a broken record… a broken record… a broken record

Man do I love me some drum corps!

And man, I bet y’all are sick of hearing about this “drum & bugle corps” thing.  So much so that I’m probably in danger of losing readership over it.  Hell, who can afford that what with twitter and all?

But I can’t help it.  I love it.  And I had “band camp” again this past Sunday.

Technically I could be lynched by the corps for calling it ‘band camp’, as we are most definitely NOT a “band”.  But ‘band camp’ has more of a comedic ring to it than ‘corps camp’.

It made for a long day, and the work is rigorous.  Rehearsing for 6 hours is both mentally and physically taxing.  But it’s also incredibly satisfying.

I just wish I could accurately convey the feeling I get from doing this activity.

I suppose it’s like when you are assembling a puzzle, and you snap that one piece into place and say, “Ah! So THAT’S what the picture is!”  Or when you finally fill in a word in a crossword puzzle, and suddenly all the other connecting words and clues just fall into place.

For me, it’s something like that.

Maybe it’s the fact that it is hard work, but it’s never boring and never feels like work.  Maybe I should call it hard fun instead.

Maybe it’s the striving for synergistic artistic perfection, which can be sort of addicting.  Every note, every musical phrase, every dynamic I want to do better.  Play better.  Sound better. Be better.

Maybe it’s the fact that the corps is comprised of like-minded people who all have this same  bizarre quirk and I have merely found my people.

I will say that for the first time since moving to Minnesota, I am part of a group where I feel that the whole “Minnesota Nice” behavior isn’t just a thin patina.  So many folks have been great to me so far and they seem to really go out of their way to make you feel included and important.

Like at lunch on Sunday.

I was last in the lunch line and by the time I had my food, most of the table were full.  Being the new guy, I don’t have a group to automatically hang with yet.  So I just sat down at an empty table and started eating my lunch quietly.

I was two forksful into my meal when I hear, “Hey!  Cb!  What are you doing over there?  Get your ass over here and eat with us.”

The table squished together and made room for me.

I haven’t experienced that in a really long time.  It was… humbling.  And it felt really good.

So I apologize for this post, and for all the future drum corps posts, of which I’m sure there will be many.  I truly don’t want to sound like a broken record for you all, and I promise to keep the posts to a minimum.

But perhaps if you can understand a fraction of my feelings about this activity, then you will be able to cut me some slack here.

Hopefully.

P.S.  DRUM CORPS RULES!  DRUM CORPS RULES!  DRUM CORPS RULES! Times INFINITY!!!!