The Concert

As I sit here in the fresh spring air waiting for the concert to begin, I am reminded how much excitement I used to feel when preparing for my own concerts. The rush of know I would be going on stage soon. The fear of being in front of all those people. The butterflies in the pit of my stomach wanting me to vomit, but not doing it because I knew I could calm my nerves. It was like a high from a drug, only there was no drug involved except excitement. Then we were all on stage and setting up our stands and our music. With the hot lights beginning to scorch us as we sat there, waiting for the director to lift his baton. We were all at the ready, waiting.... And then the baton began to fly through the air and the individual parts came together in a wonderful melody, making my heart soar because I was part of this wonderful group making this beautiful music, that was both complex and relaxing. Following along and counting the measures, all while listening to the rest of the band and hoping I don't make a mistake. And if I do, making it seem like it actually belonged there. Then the cut. And waiting for the next piece to begin and going through all those emotions and feelings all over again. It was magical. I miss it and all the friends I enjoyed it with. Somehow I will never lose that part of school. Those memories, they will always be there every time I hear a concert, every time I pick up my instrument. I will always remember the feelings and then thrill of the concert and the music. 

It's a little odd being he parent of a band student now. Knowing what I went through and wondering if she gets the same feelings I did. The difference....my parents used to talk with the other band parents, while I prefer to sit by the side and observe. I would much rather be with the band than the parents. That part will never die or change in me. If I had the chance to preform in the band, concert or marching, again I would jump at it. 

Crazy Mixed Up Life

Yesterday if you asked me how my life is I would probably tell you normal.  I can no longer say that I think my life is normal.  Today really proved that I have a crazy Mixed up life.
So here's what happened that made me change my mind. So I got up early this morning and got right to the day. Showered and dressed and had breakfast....you know the normal kind of routine you would do I the morning. Then around lunch time it happened. I looked out my window and  noticed that it was pitch dark. I had to look at the clock a couple of times to make sure it as really noon. It was noon but it looked like midnight. I went outside and looked up. There was a giant umbrella over my house. I had no idea where it came from but it was there. I walked up and touched it so I know it was real. By this time I had called for Lil to come and see the giant umbrella and asked if she knew where it came from. Lil was just as confused as I was. Then a man walked up to is and said he knew why the umbrella was there  but he couldn't tell us because it was a secret.  We asked why it was secret but he said it's not a secret. We were still very confused.  The man said he had to go and he just vanished after saying goodbye. 
We decided to go for a walk in the sunshine. We could see the sunshine just at the end of the umbrellas edge. So we started walking.....we walked fir a long time and we still had not reached the edge of the umbrella. So we kept on walking. Still we never got to the edge of the umbrella, no matter how far we walked. When we looked back the way we came the umbrella had just gotten bigger and covered the house and everywhere we had walked. Then the man was back. He asked if we knew the secret yet.  We told him no but the umbrella was growing.  The man chuckled at us and said well what did you think it would do? And the  he disappeared again. So Lil and I walked home and the umbrella then only covered the house again. Like we were never meant to enjoy the sunshine again. So we just stayed inside wondering what to do in this seemingly endless darkness.  then the dinosaurs walked through the front door. We'll let me tell you....that was unexpected.  The dinosaurs then put on a dance for our entertainment and we laughed and clapped and called for an oncore. Then the dinosaurs said the had to go and get dinner and the left the same way they came in.
Again we had no idea what to do in the endless darkness so we just sat there. As we sat there we began to hear a buzzing noise. It kept getting louder and louder until we finally noticed that the room was filling with bees. Not just any bees mind you, but bees as big as people. And they were all wearing fedoras. Yes you heard it right. Bees wearing fedoras. We weren't totally sure what to do. You see we were allergic to bee stings. And these were some big bees. If they stung us we would be dead in a minute. One of the bees introduced themselves as Mr. Copperbottom. He said they were here for some shade and a nice sweet drink but didn't know the service was so terrible. So they were going to leave. And they did all at once and they took the umbrella with them. They still wanted the shade you see and decided to just steal the umbrella covering the house. This time though it didn't grow. It just stayed the same size and went with the bees. 

We finally thought life was going to be normal again until the dinosaur came back with some of his friends and promptly told us that they were moving in.