We were 9 years old when the composers Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein joined forces in 1943 to bring Oklahoma to the musical theater, followed by Carousel in 1945, South Pacific in 1949 and numerous other musicals, including The Sound of Music in 1959. What a grand day it was as we recalled the good old days when one could understand the lyrics and they had meaning. I couldn't get the words from "Some Enchanted Evening" out of my mind particularly: "Once you have found her, never let her go." And on the drive home I kept singing "Once you have found her, never let her go" . . . until Barbara was about to slug me.

But our enchanted evening was not about to end, as we headed for Teske's Germania restaurant in San Jose. As luck would have it, there was a celebration of life in the beer garden with a German band, a dance floor and tables filled with the young and old. Two college students, one from Poland and the other from Bulgaria, sat at our table along with a couple from Evansville, Ind.

When the music started, everyone danced-little girls danced with their fathers, two girls, who were maybe 7 years old, danced virtually every dance creating their own moves to every tune. Grandmothers in their late 70s were out on the floor with their husbands doing a slow version of the polka. And several couples looked as if they were born to dance the quick-step polka.

Then, inspired by the surroundings, Barbara asked me to dance and in spite of her arthritic knees, we managed to do just fine, including a world-class performance of the "Chicken Dance." What a grand evening it was. "Once you have found her, never let her go." Good advice indeed.

When Frank isn't eating pigs knuckles and sauerkraut and dancing in the beer garden, he can be reached at fburge@cmp.com.