One of my besties from school accompanied me to a WPI concert this weekend, with a little football on the side. :)
When I first told her that Lex was going to WPI she got all excited because her sister had also gone there. When I said he was joining the marching band, she squealed (literally) and said she’d love to see him. She’s the music teacher and was instrumental in his musical career. I suggested a football game and she was all in.
Months later Lex is happily marching with the band and I am no longer at school. I texted her to see if she was still interested and she said heck yeah! It was a beautiful week all week, with just one rainy day, Saturday, football day. :/ I monitored the forecast obsessively and bugged Lex daily via text. The band can’t play in the rain, so all our plans hinged on that rain holding off. And it did! (mostly) It rained on the drive down, drizzled a little for the first quarter, then stopped. The band did the tunnel and played for the first half of the game. Then they did the halftime show as the wind picked up and the sky darkened. The forecast predicted an imminent downpour, so the drum majors (the band bosses) gave the band members the option of staying or going. A handful stayed, but most left. Lex was hungry and eager for Olive Garden, so he was happy to leave after halftime. We were happy to leave then too.
I loved having hours to catch up with my friend. I loved watching the band. I loved watching the band with a music teacher and former pep band member! She had so many good questions and observations that I didn’t even know to make or observe. I loved getting to see Lex. I loved that the rain held off enough that we got to see the band perform. Overall, it was a great Saturday!!
Love this! Takes me back to my Northport HS marching band days playing tenor saxophone. Our band prided ourselves on our high knee marching (knees had to come up to a 90 degree angle — don’t think I could do that for very long anymore.
:-) We also had HEAVY wool uniforms that were wicked hot on warm, sunny days — hope Lex’s is more comfortable! One of our performances was playing at a NY Jets game back when they were in Shea Stadium. I wasn’t into football back then and was sooo bored during the game (was pretty bored during our home games too!). We also competed in several marching band competitions that were a lot of fun. Don’t remember how we did but loved seeing all the other bands’ routines as well. Good times!
Hey Greg, I didn’t know you were in marching band. That’s fun!! Lex’s group definitely doesn’t do the high-knee thing. That sounds exhausting! They do have a competition coming up in a few weeks. I’m curious to know more about how that works. Always learning new things with these teens of mine. :)