A Pool Party with Lasers, Rain, etc.

It's cold again.  I'm wrapped in a blanket and sitting next to a candle as I write, trying hard not to take it personally that it's June and gloom has invited itself back the air.  My house is being hugged by trees that are unsure of what to do with the weight of so much water on their leaves.  I think they'd crawl under my blankets with me if I let them in, but I like the comforting green they're lending to the windows, blocking my view of wet muddy roads and slick rocks.

Tomorrow is the annual Strolling of the Heifers in Brattleboro, VT.  We were out of town and missed it last year, and I've been looking forward to experiencing it.  I don't know what to expect -- a lot of cows, I suppose.  I suspect the sight of cows strolling down Main Street will stump the sogginess of another weekend of rain.

Two weekends ago, Memorial Day Weekend, was also wet.  That weekend we were in Gloucester, Massachusetts.  Soggy isn't the right word for that weekend - it was bone chilling.  The Tuesday prior had been rather lovely, though, so the sunshine and I booked a room for Garret and I at a little motel on the marina.  We had an errand in that area that we had to accomplish for the wedding, so I figured we might as well spend a weekend by the water.  Of course, there was water everywhere... falling from the sky, resting outside our window... everywhere.

The motel we were staying at was apparently had planned a big outdoor concert thing for that Saturday night, but since it was a deluge of cold water, they decided to instead host a DJ at their indoor pool.  We went out to a nice dinner in Gloucester and were on our way back and decided - eh, let's see what this thing is all about.

The air by the pool, unlike the air outside, was warm and cozy - and sweet with the smell of chlorine mixed with a fog machine that the DJ brought along.  There were lights going, and the bar was - to our surprise - two people deep the entire length it.  At that point, the rest of the room was fairly empty.  We each grabbed a beer and sat down in some lounge chairs by the pool.  We sat and chatted, listening to the selections of the DJ, which were pretty 90's-School-Dance centric, as, I suppose, was the audience.

Then something started to happen.  More and more people started trickling into this "pool party", and before we knew it, practically everyone staying at the motel was at this crazy dance party.  And people were having fun.  I guess when you're stuck in a rainy motel, Memorial Day Weekend, and a dance party has found its way to you... you might as well dance.

I just kept having these overwhelming waves of whatever the emotion we express with "Wow" is.  Here I was in this little motel that most of the world doesn't know exists, at this dance party that felt very one-time-only.  And I couldn't have been happier to be experiencing this weird serendipitous hour or two of totally bizarre fun, and I just kept thinking - who knew of all these places that exist, if you go to them? 

The pool dance party, before it was populated.