Bits of NEFFA

April 22nd, 2023
contra
First in-person NEFFA since 2019. Two really nice days, with a third to come. Some bits:

  • Lily getting to fire a rubber chicken at Jack in the Green (Morris)

    Credit: Ezra

  • Couldn't go anywhere without many stops to greet people I hadn't seen in years. So many "you're so much bigger than the last time I saw yous" with the kids, except for one person who was very confused and thought Nora (1y22m) was Anna (7y) and who initially thought Anna hadn't grown since 2019.

  • Lily (9y) bringing her fiddle for jamming in the hallways, and being joined by a patient piano player. We played her tunes, and then as other people started to join us and she ran out of tunes she did a bit of rhythm.

  • Playing a Friday evening contra set with Cecilia, and seeing Mark rocking out at the top.

  • Getting my rhythm stage setup ready for a a ten-minute changeover, following a ~20 person band. That is, they stopped playing at 7:50, we started playing at 8:00, and in between they needed to get off stage, we needed to get on stage, we needed to hook everything up, and we needed to sound check and get monitors working. Which we did!

  • Dancing the Friday contra medley with Cecilia and the Saturday one with Julia, and then a regular contra with Lily. I wish my knees were up for dancing more!

  • Anna getting to pick dandelions nearly indefinitely. After almost an hour we needed to move to a different part of the festival and she wanted to pick just one more, just one more.

  • First time seeing Harbour Steel perform!

  • Nora was often the center of attention, though she was iffy about this.

  • Lots of time with Brattleboro cousins, which was especially important to Anna (really misses having her cousin Olivia close).

  • The cousins picking out what toppings they wanted on their blintzes. Turns out it was "all of them".

  • Nora has gotten very fast on her boot; so much chasing her around!

This is far from everything, but now I need to go to sleep so I can go back again tomorrow.

Comment via: facebook, lesswrong, mastodon, substack

Recent posts on blogs I like:

Linkpost for September

Regular announcements: did you know you can hire me for life coaching and general consulting? You can also buy my novella Her Voice Is A Backwards Record wherever fine books are sold (except Google Books).

via Thing of Things September 8, 2025

Against the Teapot Hold in Contra Dancing

The teapot hold is the most dangerous common contra dancing figure, so I’ve been avoiding it. The teapot hold, sometimes called a "courtesy turn hold,” requires one dancer to connect with their hand behind their back. When I realized I could avoid put…

via Emma Azelborn August 25, 2025

Little Puppy

She's very little and she likes to do stuff with me. She also likes to bark around and run around and jump around. She also likes to go to places with me and that's all I have.

via Nora Wise's Blog Posts August 23, 2025

more     (via openring)