There was a dance with the name “Silhouette” back in the very early 1960s … or maybe it was the very late 1950s. 

Okay, looked it up again — 1957 was the original by The Rays, but other groups put out versions of it too — Herman’s Hermits and the Ronettes — both 1965. And the Nylons in 1981. I missed the 1981 version — I was in Israel by then.

It was a line dance. It may have been the very first of all line dances. I liked it because I could actually perform it and you couldn’t say that about me and other dances — of any kind. It had steps that anyone who could walk could probably master, except most of the guys I knew who barely managed walking without stumbling. It wasn’t drinking, either. They just had problems with managing their feet.

I seem to have found a lot of non-dancing partners through the decades.

These days, “silhouette” is a type of black & white photograph.

Palms in Phoenix

When I was a child, though, it meant a shadow show, fingers and a bright light behind a white sheet. Every kid learned to make a rabbit and maybe a horse. And of course, a silly talking face.

Sometimes, on a bad day as I try to have an intelligent conversation with one of the dogs, I feel like I’m one of those “pretend” talking shadows.

You know what I mean?