Sunrise, Sunset

Whoever decided that riding off into the sunset was supposed to be romantic and dramatic obviously never tried it. In reality, it will give you a huge headache, since you're staring at the sun the whole time. I should know--I was driving home to St. Louis from Indianapolis on Sunday evening, staring at the setting sun the whole way. At first, the sun was high enough that with sunglasses and liberal use of the sun shades in the car I could at least see the road and the cars on it. Soon enough, the sun creeps low enough that I'd have to shade the entire windshield in order block it, which makes driving a bit more challenging. At this point I try my best to focus on the road and the cars, and praying for trees tall enough to keep from being blinded (hills would be nice, but we're talking about interstate 70 through Illinois--there's really not much there). The ironic part is that right about the time the sun is blinding me, it's really getting too dark on the road to drive with sunglasses on--everything gets too shadowy and shady and not enough people have turned on their headlights yet.

We passed a pleasant weekend visiting my mom and baby sister, who's 10th birthday is next week. Katie had dance recitals this weekend, one for jazz and one for ballet, and we enjoyed both. Katie's class is old enough to have a decently complex dance routine, and for most of the girls to remember their steps and their lines, and to have a lot of energy and enthusiasm in the performance.

The studio that Katie takes classes in also gives adult classes, and they also performed in the recital. One of their acts involved half a dozen ladies wearing chaps and cowboy hats dancing to a "Save a horse, ride a cowboy" :) It was also fun to watch the little 3 and 4-year olds in their little bunny and bee costumes, complete with tutus, and to realize that Charlotte's not too far away from being able to do that as well.

The lady who runs the studio is a ballet dancer with 2 grown daughters and a couple of granddaughters, and they (along with several other mother-daughter groups) did a dance to "Sunrise, Sunset". As the lyrics started with "Is this the baby I carried", I couldn't keep myself from tearing up a bit. My little infant daughter is nearly 2, and walking, talking, climbing, running, and generally developing her own personality (complete with the most adorable "No"'s I've ever heard). I remember when I was the little one in the tutu up on the stage, and soon it will be her turn.

Maybe we'll be able to find a local studio that gives the adult classes or mother-daughter classes. I would really enjoy that. My husband took ballet and tap when he was little, too, (there's always one boy in every recital...), and if we have a baby boy at some point, he would likely get dance classes along with his big sister.