’s helpful spirit and beautiful dancing!

Update on My Dog Attack:

I went to the Wound Clinic on Thursday. The nurse specialist took off the scab and cleaned the wound thoroughly—OUCH!!!! Then he put on a compression bandage from my toes to my knee. The good news is—NO SKIN GRAFT!

Elevating my leg - Hot
Elevating My Leg A lot!

I tried to elevate my leg during the weekend festival as much as possible, but my ankle and foot kept swelling up—probably too much activity.


On Saturday night after listening to all the dances I wanted to jump up and do, with Lin on my left side and my cane on my right side, I did do a 30 second small-step version of a cha cha of “Irish Washer Woman” and cried because I couldn’t do very much!

The Wound Clinic nurse said I will see him weekly for five weeks, so I’ll see what I have ahead of me!

Podcasts & My Interviews

Audiobooks Sale – August 15 – 31 – 25% Off:

This Tumbleweed Landed

This Tumbleweed Landed audiobook cover

Let Me Tell You a Story 

Let Me Tell You a Story audiobook cover

Hair on Fire: A Heartwarming & Humorous Memoir Audiobook

Hair on Fire: A Heartwarming & Humorous Christmas Memoir audiobook cover

Meet Larada: Another Poem of Mine!
My Thoughts · My Writing · poetry · square dance

Meet Larada: Another Poem of Mine!

Larada Horner-MillerLeave a comment
National Poetry Month - Meet

“Meet Larada” I wrote in a workshop with Natalie Goldberg in 2002. I’m rummaging through old notebooks and journals for poetry for my new poetry book, and I found this one.

Meet Larada

Larada in Spain - Meet
Larada enjoying lunch in Spain

I am turquoise, red, hot pink

And purple, a kaleidoscope

Of color rearranging

Changing as the parts of

Me fall into place.

The turquoise reflects the

Peace and calm deep within me

Like the waters of the Mexican Caribbean.

The red in me ignites into a flame—

Passionate and energetic

but hot to touch.

The hot pink cries out

Notice me, I’m present—

You can’t ignore me

Anymore.

The purple states my power

That place inside me that has

Matured to womanhood

But still holds a girlish twinkle.

A waltz,

A jitterbug, a Swing Dance,

The Latin rhythm of rumba,

Or Bolero.

The depth of me express itself

            In dance,

The spiritual connection to

            The music,

The beat,

The magic and the sway!

Larada - Meet

The me totally revealed on

The dance floor,

Vulnerable,

Bare,

Connected to my partner

            And me

And the song.

About This Poem

I love this poem because it shows the many sides of me, a multi-faceted personality. If you know anything about me, you know that dancing has been a major part of my life and I capture my passion here. Meet me in all the stanzas and their descriptions.

This is a short post this week because I’m exhausted—we danced all weekend at a festival here in Albuquerque and I’m tired with a smile on my face. Lots of laughter, saw old friends and made new ones—the side-benefits of dancing!

Who are you? Have you ever thought of you as a color(s)? Your favorite activity? Hopefully in reading this you meet me in different ways. Also, take the time to describe yourself in a variety of ways.

Enjoy my interview on the podcast, The Writing Table

Hair on Fire audiobook cover - Meet

~ Hair on Fire: A Heartwarming & Humorous Christmas Memoir available in audiobook format at the following places:

~SHOP TODAY FOR YOUR AUTOGRAPHED COPY! Shop at my Etsy Shop or my Shopify Store

Our 12th Anniversary: What a Crazy Day!
Dancing · Friends · My Thoughts · square dance

Our 12th Anniversary: What a Crazy Day!

Larada Horner-MillerLeave a comment
Lin & Larada Kissing - 12th Anniversary

Our 12th anniversary—today—and what a crazy day we had! It started off great, but the afternoon took a horrible turn!

Twelve years ago, today, October 22, 2011, Lin and I married at the Albuquerque Square Dance Center, surrounded by nearly 300 friends and family. We had a short lovely ceremony and a big dance party with square dancing, round dancing and couple dancing! Today we started our anniversary off dancing at the Trail Out dance to end a wonderful weekend with Dee Dee Dougherty-Lottie calling.

After everyone sang “Happy Anniversary” this morning, Dee Dee played a fun-loving waltz that felt more like a polka during one break, and we waltz-polkaed to it. Then Jerry Gilbreath surprised us during another break by singing George Strait’s “I Cross My Heart.” What’s the significance of this song?

At our wedding, I had written a poem for Lin and read it. Lin knew I was writing a poem and responded to my poem with one of my favorites! Wow! What a treat for Jerry to remember and sing it today.

After the morning dance ended, we headed home. On the drive in to Albuquerque in the morning, we saw a major accident on the eastbound lane of I-40, but we thought it would be taken care of by our return trip! NO!! As a fatal accident, it kept the interstate closed for hours!

Then we tried to figure the best way up the canyon home. See, there’s two ways to go: I-40 or old Route 66. Using Google, we found out I-40 eastbound was still closed, so we went by Cost Co and got gas, then headed up Central. I jumped out of the Jeep to grab a drink at Taco Bell for the possibly long trip home. So, by this time—after noon—we went up Route 66, surrounded by semi-trucks and cars at almost a standstill.

What added to my frustration? The Denver Broncos’ game began at 2:25 PM, and I couldn’t get it on Sirius radio or on the Internet. A friend texted me updates about the Broncos’ game, so I had an idea about what was going on.

About four hours later, and some movement up Route 66, we found out another incident added to our delay—a downed power pole across the road. So a state patrolman told us to turn around—finally I-40 was open.

Finally, we got home at 4:30 PM after spending most of the afternoon in the car, inching our way towards home.

So, I ran out of time to do my blog about our trip to Germany. Instead, here’s the poem I wrote for Lin and read to him at our wedding. I hope you enjoy it.

Larada Reading her poem to Lin!
Larada reading her poem to Lin! 12th Anniversary
Close up of Larada reading her poem to Lin!

It’s Here!

Larada Horner 

It's here!
Our life together starts toda

The past is behind us
The future looms positively in our view!

I have labored over the words to say to you.
How do I find words to describe what has happened 
Between us

There is not a container to hold it 

We come from 2 rich, full lives 
	a small town New Jersey boy and
	a country girl from Colorado
Other places, other times
Other husbands, other wives

We arrive here today
From tragedy 
The loss of Kathi
Your dear former wife
And My dear friend

We arrive here today
From joy
In our newfound relationship,
Having been friends for years!
I knew you and liked you before
I fell in love with you!

Thank you for proposing to me
On Christmas morning, 2010
In front of Mom and Aunt Willie, 
My 92-year-old aunt 
and 
making It official.

When You met My Dear Uncle Tanky 
After you proposed, he took me aside 
And said he's the best!

I agree - I have no doubt!

Many of our friends here today have 
Told us that they will be glad when we get married,
So, we would stop kissing and hugging each other
All the time!

I will never stop!
Each kiss and each hug heals my soul at a deeper level
I want more!

Lin, to me
You are a cool mountain breeze
Deer stopping by for nourishment & comfort!
You are laughter!  Every Wednesday night at round dancing 
when you refer to the foxtrot as the F word, 
I laugh deeply!

I know that the life we will start today 
Is rich
blessed
And oh, so good!

As I look out over
Our family and friends,
I know we have the support
And power to make this marriage
Become a fascinating adventure.

Today we become husband and wife
And some of you may wonder
"why?"
At our age.

Here's my reason -
I wanted to stand today before
My family and friends and God and profess my love to you.
To me the sacrament of marriage 
Has a different value today!
I wanted the protection for us
That marriage offers.

I commit today 
To be Larada
Creative, messy, wacky and fun!

I ask you to be Lin.
Creative, neat, linear and goofy!

Together we form a "we"
That's dynamic!

I could site a long list of thank you’s today, but I want to 
thank you mostly for one thing - choosing to
Share the rest of your 
Life with me!  It's here!
My mom and brother gave me away! What a joyful day it was! 12th Anniversary
My mom and brother gave me away! What a joyful day it was!

Finally, our 12th anniversary will be memorable for sure, but even though the afternoon was grueling, Lin and I celebrated this day and each other! We marveled at how much we’ve packed into these twelve years and what lies ahead of us!

TWO GREAT DEALS:

Hair on Fire: A Heartwarming & Humorous Christmas Memoir - My Jesse

Germany: Our Trip to Breathtaking Bavaria!
Germany · My Thoughts · square dance · Travel

Germany: Our Trip to Breathtaking Bavaria!

Larada Horner-Miller1 Comment
Pictures from Bavaria, Germany
View from Eagle’s Nest
Oktberfest in Munich
Grassau from Alpine Skilift
Farmer’s Museum – How they tied fences
House on our walk to Hotel Sperrer

On September 12, 2023, Lin and I left Albuquerque for Munich, Germany through Chicago to begin an amazing Bavaria Tour with square dancers and the Crisps. In Chicago, we endured a delay, but the overseas trip went seamlessly. We bought the upgrade to Economy Plus for the overseas leg of the trip and enjoyed the extra leg room.

The Crisp Tour began at the airport in Munich, Germany airport where Tom, Gina and Curtis Crisp. They met us joyfully at the airport even though our group was two hours late! Gina greeted me personally and gave us our room keys and our name tags. They gathered the group, and we walked to the buses—I was in Munich! Yahooo!

Then we headed to Grassau, a small village one hour away. We stopped first at the Hotel Sperrer where most of the tour had their rooms. We opted to be in the apartments, a 10-minute walk away. Curtis carpooled us to the apartments and what a lovely surprise we had with our room. We had a lovely space with a kitchen, living room, spacious bedroom, and a bathroom with a sunken tub. We settled in then returned to the Hotel Sperrer for our first dinner together and our orientation meeting.

After dinner, the mayor (in German Bürgermeister) of Grassau, Stefan Kattari, welcomed us. Looking out the windows, we realized it was raining, so we walked back to the room and didn’t join in the welcome dance that night. We were exhausted.

We had fourteen days of action-packed fun.

Itinerary of our amazing trip:

  • September 12—Day 1: Travel Day
  • September 13—Day 2: Travel Day
  • September 14—Day 3: Frelichtmuseum—Farmer’s Museum. Dancing after dinner.
  • September 15—Day 4: Berchtesgaden: Salt Mines & Eagle’s Nest Tour. Dancing after dinner.
  • September 16—Day 5: Alpine ski lift. Invitational Square & Round Dance with Jet Roberts, Tony Oxendine, Tom Crisp, plus a Mystery Guest Caller and Klaus Völkl & Stefanie Christian on the rounds.
  • September 17—Day 6: Munich Oktoberfest And Opening Costume Parade. Square & Round Dance & Potluck in Munich hosted by the Tamara Twirlers.
  • September 18—Day 7: Lake Chiemsee boat cruise to visit Herrenchiemesee Island and King Ludwig’s Castle. Optional: Hotel Wessner Hof. Free Schnapps Tour. Dinner on your own. Caller’s night off.
  • September 19—Day 8: King Ludwig’s Neuschwanstein Castle. Visit the village of Oberammergau, famous for woodcarving and the passion play.
  • September 20—Day 9: Innsbruck capital of Austrian Western State of Tyrol and Rattenberg am Inn – famous for Swarovski Crystal.
  • September 21—Day 10: Munich City Tour with English-speaking guide. Visit downtown Munich, including Marienplatz & the famous Hofbraeuhaus. Return to Grassau in time for dinner and dance.
  • September 22—Day 11: Morning: Visit the beautiful village of Reit im Winkl. Evening: Heimatabend – Bavarian Traditional Schuhplattlers Show. Oom-pah music tonight.
  • September 23—Day 12: Free time. Optional tour offer—Tolzer Twirlers Anniversary Dance in Bad Tolz.
  • September 24—Day 13: Salzburg: City walking tour with English-speaking guide. St. Rupert’s Day Evening – Salzburg Mozart Dinner Concert. No dance, live Classical Music tonight!
  • September 25—Day 14: Free time for last-minute shopping and time to pack. Last dance 11 am—1 pm. Please bring luggage to the hotel lobby to be loaded onto busses no later than 4 pm.Special Farewell Banquet. No dancing after banquet—party or early to bed.
  • September 26—Day 15: Depart Grassau for an early flight from Munich to USA.

Finally,

I have memories to last a lifetime. I started organizing my picture last night, and I relived each moment! Bavaria, the part of Germany and Austria we visited, is overwhelming in natural beauty!

As you can see, we saw many sights. We danced a lot, and we were busy, busy! We met some wonderful new friends from all over the country. In my next couple of blog posts, I will highlight some of my favorite places and memories. There’s no way I can write about each day individually—I wouldn’t write anything else for the rest of the year. Highlights—that’s what I plan to do!

Have you ever been to Bavaria in Germany? If so, what was your experience? If you haven’t, Crisp Tours may be returning to Germany in 2025. Email me if you’re interested and I will forward it to them.

TWO GREAT DEALS:

Hair on Fire: A Heartwarming & Humorous Christmas Memoir--Germany