quesarah | pride afterglow

This was a tremendous weekend. I'm exhausted today and barely keeping up with tasks but it was absolutely worth it. I haven't had this much fun in a long time. It wasn't necessarily the parties we were invited to, or the dancing, or chatting up people at the chorus booth, although all of those actiivities were fun. It was the sense of fitting in even as I realized how I was unique; of participating; of being with my community and celebrating us in all our different flavors. It was being on the dancefloor with the cowboys, the softball dykes, the leathermen, the femmey girls, the cholos, the sistahs, the swimmers, the old women, the young boys and bois, the queer geeks, the gender neutrals, the queens, the greens, and the everything in betweens. It was watching the parade on Saturday and realizing I knew people in many of the contingents -- no mean feat in a parade of 180 floats and groups. It was catching up with old friends and meeting new friends. It was, as we from the Midwest would say, a Homecoming festival. Welcome home, everyone. So good to see you all again.

This weekend I sang with my chorus, I danced with my girlfriend, I had a beer with friends, I caught up with people I haven't seen for a while, I was recognized by strangers who've seen me perform and wanted to say hello and introduce themselves (hey to Nicky, Liz, Chris, and Erin), I met people from out of town and out of state, and most wonderfully I met folks who were attending their very first Pride festival and got to share in their sense of wonder and excitement at being in a space where they aren't "weird" or "different." My body is tired but my spirit is joyful and my heart is filled with love.