wheels in a field!

Last weekend we played at a festival in Oxfordshire. This is not such astounding news, other than it was deep in the heart of Tory-land, where the streets are so posh that (and I swear I'm not making this up) they have white doves strutting about the gutter in the place of lowly pigeons! The really exciting bit is it was my first tentative go at using a wheelchair at a festival! It was amazing! What a difference it made! It made me very happy indeed! It's been a few years since I had the stamina to do more than get round the festival site once (only if it's a tiny one-field festival at that), and then I'd have one dance and be absolutely done in for the rest of the night. If we were playing, we'd do the gig, then I'd go back to the tent and not surface again. I'm not complaining, there's something quite nice about lying in a comfy bed when you're knackered and listening to the party carrying on as you snooze.
But thanks to the Red Cross, who have lent me a wheelchair 'til the end of the month, I experienced what felt like true luxury this weekend. Having a pusher (thanks Tone!) was vital, it was quite muddy and rutted in places and I think I would have been stuck on my own. But not only did I have a pusher for the weekend, but also a great dance partner who manages to counteract what gravity seems to intend me to do and stop me from falling and flying off in random staggers! This is as critical as any walking aid! I love to dance, and wobbly legs and knackeredness won't bloody stop me! I did a fair bit of wheelchair dancing too! :)
The best part - I got to choose when and how I used my spoonfuls of energy, not walking up and down endlessly in a field, but dancing 'til I dropped! And when I had danced myself into the ground, I had somewhere to plonk myself - and it wasn't a bed! So I carried on partying, but sitting down! What a bloody civilised and inspired thing a wheelchair is. I don't want to give it back when the month's up!

x

me, my (borrowed) wheelchair and the lovely miss Kitty O'Blitherin  -photo by Vanessa
Gonzalez