Our 20th Annual Hot August Nights Square and Round Dance Festival is over. What a great event! We danced, we saw old friends, and we met new ones.
How It Started
It all started 20 years ago, three couples created this event—Ted Wright & Larada, Lin & Kathi Raver, and Bill & Freddi Franks. Lin and I are the only people left from the original committee. Then we have added these following wonderful people: Mary Jo Smith, Sheri Pastian, Joan Oliver, Jim & Gabrielle Murphy, Earl Quick, Cathy McKenna, Robert & Lisa Miller, and Gloria Schwab.
Hot August Nights Committee – 20th AnniversaryHot August Nights Committee – 20th anniversary – Goofy!
It has become a smashing success in the Southwest square dance world. Our staff this year made it fantastic: Mike Seastrom, caller and his wife, Lisa, and Mitch & Chelsea Thompson, cuer.
Friday
Lin and I flew in from Panama on Thursday after a horrible travel day on Wednesday because of this festival. It started on Friday afternoon with the Welcome Dance. Mike enjoyed sharing the stage with Kris Jensen Friday afternoon.
Friday night has been traditional our “Beach Party” dance with dancers wearing fun beach ware. Beach balls floated around the hall all night. We danced from 8-10 and ended the night with our traditional root beer floats.
During the night Mike, Mitch and Chelsea did a Pentatonix song that was amazing.
Mike, Chelsea & Mitchell Singing a Pentatonix Song
Saturday
Saturday morning started with introduction to round dancing session with Mitchell and Chelsea and then a round dance workshop for experienced dancers.
The committee went out to lunch with Mitchell and Chelsea. We talked about square and round dancing in Colorado where they live.
Then the afternoon started with Mike warming us up with High Energy dancing. Then Mike did Singing Calls for an hour. Harue Swift from Arizona joined Mike on one of the songs.The afternoon ended with a Plus workshop.
During the afternoon, Lin and Larada donned their Guerreros shirts from the men’s basketball team in Boquete, Panama they follow. The team was playing in the Championship game Saturday night. So we asked the dancers to help create a video with the cheer, “Uno, dos, tres—Guerreros!” Here’s the video. (Sadly, they lost!)
Our dancers join in on a cheer for the Guerreros team in Panama!
Saturday night everyone wore beautiful square dance attire, if they wanted to! Here’s me doing a round dance with a friend from Colorado!
Larada round dancing with a friend from Colorado
Mitchell and Chelsea entertained us with a beautiful tango demo of round dancing!
Mitchell & Chelsea dancing a tango!
Mike, Mitchell and Chelsesa sang another song together and the harmony was amazing!
What a lovely evening we had. Again, we ended with root beer floats and visiting with friends.
Sunday
Every Sunday morning at Hot August Nights features craziness for sure. We love to do scatter promenade which mixes the squares up.
At one point, Mike sang “Wooly, Bully” and a group in the back of the hall formed a chorus line. We ended with a congo line weaving our way to the front of the hall. Some of the dancers joined us. What fun! Here’s the link to the our fun chorus line:- https://www.facebook.com/larada.horner/
Sadly, Hot August Nights is over for another year! 20 years of fun and dancing! It is the highlight of the year for me!
I have dedicated 20 years of my life to Hot August Nights and I don’t regret it at all. Also, I have dedicated decades to my writing, so I love featuring a book a month. Tell me what you think!
What a whirlwind week I’ve had. I started it in Panamá. Then I flew to Albuquerque for a few days and then on to Branson, Colorado to be with my brother! Whew!
Monday, October 27
It was an early day for Lin and I—up at 4:30 AM with our trusty Uber driver, Joel, picking us up at 5:15 AM. At the airport, we went our separate ways: Lin returned to David, Panamá and our dear neighbor picked him up.
I flew to Houston, Texas in Business class, a new experience for me. The reason we did that—we don’t get charged for two suitcases. Otherwise, in Economy Premium you pay for the second suitcase. So, to explain: I put my medium suitcase in my big one to fill when I go through the storage shed. On the flight, I worked on the final layout of my second book some, but not as much as I had hoped.
In Houston, once again I went through customs easily because Lin and I bought the “Global Entry” which makes entry into the US seamless because of facial recognition.
I had a four-hour layover in Houston, but it worked because I did have to get my suitcase and recheck. I needed to eat, and I love sitting in an airport and watching people.
On my flight to Albuquerque, I slept most of the way. My dear friend, Sheri, picked me up and we went to one of our favorite eateries, Rusty Taco, for dinner.
Tuesday, October 28
Immediately Sheri offered to chauffeur me around, so we went to two different Walmarts to pick up some things I knew I couldn’t get in Panamá—yarn for the baby afghan I’m knitting for my great nephew and three-hole hole puncher. Sheri graciously offered to go to the second one.
Then in the afternoon, we drove up to our house in Tijeras to change the air conditioning to heating. It ended up being super easy because when we put in the air conditioning we bought a top-line thermostat.
We walked around Lin’s garden and marveled at how well it looked, but we were sad to see the absence of the three big fish we had in our pond. Sheri and I only saw the three little ones.
Then, on our way home, we stopped at our storage shed just to check on it. Everything looked great, and I easily found the scale we have to weigh a suitcases. Lin had left it out in the open on top of the “Panamá” boxes near the door.
After that, we went home and enjoyed a relaxing evening of watching “Dancing With the Stars.” I used the yarn I bought and knitted like crazy. I want to finish it on this trip and mail it—it’s late because he was born May 25, on his granddad’s (my brother) birthday.
Wednesday, October 29
This whirlwind day centered on medical needs. I had messaged my primary care physician about the hearing loss I’ve experienced since the ear infection I had in September. His nurse called back but I didn’t answer because I didn’t recognize the number. She left a voicemail, so I called back and they got me an appointment on November 14. I had to delay it because I was going to northern New Mexico on the train on Thursday and staying a couple weeks with my brother.
Then a little later I got a phone call saying they had a 1:00 appointment THAT day! OMG! I had plans to go with our realtor to our house to meet a painter for an appraisal at 11:30 AM. So, I declined.
When our realtor picked me up and we barely pulled away from Sheri’s house, my phone rang and it was primary care physician with no greeting, only a question—“Why can’t you make the 1:00 PM appointment?”
I told him what I was doing. After a short silence, he said, “Can you make it at 3:00 this afternoon?”
I looked at my realtor and she shook her head, so I said, “YES!” Wow! Can you believe that!
We met the painter then had lunch and great conversation, catching up.
Sheri took me to my 3:00 appointment. My doctor had concerns about my right ear and the possibility I still had an infection in it, so he gave me a prescription for an antibiotic.
Sheri has dinner every Wednesday with two girlfriends, so I joined them. What a delightful time I had to meet the women I heard her talk about often. Afterwards we picked up my prescription. When we got home, I went through seven weeks of junk mail mostly that our realtor had collected! It was a bin full! To end the evening, I organized my suitcase, to prepare for my trip the next day.
Thursday, October 30
Sheri woke up sick because of an antibiotic she was taking, but she did feel better later so she took me to the Amtrak train station. The train was an hour late from Albuquerque then delayed thirty minutes more on the trip.
Because of problems with my leg still, I sat downstairs by a 92-year-old woman traveling to Wisconsin. She was a retired high school English teacher, so we had a lot in common.
On the trip, I worked on my book business and set up a couple ads to promote some of my books.
When I arrived in Raton, New Mexico, my brother was waiting. We went to Bruno’s for pizza and had some of the best pizza I’ve ever had. Then we drove the hour trip home to Branson.
Friday, October 31
Of course, we went out to our ranch in the morning! I love going out there with him. Recently we’ve had road work done on our canyon and created two new reservoirs. What fun it was to see the road improvements and water in both of the reservoirs.
My brother is a big sports fan, so we watched the sixth game of the World Series with both of us cheering for the Toronto Blue Jays. Sadly they didn’t win which pushed it into a seventh game.
Saturday, November 1
What a busy whirlwind day I had full of Zoom meetings!
First, I joined my CoDA meeting at 10:30 AM in Albuquerque via Zoom. I love staying connected to this meeting and my friends there.
During the meeting, my brother texted me that his deer meat was ready to pick up. He’s a great hunter and shot a buck last week. So, he drove to Capulin, New Mexico to pick up the meat and the head. He’s going to have the head mounted to add to his collection of nine heads he already has in his living room.
After the meeting, I cooked some antelope backstrap for us for lunch. When he got back, I went to his house to watch the Texas Tech football game and eat lunch. His great nephew, Coy Eakins, plays on the team and our whole family has been following Coy and Tech.
At 3:00 PM, I changed from Tech football and came to my house and did a Zoom meeting with my three friends for our monthly meeting. Again, I enjoyed the stories and the camaraderie of this group.
That night, we watched the seventh game of the World Series that stretched into an eleven-inning game. These two teams were evenly matched, but the LA Dodgers won. Sadly we had no trick or treaters!
Another whirlwind day for sure!
Sunday, November 2
Because I’m a Denver Broncos’ fan, I missed church and went to my brother’s house to watch the game with him. He’s an avid Broncos’ fan with a house totally decorated with Denver Broncos’ stuff and San Francisco Giants’ stuff—he lived in northern California for 32 years.
And the Broncos pulled out another win, driving us crazy until the end.
Afterwards, my brother and I drove fifty miles to Trinidad to his friend Bill who is a taxidermist and gave him the head of the buck my brother shot. I love Bill! We sat for quite a while listening to his stories.
Finally,
As you can see, this whirlwind week overflowed with activity. In the midst of everything, I did a poll on four book cover possibilities for my new book. Let me know which one you like.
This book will be out sometime this year, hopefully at the end of November! Be on the lookout!
This week I’ve mused over the similarities and differences in my life today in Boquete, Panama, 5083 kilometers away from Tijeras, New Mexico. That’s what they use here. It’s 3158.43 miles. So, let’s take a look!
Similarities
My cell phone and computer and the internet seem to be the link in my life that makes living here similar to the USA.
Talking to my brother—Because AT&T has an agreement with twenty Latin American countries, I can use my phone like I did in the states. So, I have kept up the schedule of calling him every couple days and that has eased my transition here.
Church—At this point, I continue to attend Hope in the Desert Episcopal Church on Facebook Livestream, like I had because of the pandemic, first of all, and then because of my year-long recovery from the dog attack and no driving.
Recovery meetings–So far, it’s all been online. I haven’t gone to a face-to-face meeting since we’ve been here, because of not having a car. I will venture out this week though. There’s a thriving recovery community here I got acquainted with in May, so I look forward to making new friends there. Recovery around the world feels the same!
Lin and my TV watching—After figuring out the TV services here and NordVPN, we have access to our favorite streaming services like Prime, YouTube TV, and Britbox. Also, today we didn’t have to struggle with getting our favorite NFL games because I subscribed to an international service, Dazn.com, and it has worked perfectly.
Friends to share life with—We have so many wonderful friends in the USA due to our square dancing, my teaching life and my recovery. But we have made a wonderful circle of friends here who have made the transition seamless in so many ways. Yes, we miss our friends in the USA, but because of AT&T, I talk to people easily from here. Also, I will connect with many when I return on my trips for ranch business.
Working on my next book–I continue to layout book #2 in my poetry series, Time Measured Out!: Navigating Life’s Journey Through Poetry. I am so glad I brought my iMac desktop with me in one of my three suitcases because I have to have two programs opened at the same time to do the layout. The large display makes it so easy!
Differences & How We Adapt
No Episcopal Church—There is not an Episcopal church in Boquete, but there is one in David, 30 minutes away. In our town, there are Catholic churches and the Boquete Bible Fellowship. I plan on trying all of them out and deciding where I will land on a Sunday morning. For most of my adult life, I’ve attended the Episcopal church, so I look at this as a time of stretching me and my faith.
No dishwasherin our rental—So, we wash the dishes by hand. Lin and I have shared this new chore, but in so many ways, it’s not a chore. Here’s the view out our window over the sink:
No disherwasher continued—Fr. Tom Weston, one of my recovery mentors, introduced me to the Buddhist mindset of being present in daily tasks—chop wood and carry water. As I wash the dishes, I concentrate on being there, present, standing in front of this window, enjoying the view, the birds, the warm water, my homemade dishcloth in my hands. That’s always been a hard task for me. I’ve either wandered around the past or anticipated the future. But this so-called chore has slowed me down to appreciate this task I have taken for granted for years—because the dishwasher did it!
Spanish is the language—I was a Spanish teacher for fourteen years at the middle school level, but that was years ago. So, I’ve worked on renewing my knowledge of the language, using Duolingo daily for 216 days today! I also have the Babbel app and plan to use that too. When I have the opportunity, I speak as much Spanish as possible. Interestingly, the greeting here is “Buenos,” a shortening of “Buenos días!” That has been a major adjustment.
No dancing yet—We knew there would not be any square or round dancing here, but Latin people love to dance, so we hope to get into salsa and whatever is the dance of Panama.
My next book launch—It will be harder to get a paperback here. Amazon delivers but I haven’t ordered anything yet. I’m apprehensive.
Getting my medicine from OptumRx—Again, it’s a shipping issue! I messed up on the first orders and hope two orders arrive this week. Now I know how to order it, so the next one will sail through easily, I hope!
The weather—We’re in the rainy season, so it rains every afternoon. It usually stops for the evening, but yesterday we had a downpour that lasted into the evening. Also, we don’t have the heat we did in New Mexico because we are in the mountains with our temperature averaging 75 year around.
Getting around—We rented a car this week and have enjoyed the freedom of going when we want without bothering our neighbors; however, they were always so ready to help. The streets of Boquete are narrow, so we drive more slowly.
No Starbucks—But Boquete is known for its coffee production. So we have coffee readily available. I drink decaf though, but Lin found some the other day at one of our favorite coffee shops, Kotowa.
Variety of Restaurants—We live 5-10 minutes away from about 125 restaurants, so variety is readily available.
Economy—We have found it to be less expensive here. A doctor’s visit without insurance cost us about $20 for both of us. I don’t dread a trip to the grocery store because the bill is much less. Our rental includes all the utilities, so we feel it’s a bargain.
Fresh Food—We love fresh papaya, mangoes, bananas and passion fruit and have them regularly. At the Thursday market last week, we bought fresh tuna caught that morning. Lin grilled a couple pieces and we added the largest avocado I’ve ever seen for our meal! We both love fish, so we look forward to many more fish meals with lots of fresh fruit and vegetables.
Fresh Tuna & AvocadoPapaya & Mangoes
Finally,
Yes, there are similarities that I have kept alive in my life in our move to Panama, but I wanted to share the differences because I hadn’t talked about them yet. Life here seems less stressful, less frantic and much more relaxed!
Feed your soul! The 19th annual Hot August Nights Square and Round Festival is in the books and we had another success!
After a four-hour nap this afternoon, I’m revived enough to write this blog post. Here’s how the weekend went.
Preparing on Friday
We met Sheri Pastian, the new treasurer, at the Wells Fargo at 10:15 am to add her to the checking account. From there we went to her house and loaded up the supplies for Hot August Nights. Then we had a jovial lunch at Panda Express and met the rest of the committee at the danc e hall to prepare for the weekend.
This year we had only six of our eleven-man committee, but these six worked smoothly all weekend. It was amazing. We blew up beach balls for the Beach Party we do every Friday night. We did minimal decorating with two clusters of helium balloons on each side of the stage. Also, we put up schedules and other necessary signs. Ready or not, here they came!
Our first event started at 3:00 PM—the Welcome dance. Mike Hogan started the afternoon off, and dancers enjoyed him as usual. Mitchell and Chelsea Thompson cued the rounds and warmed the floor up.
Then we broke for dinner.
Friday Night
Our Beach Party square and round dance party has started Hot August Nights for nineteen years and no one gets tired of it. People came dressed in shorts and beach attire and a laid-back attitude.
What a fun night we had dancing to Mike Hogan and Mitchell Thompson. Because of my nerve damage, I didn’t dance every tip and every round dance, but I did a couple tips and more rounds than I thought I could, but when the music started to a favorite round, it was hard to not jump up!
Dancers greeted us warmly and asked lots of questions about our move to Panama. Their care and concerned warmed my heart.
As usual, we ended the evening with root beer floats. I love this because people sit and visit and make new friendships and rekindled old ones. Laughter and hugs filled the hall.
Saturday—Daytime Fun
Saturday morning started off with a rounds workshop and then an introduction to waltz. I helped at the registration desk and had a fantastic visit with members of our committee. The round dancers dominated the morning, and usually I would have been on the floor learning the level four cha-cha Mitchell and Chelsea taught. Again I had to refrain from overdoing.
During lunch we enjoyed a hearty conversation with our staff about promoting square and round dancing and their future. Mike, Mitchell and Chelsea shared personal experiences and wisdom. I love this time we’ve created each year to sit and talk with professionals in the field about the two activities I love!
After lunch Mike Hogan started the afternoon off with thirty minutes of High Energy square dancing. I couldn’t participate, but what fun it was! As the time went on, he increased the speed of the music, so the dancers ended up dancing at 150 beats per second.
He ended the session with one of my favorite songs, Fisherman’s Luck.
Then we enjoyed an hour of singing calls where we had the pleasure of hearing Mike’s beautiful voice. The afternoon ended with an hour and half of plus workshop. I was able to dance a little and enjoyed the review of different square dance calls and the challenge.
Lin and I ended the afternoon by taking Mike and Denise Hogan out to dinner and talking square dancing more. However, they are close friends of ours, so we enjoyed more conversation about our lives and families.
Saturday Evening
The Hard Working Hot August Nights Committee
I love Saturday evening at our Hot August Nights dance because our committee wears our beautiful club outfit made by Mary Jo Smith. I hadn’t worn a square dance outfit for over a year, so it was a pleasure, even though I’ve gained weight and my pettipants fit too tight!
Early in the evening, we celebrated three birthdays with one man celebrating 89 years! I love the tradition of the birthday celebrants standing up and the other dancers lining up and giving them a hug and a kiss! What fun!
Women lined up to give hugs and kisses to the birthday guys
Most of the dancers dressed up for the evening, so it was a kaleidoscope of colors. What a wonderful evening we had with great dancing and lots of laughter. I didn’t dance as much as Friday night because my leg hurt. I visited with friends and enjoyed the music and the calling.
Later in the evening, I did danced one tip where the men wore our petticoats. Usually I have an extra petticoat for Lin to wear for this traditional craziness, but they’re all packed up, so when we got into the square, I took mine off right there. When the music started, the hilarity started because some of us changed dance positions dancing the opposite one. I have never laughed so hard in my life—good, clean fun!
The night again ended with root beer floats. Mike and Denise entertained a group of us with their disastrous story of their time Mike called for us last and their rental car nightmare. Yes, it was funny today, but not then, I’m sure!
Sunday Morning Fun
Traditionally Sunday Morning at Hot August Nights is a blast, and it was this morning. Because everyone is tired yet exhilarated by the weekend, the dancers come ready to have fun for the short hour and half session.
This morning, we did scatter promenades, air raid and much more as people laughed and enjoyed the time left in this magical atmosphere of a weekend festival.
Mike, Chelsea and Mitchell continued to inspire all of us with their talents and friendship.
When the time ended, we all received lots of hugs and well wishes. After we cleaned up, we had our traditional feedback meeting where we listed the Pluses for the weekend, the Deltas (what needs improvements) and then the remedies. Mike and Denise joined in, and we gained from their objective observation.
To celebrate our triumph, we ended up at Fuddruckers for lunch and more friendly conversation. I will never forget my farewell to Denise. She said, “Longtime friend” which I loved. It was bittersweet to say goodbye to them because of our deep relationship.
So, folks who don’t square and round dance—you are missing out on deep friendships built on a love for an activity that feeds your soul!
