On the road again

Signs you are maturing as a competition clogger...

Those healthy enough and lucky enough to compete as cloggers into adulthood know that the game changes with time. (Not necessarily a bad thing.) Here are 10 signs that may indicate you are THERE:

10. All costumes must be planned around your most supportive bra - no exceptions!

9. On competition day, the timing of your Aleve/Tylenol dosage is considered crucial strategy.

Five clogging competition truths.

My team attended Shindig In The Valley clogging competition last weekend. In addition to some awards and great memories, I walked away with a few observations:

1. NO NEED TO WORRY ABOUT FINDING BOBBY PINS/SAFETY PINS. THEY ARE ALL OVER THE DRESSING ROOM FLOOR!

I am the person on my team who packs EVERYTHING in her clogging bag. Need duct tape, shoe polish, band-aids, a granola bar? Sure, it's in there! However, once each team cycled through a costume change, it was unnecessary to dig in the bag. The carpet was covered in discarded bobby pins and safety pins! 

The magical island of hoedowns, turtles, and (usually) rain!

Last Saturday was my clogging team's annual trek to Natural Bridge State Park in Slade, KY. This park is home to Hoedown Island, billed in the park brochure as the "clogging capitol of Kentucky."

Hoedown Island (actually a peninsula) is host to dancing every Saturday night during the season.

And the odometer rolls on...

The drive home from my friend's beginner clogging class Monday night was terrible! It was pouring rain AND the road is under construction in multiple places (lines not really visible, including the center line, long waits at a traffic light where the road is down to a single lane, no streetlights to help visibility). Driving along at a snail's pace, tense and hunched over, trying to see the road, silently cursing oncoming big trucks who throw water all over my windshield, I thought about the miles driven in the name of clogging: