The Ranch in Anaheim

With the bands lead singer... 

Happy 2015! To balance things out I normally celebrate New Year’s with friends.  This year six of us bought tickets to attend an end of the year bash at The Ranch in Anaheim.  I have written about this place before- but I don’t think I have written about why I really enjoy the venue.  First, I love seeing people in their element.  We all have a place or an activity that makes us feel super confident- The Ranch is that place for many country loving folk.  Though- I love Spanish music and have yet to enjoy dancing to another type of music as I do to my Latino roots- I truly enjoy going American country once in a while. I love to sit and watch people dance- as a former party girl I have extensive knowledge of the night clubbing life.  While nightlife gives way to drunkenness and immorality- this place is different.  Most people who visit the Ranch are people that really love to dance to country music.  As I sit and enjoy a Blue Moon I always marvel at the capacity for such a large number of people to dance so effortlessly- yet passionately.  Whether coupled or line-dancing it’s a community effort- people move all around the floor in beautiful synchronization.  There’s a neat dynamic amongst the sexes; men are manly leaders that guide the women in ways that make them shine with femininity.  There’s respect and value for one another and for the art of dancing.  One never feels unsafe nor accosted by drunk men because the bouncers keep an atmosphere that almost feels Christian (smile). 

Growing up my mother taught me the traditional differences in gender roles and expectations- like a man should always ask the woman to dance or out on a date.  Obviously things have changed in society and now the gender roles are so confused and degenerated.  Yet, when I am at The Ranch things look hopeful…  I want a man that has the courage to pursue me- to take me on the dance floor (metaphorically speaking) and lead.  There’s nothing I crave more than to follow a man into our sanctification (smile).  When I am at The Ranch sitting enjoying the faultless dancing, God’s plan for the sexes looks hopeful.  Men lead and women follow creating such beautiful dancing…  I have a tendency to fall for really shy, introverted men and I am so uneducated in the language of courting that sometimes I think these weaknesses eliminate all possibilities of ever finding my Mr. Right.  I mean am horrible at showing interest when I am in the same room as the object of my affections as well as making small talk.  My speech becomes quite elementary and I forget most of my vocabulary. Most of the time I opt for silence.  Then I get to thinking- that if I am such klutz and the guy I like super shy we are bound to remain separated by our own inadequacies!  Logically that reasoning seems truthfully painful- but in comes the advice from my momma.  There’s no shyness a man won’t overcome when he really likes a girl and there’s no silence that will not be challenged if the right man is patient and persistent (smile).

Clock Strikes Twelve Balloon Drop.

We are all victims of modernization- of accepting ideas simply because at first glance they appear collectively right.  Society talks about tolerance and acceptance for all- yet, when people hold on to traditional values and believe in the beauty and differences of the sexes we are seen as backwards and intolerant.  Yet, at The Ranch one takes a voyage into times past when morality was protected and men and women knew their strengths and roles within society.  That’s why I go to The Ranch - even though I am clueless about the dancing and not an expert in country music- I enjoy the atmosphere.  I enjoy having a place that celebrates Christian values.  A place that gives me hope to see men so manly and women so feminine and together coexisting side-by-side creating such beautiful art.