My colleague Tovin had a story yesterday about a fire in Corralitos that destroyed four cars, damaged five others and burned a quarter-acre of land.
This would be upsetting no matter where or when it occurred, but it struck me as particularly sad that it happened during a hula hooping event. (Also, I love that there is a hula-hooping retreat. That seems so quintessentially Santa Cruz.)
Hula hooping seems like such a fun, happy activity. A blaze chasing away a group of hula hoopers strikes me as just … inherently sad, in a way I can’t completely put my finger on.Think about it: Hula hoopers running from fire. Ugh. It seems like an Onion headline. Too unfortunate to be true, but it is.
Luckily the blaze was contained and it looks like Hoopcamp Retreat 2011 will be able to continue as scheduled today and tomorrow. From reading the website, it looks like a fun time. Too bad registration is full.
Hoopcamp 2011: The Spirit Dance: Hooping for Transcen’dance’ Your magical hoop spirit is calling you to come fuse your connection to hooping and the hooping community at Hoopcamp 2011- The Spirit Dance: Hooping for Transcen’dance’. Expect more mad hooping skills, dazzling hoop performances, dynamic workshops, creatively designed outdoor spaces and DJ driven Hoopjams that will bring out your inner hoop glow.
Hula hooping has been having something of a comeback in the past few years, according to that bastion of news about social trends, the New York Times. (Disclosure: I love the Gray Lady but I also like to laugh at the supposed trend stories.) In this instance though, I can concede this point – I have seen a lot more people hooping in the past few years (including fire-hooping!) Norville Barnes would be a happy man. Even the First Lady gets her hoop on.
