It's also not easy to come up with words to talk about it. A gay fly-in is more than just a bunch of tips strung together into morning-afternoon-evening chunks.
It's like a family reunion, a convention, a religious revival, a pride festival -- all rolled up and glued together by do-sa-dos.
Cutting Through
Getting any kind of big event off the ground gives everyone plenty of things about which to get cranky. Feelings get thick and strong and difficult to get around. But nothing cuts through all of that like square dancing, does it?
At every fly-in I've been to -- and this was no exception -- there's a m
oment when I sort of wake up and realize where I am. And it hits me with such clarity that I'd start crying if I didn't have to listen for the next call.
I'm surrounded by friends, people who understand me without having to work at it, who accept me no matter how much I screw up, and people I might not have let myself get close to if I hadn't had the dancing to cut through all my stupid hang-ups.
It's easy to find a word for that. Family.
Our Big Fat Gay Success Story
From what I've been hearing from the committee members who have had a look at the feedback we got, Arch and Dive Thru 2008 was a big fat gay success story with icing on top -- setting aside our unfortunate brush with grand larceny.
We got especially high marks on our hospitality, and it's hard to make too big a deal of how important that is. The floor time and the callers draw our out-of-town friends, but it's our hospitality and fellowship that will keep them coming back and bringing more dancers with them.
We owe a big debt of gratitude to the committee members for their huge investment of time, energy, patience, and sheer love-labor.
Here's looking forward to 2010!
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