The Heart of a Band Geek.....

Just as I thought I could not take another step up ANOTHER big hill, I heard them....the rap tap tap of the Marching Band Cadence. I am happy to report that the heart of a band geek still beats in my chest, because up the hill I went. I was rewarded with the most beautiful sight - a massive college marching band, resplendent in Black and Gold, dancing in line as they were getting ready to begin their trek to the stadium. I looked at my watch, and a tear escaped my eye as I realized that at that moment, the man who put the love of all things Marching Band in my heart was being laid to rest. "Uncle Dave" was my Band director; the man who fought for me, when as a young girl I decided to play the Trumpet....a place where no girl had dared to go, in my little town. He pushed, he prodded, he tutored, and did not rest until I sat in the First chair of  the Trumpet section. He taught me to bear merciless teasing with grace and a stiff upper lip, and he may be responsible in part, for my ability to comeback in almost any situation with a snappy rejoinder. He let me into the all male world of "Jazz Band", and glared down any fella who dared question my right to be there. He taught me the beauty of proper musical phrasing, and how to play a jazz riff. I loved him with all my heart....he was the first person to look at my grey hair last year and say, "For the love of heaven, put some color on that hair - you're making me feel old!" He was 94 when he passed away a few weeks ago, and it was hard to find myself absent from the service that honored his life, yesterday...but he would have been the first one to tell me to go, and be with my family....to drive up the mountain and see College Boy, and the football game....and the Band. So that is how I found myself laboring up countless Hills....I mean, seriously....WHO puts the Football Stadium at the Highest Point on a Campus FULL of  steep inclines? All this is to say.....Yesterday was day four of my foul mood. In the days since I last wrote (on day ONE of my foul mood), I have tried to dutifully post my daily Thankful Thing, but everything I wrote was morose, or angry, or just generally dark and unpleasant, so I made good and proper use of the delete button. It should speak volumes that yesterday, as we drove up the Mountain, the prospect of seeing College Boy, even if just for the day, did NOTHING to improve my funk.....even SEEING him brought no improvement.  (Which could explain why I really was less than impressed with my first foray into "tailgaiting", but it's probably best not to go there.....). So there I was gasping for breath like a shore stranded fish, holding my back with one hand and my knee with another, laboring up that dadgummed hill....when I had my first truly Thankful Thought in several days....I was Thankful for Uncle Dave....for the love and time and care he invested in my life - for the music he shared with me, and thousands of others in his long career as a Band Teacher. With the drum cadence ringing in my ears, I felt the slightest lifting of "the. foul. mood." As we entered the Stadium (Finally! I mean - just how far do they expect old worn out people to climb and walk before collapsing?!), we left College Boy in the student section, and went to find our seats. The weather was perfect - sunny and mostly warm (Although, let me whine a little here - for the first quarter of the game I thought we would be blinded for life, due to the fact that the sun was directly in our eyes - but I'm SURE that I handled it with no complaining or drama....whatsoever.....) and there, in those less than comfortable stadium bleachers I found my second Thankful Thing of the day...Two little guys - one long and lean, the other, short and round - about 8 or 9 years old, were sitting in front of us. Each time a song they liked was played - either by the band or over the loudspeaker, these boys were up on their feet, dancing with such joy, such abandon, such a lack of concern for what anybody thought, that my bad mood was banished...as surely as a dementor is vaporized by a Patronus! (OK, yes, I am reading Harry Potter again...). Just like that - it was gone. These little guys were so full of life, so ebullient, that it was contagious - and I was Thankful (and vastly entertained... I mean those fellas had some moves!). Behind us, was a group of about 7 or 8 people in their mid 20's. They arrived loaded down with contraband mini bottles (tequilla, I think), and apparently they had already polished off the much larger cousin of those mini bottles, prior to their arrival. They were a contentious lot, and did a lot of arguing - especially the husband and wife....midway through the second half, there was a little drama, when two of the ladies indulged in a little girl on girl display of affection, and some of their party was offended....including one of the participants husbands! More drinking, drama, and huffing off to the bathroom ensued (By the folks behind us, not by me - just wanted to be clear!)....whereupon I experienced my Third Thankful Thing of the day.....I was TRULY Thankful that not a one of them threw up on any of us sitting in front of them, and I was REALLY Thankful when they left sometime in the fourth quarter. More Thanks as we were leaving the Stadium, and I realized that the hike to the little Mexican Restaurant we planned on having dinner in, down on the Main Drag, was mostly downhill! After an amazing and really reasonably priced meal, it was time for hugs and goodbyes as we dropped College Boy off at his dorm (Once we rescued our Car from the tailgating lot.....which was over in east Jerusalem!). More thanks at Bedtime, for being able to lay these old bones in a prone position. Today - I am thankful for the lifting of THE MOOD....I feel much more like myself....thanks be unto God, and I face tomorrow, thankful that the Band Geek in me still lives, marching along to the Cadence of my days.