Labor Day 2018
Today could have been interesting in a not-good way. Temps were scheduled to be in the mid- to upper 80s, with a fair amount of humidity and a chance of storms. We got spared the storms during the parade, at least, but it was plenty warm. I'd meant to check my email when we got home last night but forgot, so I checked this morning to discover we had a change in uniform. We were not to wear any part of our marching uniform, only our summer outfit of red polos and black pants. No hats, no gloves. Okay, yay for nothing wool, but at the same time it was kind of a bummer. We have a button-down white shirt we can wear that's part of our marching uniform, and that would have been more comfortable than the polo. Plus, we all wear dress pants when we're sitting, and lady pants don't have pockets, or not good ones. Since I have a couple pairs of black pants, I chose the pair with deeper pockets so I could have my keys and wallet on me and not worry about them poking out the top, since the polo shirts have to be tucked in and they're not super long. Other people also lamented not wearing the marching uniform pants for that reason. Also, after the Memorial Day debacle where we ultimately didn't march, the board looked into getting us ball caps to wear. I'd overheard one person, the current vice president, say that they'd only gotten ordered in the past 2-3 weeks; another person, I forget who, said they'd gotten mentioned back at the start of the summer season but were ignored or forgotten about or something. Well, we'll have them for next year. Hats are good, especially when it's sunny.
We're one of the starting groups, actually before the parade marshall, and in front of us was the fire department. We were staged next to a modern fire truck, which was awesome because it provided shade. I was very sad when it drove ahead of us because then we were exposed to the sun, which made an appearance then and I think it was sunny the rest of the time. I said I'd be left guard, and I joked that I'd picked that position so I could grab onto the truck and ride my way through the parade. I also joked with one of the fireman, saying, hey, you guys are going to hose us down during the parade, right? He laughed at that. He also warned us that when the truck gets going, black exhaust shoots out the side, so we warned everyone to move over a few feet when it came close to starting time.
Several of my coworkers were involved in another parade entry, and they staged pretty close to the band--there were three staging areas, per the map the band had been sent--though they were on a different street. I walked over and said hi to my back building coworker, as he was getting to drive the truck that towed the float. He's...not known for his stellar driving skills, so I was a little concerned about that, but he said he'd be fine. I didn't hear of any terrible parade accidents, so I'm guessing he was okay. :P Also, the high-ranking politician who'd shown up a couple years ago was back. He didn't go around meeting all the band members this year, though he did talk to our director for a time with a camera trained on them, and he spoke with some veterans in front of the fire truck with a camera trained on them, so that was maybe 10-15 feet away. I could tell from the camera angle that I wasn't going to be on TV, so I joked with a few people, should I walk by in the background and go, no, I'm not happy to see you; I really do have a piccolo in my pocket? (This was totally true at the time. Piccolo can be a very convenient instrument.) They were like, uh, no, don't do that. Rats. But this is how you know it's been a long week for me.
The parade went off without a hitch. It wasn't long before I had sweat dripping into my eyes and down my back, which is so much fun. The cameraman who was recording the politician was then recording us, and on my side, so I knew there was a chance I'd make the news, though I had no idea what station. A few blocks into the parade I thought I recognized someone and promptly messed up the song I was playing. I really didn't read my music, which is good since I should have it memorized by now (and all subsequent playings were better--we did two songs in rotation, I think four times total), but that was the first time we'd played that song today so that was embarrassing. And a few blocks south of that, not only did I spot a band member who no longer marches, plus her husband (she's the French horn player who celebrated her 55th anniversary with the band this year), I really did see someone I knew, and since we weren't playing at the time I was able to wave and say hi. Being on the end, I have to be really aware of corners, but it's almost easier than being in the middle. If we turn left, I stop marching immediately; if we turn right, I never stop marching. And it was timed perfectly so that we were never marching on a turn.
This year, when we ended, the parade was still behind us! Yay! Last year, there had been some sort of delay and the next group didn't show up for several minutes, which was disconcerting. I got smart this year and made sure to cross over to the south side of the street immediately so that I wouldn't have to cross the parade later. Since I knew people in other entries, I ended up walking back up the parade route to look for people I knew. My boss' son is a freshman in high school and in marching band, and his band was the next musical group after us, so I stopped to look for him and did spot him. He looked good. Back a little bit was the band of the second assistant director. I was walking with one of the bassoons, who played picc for this parade (and she just got braces to correct a bite issue, so that must have been really fun), and we waved and managed to get AD2's attention as she went by on the other side. This parade is so long that when I hit the big turn, where I'd need to go the other direction to get back to my car, I didn't see my coworkers' entry at all, so I just left. I was too hot and tired and sweaty to wait around for them. I will say, at one place there was a little water stand set up with plain water and a sign reading "Try our balsamic water!" It said it was flavored with peach balsamic vinegar. It was cold and wet so what the heck? Interesting. Not sure I'd seek it out, but it hit the spot right then.
I was gross enough when I got in my car that I figured I should take a shower when I got home, but ultimately I got changed and washed my face and that was good enough. Remember, I haven't had a ton of energy this weekend. To wit, I got home and had lunch, but after that I kind of chilled. I was online briefly but hit a wall before I posted anything here, then went and napped on and off for several hours. At first I was more just lying down with my eyes closed, listening to the TV, but I completely zonked out at one point. I know this because, as it turned out, Channel 7 was the news with the parade video, and my parents saw me and were yelling for me, and I had absolutely no idea. At least I saw it online! Better email my aunts and cousins. So, yeah, having a quiet night at home before hell week number two starts. Fingers crossed I've rested enough.
Oh! Right. So we *did* in fact get storms. It got pretty dark around here for a few hours but didn't start raining until mid-afternoon, at which point it came down pretty heavily for a time. I want to say that was around 3:30 or 4 o'clock. I don't even remember because that's around the time I fell asleep, actually. The northern counties got it the worst and had flash flooding in places. However, and randomly, I do remember looking at my watch when my part of the parade finished. We stepped off about 10 AM and I was done just after 10:30, so that's not too bad.
We're one of the starting groups, actually before the parade marshall, and in front of us was the fire department. We were staged next to a modern fire truck, which was awesome because it provided shade. I was very sad when it drove ahead of us because then we were exposed to the sun, which made an appearance then and I think it was sunny the rest of the time. I said I'd be left guard, and I joked that I'd picked that position so I could grab onto the truck and ride my way through the parade. I also joked with one of the fireman, saying, hey, you guys are going to hose us down during the parade, right? He laughed at that. He also warned us that when the truck gets going, black exhaust shoots out the side, so we warned everyone to move over a few feet when it came close to starting time.
Several of my coworkers were involved in another parade entry, and they staged pretty close to the band--there were three staging areas, per the map the band had been sent--though they were on a different street. I walked over and said hi to my back building coworker, as he was getting to drive the truck that towed the float. He's...not known for his stellar driving skills, so I was a little concerned about that, but he said he'd be fine. I didn't hear of any terrible parade accidents, so I'm guessing he was okay. :P Also, the high-ranking politician who'd shown up a couple years ago was back. He didn't go around meeting all the band members this year, though he did talk to our director for a time with a camera trained on them, and he spoke with some veterans in front of the fire truck with a camera trained on them, so that was maybe 10-15 feet away. I could tell from the camera angle that I wasn't going to be on TV, so I joked with a few people, should I walk by in the background and go, no, I'm not happy to see you; I really do have a piccolo in my pocket? (This was totally true at the time. Piccolo can be a very convenient instrument.) They were like, uh, no, don't do that. Rats. But this is how you know it's been a long week for me.
The parade went off without a hitch. It wasn't long before I had sweat dripping into my eyes and down my back, which is so much fun. The cameraman who was recording the politician was then recording us, and on my side, so I knew there was a chance I'd make the news, though I had no idea what station. A few blocks into the parade I thought I recognized someone and promptly messed up the song I was playing. I really didn't read my music, which is good since I should have it memorized by now (and all subsequent playings were better--we did two songs in rotation, I think four times total), but that was the first time we'd played that song today so that was embarrassing. And a few blocks south of that, not only did I spot a band member who no longer marches, plus her husband (she's the French horn player who celebrated her 55th anniversary with the band this year), I really did see someone I knew, and since we weren't playing at the time I was able to wave and say hi. Being on the end, I have to be really aware of corners, but it's almost easier than being in the middle. If we turn left, I stop marching immediately; if we turn right, I never stop marching. And it was timed perfectly so that we were never marching on a turn.
This year, when we ended, the parade was still behind us! Yay! Last year, there had been some sort of delay and the next group didn't show up for several minutes, which was disconcerting. I got smart this year and made sure to cross over to the south side of the street immediately so that I wouldn't have to cross the parade later. Since I knew people in other entries, I ended up walking back up the parade route to look for people I knew. My boss' son is a freshman in high school and in marching band, and his band was the next musical group after us, so I stopped to look for him and did spot him. He looked good. Back a little bit was the band of the second assistant director. I was walking with one of the bassoons, who played picc for this parade (and she just got braces to correct a bite issue, so that must have been really fun), and we waved and managed to get AD2's attention as she went by on the other side. This parade is so long that when I hit the big turn, where I'd need to go the other direction to get back to my car, I didn't see my coworkers' entry at all, so I just left. I was too hot and tired and sweaty to wait around for them. I will say, at one place there was a little water stand set up with plain water and a sign reading "Try our balsamic water!" It said it was flavored with peach balsamic vinegar. It was cold and wet so what the heck? Interesting. Not sure I'd seek it out, but it hit the spot right then.
I was gross enough when I got in my car that I figured I should take a shower when I got home, but ultimately I got changed and washed my face and that was good enough. Remember, I haven't had a ton of energy this weekend. To wit, I got home and had lunch, but after that I kind of chilled. I was online briefly but hit a wall before I posted anything here, then went and napped on and off for several hours. At first I was more just lying down with my eyes closed, listening to the TV, but I completely zonked out at one point. I know this because, as it turned out, Channel 7 was the news with the parade video, and my parents saw me and were yelling for me, and I had absolutely no idea. At least I saw it online! Better email my aunts and cousins. So, yeah, having a quiet night at home before hell week number two starts. Fingers crossed I've rested enough.
Oh! Right. So we *did* in fact get storms. It got pretty dark around here for a few hours but didn't start raining until mid-afternoon, at which point it came down pretty heavily for a time. I want to say that was around 3:30 or 4 o'clock. I don't even remember because that's around the time I fell asleep, actually. The northern counties got it the worst and had flash flooding in places. However, and randomly, I do remember looking at my watch when my part of the parade finished. We stepped off about 10 AM and I was done just after 10:30, so that's not too bad.