Our circle of friends in New England are mostly based around people I work with. Maria is the principal at the middle School, and Dillard is the principal at the Elementary school. The three of us dine with our boss, Roxanne before school board meetings, and we do many fun things together. Maria and her husband Mark have adopted us into their larger family and we’ve done many parties and family get-togethers with them. Dillard and Laurie have a circle of friends that they’ve known forever. Many of the group love to cruise together, and Janet and I have been adopted into this gang as well. We’ve cruised with Pam, Mike, Ron, Priscille, Joanne, and George, and been to many house parties as well.

Last year, Mark and Maria suggested we join them at the Currier Art Museum’s Night in Paris to celebrate their exhibit: The Paris of Toulouse-Lautrec: Prints and Posters from the Museum of Modern Art. Participants were encouraged to dress in period clothing and enjoy a night of art, food, drinks, and dancing. There were fire baton twirlers and aerial acrobatics to make the party really swing.  It was great fun, and we really got in to the spirit by dressing accordingly.

This year, Pam and Mike suggested that our cruise friends go the Masquerade party at the Currier to celebrate the new exhibit: Myth and Faith in Renaissance Florence:The sculpture of Giovan Angelo Montorsoli and his circle. Having had so much fun last year, we enthusiastically volunteered to go, and also invited Mark and Maria, and our new friends Lynn, the new assistant principal at the middle school, and her wife Donna.

I spent a few weeks designing and ordering my costume. I ordered a jacket about three weeks before the event. By Monday the jacket still hadn’t arrived. It was literally on a slow boat from China.  I ordered another from a company that guaranteed 2-day shipping, and rescued my costume. Janet has a dress she bought for cruising that seems to be able to fit into any gala, so she was safe.

Our whole group was comprised of six couples. For one of the first times since moving to New England, I was one of the few who knew everyone in the group. The party was amazing. Everyone wore carnivale masks, and many were dressed in period costumes. This year the food was upstairs, making it easier to nibble. There were contortionists and stilt walkers. Occasionally a dance group would commandeer the floor to do a number. The time flew by quickly and I swore I lost five pounds from dancing for three hours.

Our circle of friends keeps growing, and we are enjoying new things like Art gallery galas!

“Life is either a daring adventure or nothing at all.” – Helen Keller