Swinging on a midsummer night

I took Flo to her first session of Midsummer Night's Swing last night at Lincoln Center. It's a dance festival that goes on all summer long; this is the 19th season.

MNS hosts all manner of dance bands from around the country -- swing, rockabilly, salsa, you name it. For fifteen bucks, you can take part in a group dance lesson before the band starts playing, and then you get to stick around and practice what you've learned.

Or, for free, you can stand outside the fenced-in dance floor and stage and just enjoy the music (and maybe do a little gratis dancing of your own).

That's the route Flo and I took, as we were a little too late to take advantage of the group instruction.

But we enjoyed a couple of beers, listened to the music (it was a swing orchestra last night), and enjoyed watching the old codgers who work the dance floor getting the young(ish) gals to dance with them. These guys have clearly been dancing for years, and though their best days may be behind them, the gals seem happy to take a turn with them for a song or two.

It's kind of charming. In fact, I've had in mind in recent years to work on my dance chops (such as they are) over the next fifteen or twenty years, so that, if I did, in fact, end up spending my golden years alone, I'd at least get to twirl some pretty girls on the occasional warm summer night.

Thankfully, I now have lovely, permanent dance partner, so I won't have to be making the rounds twenty years down the road.

Speaking of which, I shared with you a picture of Flo's engagement present to me, a beautiful vintage watch.

Well, I've since presented her with an engagement gift -- a fetching 1950s dress that I spotted and instantly thought would look wonderful on Flo. As you can see in the picture I took last night, it does, indeed.

I've thrown in a picture or two of her engagement/wedding ring, too. (It's two... two... two rings in one!) I took the one of the ring on her hand; Flo took the shot of the ring next to an iced Americano. (She's a barista through and through!) It's a vintage ring from the 1930s or '40s (we're not entirely sure), and though the diamond is of modest size, it's got a lovely sparkle. Neither of us managed to catch that sparkle in our pictures, though, so you'll have to take my word for it.

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