Well, there's been an exciting development in my quest to become a West Virginia travel writer.

Since I don't want it to be a business, (no deductions) and we are not wealthy, I have been searching for - well, perks. You know, free passes, press privileges, etc.

Well, while browsing the WV State Parks web site the other day, I came across a program called the "Host a Park" program.

The deal? Get approved, and you can camp at certain campgrounds for free. The catch? You have to check in campers, and do odd jobs while there.

We were approved in a day, and have been invited already to host a weekend at Greenbrier State Forest!

YEE HAW!

Frank is a little afraid they will work us more than it is worth ($15 per night) but, since most State Park camping fans are seniors in RVs, I'm a-doubtin' that.

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I also keep forgetting to announce here each week when I update my column at The Calhoun Chronicle.

This week I was a little off, (first week back to work and all) but I don't think I've wandered too off base. But then again. . .

Well anyway, here's the first edition of "Off The Cuff", entitled, "Shake It Well."

“You’ve got problems, I’ve got problems, I can tell.

Here’s my remedy, such good therapy,

It’s called ‘shake it well.’

Whatever your ailment, you’ll find curtailment,

If you shake it well.”

The Dramatics, “Shake It Well”

When I first heard of the social issues in Afghanistan, the one fact that brought the suffering to life in my mind was that the citizens were not allowed to listen to music. I could not picture in my mind genocide, murder, rape, mayhem or chaos, but I could grasp the oppression of a world without music, and just how lost I would be, how empty I would be in such a world.

Music takes me away, and when I am away (from work), I listen to music.

I love disco. (Much to Frank’s dismay.) Make fun of me all you want, but I was a child of the 70’s, circling the roller rink in skates with pink pom poms on Saturday nights, where I could boogie-oogie-oogie till I just couldn’t boogie no more.

You could learn a lot about life from disco music.

Depressed? Feeling blue? The Dramatics suggest you “shake it well.” Seems a little silly, but in all actuality, exercise can relieve stress and anxiety. How can you dance and be depressed at the same time? You can’t. In their song, “Keep on Dancin’,” Gary’s Gang says, “As long as you’re groovin’ there’s always a chance.”

There’s always a chance. For what? For whatever you want--happiness, growth, change.

In their song, “Play That Funky Music,” Wild Cherry discusses change.

The song is the story of a singer in a rock and roll band who needed a change. Everything around him “got to start to feelin’ so low” that he decided he needed to switch to disco.

“Now first it wasn’t easy,” he sings, “changing rock and roll and minds.” Change was hard for him. Others didn’t accept the change, and he struggled. He struggled so hard in fact, that he almost gave up.

“Things were getting shaky, I thought I’d have to leave it behind.”

He found the struggle for change was worth it in the end.

“Oh, but now it’s so much better (It’s so much better) . . . I’m funkin’ out in ev-er-y way, but I’ll never lose that feelin’ (No I won’t) . . . of how I learned my lesson that day.”

Life is a dance. In order to enjoy life, you have to get into the groove. In the past, I have suggested that folks take a vacation, take a break, take time to get away. If you can’t get away, let music take you away.

I suggest a trip to Funky Town. It’s a “town to keep you movin’, keep you groovin’ with some energy.”

Long live disco music.

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Want to know more about DeLaHaye? Visit her web site at hayesminney.info, or her online store at Impecunious Impressions , or read her weekly column at The Calhoun Chronicle Online .