I think September is one of my favourite months.  Very often you notice that slight chill first thing in the morning and a mistiness which lifts as the sun warms the air. Spider webs seem to proliferate.  I love the golden tones, the ageing  leaves and the sense of ripening; apples falling, blackberries lining the pathway on my walks asking to be picked.  But of course the evenings begin to draw in so there can be a hint of melancholy.  It won’t be long before the log fire is lit.

I have a favourite walk nearby around an old quarry. It is only a couple of miles but goes through some woodland as well as heath. It is quite a popular route for people with their dogs but there can be stretches where you don’t see a soul.  This week I discovered the joy of dancing when not seen!!  I had my headphones plugged in with Genesis playing ‘I Can’t Dance’ reminding me of happy times many years ago. As I walked I began to hop, to skip, to shake my hands and arms…….to dance!  I ask myself why I don’t do it more often? It is so liberating and so joyous.  It’s curious how inhibited we feel about moving. To walk is fine, to run impressive, but to dance - well, comical if observed!  Had anyone been approaching in either direction I would have stopped immediately. Dancing seems to be confined to ‘venues’, classes, theatres and yet it is basic, a deep expression of self and at times our soul calls out for us to move! Just for the joy of it.

It is curious that I never set out today to write about dance!  But reflecting on this has made me recall that I have always loved dancing. As a young child my father, who was a good pianist, would play Debussy on the piano and I would dance on a very small square of parquet floor in the corner - lost in the movement. In my university years I could ‘bop’ for hours on end flailing myself around the dance floor. I have tried ballroom dancing but unfortunately never with a willing partner!  I have done ballet, barn dancing and Lindy hop.

I found an old Sufi saying: “God respects us when we work, but loves us when we dance.”

I think I need to dance again…………and not just around the quarry.