this is me now

6.07.2008

...from the fifty yard line

...in the fall,you'll find me sitting on the 50 yard line watching the activity on the field below---commenting to myself or to other fans around me---"go, go, go!" "No! so close!" "why did they do that?" "Yay! well played!" "Hit the line!"

and every fall i have a sunburn on one side of my body.

...driving to work the other day---got goosebumps! why? as i came up over a rise in the freeway---looking towards my left---there it was---framed by a rising sun---the L. D. Bell High School band on the grassy field next to the school---June marching camp. Tubas catching the sun and shimmering, framing the band.
..in 8 weeks the band will be practicing---and the fun begins...not necessarily for the kids--but for me---enjoying a root beer/banana sno-cone up in the bleachers of Pennington Field (football stadium)---watching the band do the same 16 bars of music for 30 minutes....saying hi to the familiar faces I've seen for the past 9 years---parents mostly---some, like me, without a kid marching!...band nerds...marching band nerds. ...this is not your father's marching band---this is 300 kids moving in unison at 180 beats per minute...thats fast---with their toes up---and playing music at the same time---hard music---and forming very detailed and intricate designs. youtube it---check it out---to get me started during the summer I follow DCI---and how do you not know that stands for Drum & Bugle Corps International---same as marching band---just no woodwinds....and how do you not know that!
(picture is none of my kids---but it is the drumline from 2005!)

...and then---on a lovely October Saturday ---on that 50 yard line---bundled up in a blanket (blue, of course) with Hot chocolate in my cup (it can be chilly at 8 a.m.)---til about noon---where I peel off the blanket and sweatshirt---still on the 50 yard line---i never leave that seat---til 10 in the evening (the sweatshirt is back on)---I will have watched 30-40 bands--some twice in one day...some with 30 kids--some with 300.....enjoyed each one for the effort, critiqued each one (in my mind)...from mid-September til mid-November---every weekend there is a marching contest...and I'm either volunteering (always ushering so I can watch) or I am watching.
...football is big here in Texas---and arent we fortunate that we have something to watch before and after half-time--cause it's all about the band....and my family is fortunate to be in Bell's school area. Bell is the National Marching Band Champion 2007. Leah, Lyric & Jasmine all marched with the band...which has won gold or silver at State everytime since my kids started marching (yes---I take full credit for that) (Texas State marching band competition is only held every other year---a travesty, I feel).... I am a big Bell fan---but more a marching band fan....my favorite show ever isnt a Bell show. I love the process, I love watching the kids learn, I play marching band games on the computer and I cant wait for the Wii marching band game to come out---yes, there is one. I dont like cute shows from big schools, I dont like shows with tarps (the kids trip)---and I dont like Aaron Copeland's Simple Gifts (one year I swear I heard it in 10 shows).

...Leah's baby is due right before Grand Nationals---very appropriate! I have suggested the name Raider (L.D. Bells mascot is the Blue Raider--see previous post regarding my guest room) or Jeremy (for the director).
....so, starting in September and going til November---you can call me any Saturday---but i'll only answer every 8 minutes (thats how long a show is)---

...and thats why i always have a one-sided sun-burn---because I never move from the 50 yard line.

11 comments:

Unknown said...

this made me laugh!! I too love marching band! And I am going to get to go watch grand nats this year!!

I babysit a little boy named Raider. Not for Bell though, but Texas Tech! (His brothers are named after Tech football players!)

Unknown said...

cant believe you caught this one so fast! i havent even added pictures yet!

Michelle said...

You gave me goose bumps! I didn't get involved in marching band until college, but I caught the fever fast. Utah is becoming bigger on marching band and I hope my kids get to experience the fun. I, too, go to a football game to watch the band. That's mostly why I go to the BYU games with Eric. And why we got seats right next to the band next year!

Unknown said...

American Fork has a great marching band!

Carrie said...

that was absolutely hilarious. i wonder how long you will go to those marching contests. i go to the highschool games for the band. but i go to the tech games for the football!!!! This really was very funny.

eden said...

I laughed when I read this ..... Do you paint your face when you go to these things, or is your obsession more subdued? *LOL*

Unknown said...

i have been known to color my hair blue---yes, thanks for pointing that out---and i have way too many gray and blue sweatshirts and jackets.

Christie said...

You crack me up. If we lived in the area James would love to talk band with you. We went to a band thing for our first anniversary.

Princess Mommy said...

Do you remember going to Waco for the state competition Lyrics sophomore year? It was freezing in the morning, then it rained, so we ran to Walmart and got Men's windbreaker pants to put over our jeans and hand-warmers. We then went to the contest, died of heat, and then the finals was cancelled because the kids were gonna kill themselves out there in the rain! All of those tubas who fell!!! And then that time that we went to San Antonio with Sis Seil, Carrie, Chantelle, and Lyric and we got lost on "SAlamo"! hehehehe that was good times. Lyric can hold Awesome Blossoms any more because of that!

Unknown said...

---and Leah's sophomore year lyric & I went to Duncanville---froze again and had to go to a dollar general store for sweatshirts---and they didnt take credit cards---so we had to go to a grocery store to find something to warm us up---we were such newbies!
and i think it was nachos or cheese fries lyric dumped on that woman in front of us.
i remember sitting and taking notes and judging each show---Sally taught me that!

James said...

I think Christie liked the Phantom Regiment among others. It was hard to tell because Elizabeth made her nautious all the time.

Band is still cool, if done properly. My old high school suffered under a new director that styled himself "Director of Instructional Music", replaced the Sousa version of the national anthem with the wussy one, and reversed all of the progress that my director had made.