A lot of folks
possibly even most folks
have kids that are into sports of one form or another. Which means that as parents, they have a common frame of reference when it comes to the amount of time spent traveling from one venue to another either to get the kids to the next big game or just to even have an opportunity to see said competition for ourselves.
Those whose kids get to be rather good at their sport of choice also know about those even longer trips for regional tournaments and multi-state championships. These trips can be quite an adventure, and also have a habit of coming up unexpectedly. I mean, you cant really predict just exactly how well a team will do in any given season; sometimes things come together just right and everyone gets to firing on the same cylinders and the next thing you know, youre off on a long distance adventure to see just how good your youngens are compared to any number of other worthy groups from around the country.
But did you know that the same thing can still occur even if you kids are geeky musicians as opposed to being athletically inclined?
Well Im here to tell you that my boy has absolutely no interest in pretty much any sport what so ever. No favorite ball player, or favorite team, no posters on the walls or even a stack of trading cards of any kind. Nope
his heroes are composers and the teams that he follows, roots for, has absolute opinions on and spends time searching for on Youtube are Drum and Bugle corps.
Really!
So it would be easy to assume that I dont have any real understanding of the trials and tribulations that befall the weary parents of those talented athletes I was discussing. That since my family is obviously not normal (from a stereotypical Red Blooded American prospective that is); the vivid descriptions were simply a ploy to ingratiate myself with the majority of potential readers (all three or four of them).
Nope
not so.
Geeks do the same kind of long distance traveling for regional competitions that normal folks do
just for geeky reasons.
And thats why in mid April of 2012; we were heading to Dayton Ohio.
.
= = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =
The First Right Turn of the Year
So as to get this already excessively verbose TR on the move, Im going to dive (or is that drive) right into the actual roadway part of the journey and then explain the reasons as I go.
18 April, 2012.
There was a good bit of asphalt to traverse in our future, but we chose to sleep in a bit and let all the commuter traffic clear out (no sense in fighting that battle if I didnt have to). After a leisurely breakfast the road beckoned. Upon reaching the critical junction at the corner of SC-160 and I-77, we made a right turn (headed away from Disney) that took us north toward what once was called The Northwest Territory.
Thats one
Ive discussed this several times in the past, but it seems that I cant drive a distance of more then about three hundred miles without getting rained on. Today was no different.
The first half of the drive would look a lot like that. We were headed to Ohio by way of West Virginia and that route would take us through the capitol. I was actually born in Charleston, WV (the reason I say that Im a hillbilly by birth) and I had the intention of stopping in at the capitol building for a little look around at the grounds, monuments and museums before getting back on the road. But
The abysmal weather just convinced me otherwise. This is as close as we got
a sighting of the gilded Capitol dome in the distance obscured by precipitation and the constant rhythmic motion of the wiper blades.
Well just keep pushing on, I do believe.
= = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =
Sizzles, Zings, Flips, Bell-Taps and Hinge Chokes
Ok, while were making our way out of the Kanawha river valley and starting on a more westerly trajectory, Im going to digress a little bit. There are things that need splainin so Ill toss them out in smaller doses while were in the midst of the drive here.
As I alluded at the beginning of this chapter, Max is not an athlete per say, hes a musician (but believe it or not, that requires a good bit of athleticism and a whole lot of stamina).
Music is the one thing that really gets his passion up and he intends to study music performances and music education in collage (once I can figure out how to pay for it). His weapons of choice are trombones and baritones and he quite good at them. To that point, he just finished in the second spot in our ten county regional honors band auditions and has been called back to compete for a spot in the all state bands. Given this abilities on brass horns, imagine our surprise when he informed us early in the year that we was joining the schools competition Indoor Percussion Unit
playing cymbals!
Whoa
what?
Actuality, this aint as odd as it sounds. Indoor Percussion is a lot like full marching band (which he loves), but on a smaller scale, performed indoors (well duh) and with no horns. The directors at Nation Ford High School needed twenty-five people to fill all the spots for this years competition show. Problem is, they just didnt have that many kids in the percussion section alone. No problem, the instructors looked for folks from the horn line to fill out the compliment. Specifically they needed people to learn and play the cymbals, some of the base drums and auxiliary percussion. The skills needed: high rhythm abilities, excellent marching skills and upper body strength. Needles to say, most of the youngens taped for these spots came out of the low brass section as they were quite used to wielding a good deal of extra weight while also playing complex rhythms on the move.
There are only a few rudiments that need to be learned on a set of cymbals (like those listed in the name of this subsection) but their purpose is at times more visual and the bulk of the work (and I mean weeks worth of it) was spent after school in the gym learning the marching drill for their competition show.
Even though it is a percussion unit, there are also folks playing marimbas, xylophones, vibraphones, and even keyboards, so there is melody to the performance as well as rhythm. The main piece of music chosen this season was Amazing Grace (yes, Im serious
thats the main theme) That was combined with a more obscure modern praise tune titled: With Arms Wide Open (not the Creed song
this is a very different tune) it was this second tune that gave the show its title (so as not to give away too much to anyone who had never seen the performance before).
Dont believe its possible to combine a marching drum line with Amazing Grace
go click on that YouTube link at the top of this post.
Anyway, the kids started work in January and entered their first competition in March. Unlike the work Max had always done with the full marching band, where I was part of the road crew and pretty much
knew every aspect of the show, this was all done on his time. The first performance I really saw was at their first competition as a spectator (something new for me as I was usually down on the field hauling gear). When all was said and done that day, they had came in forth overall.
Not knowing what to expect, and our school having never competed is this particular type of performance venue before, we were floored.
The next contest, they won their division (more shock and awe).
The one after that was an invitation to perform in the W G I Grand Nationals (that acronym there stands for: Winter Guard International)
Which are held annually in and around
you guess it
Dayton, Ohio.
= = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =
Terra Incognita
Meanwhile back in the Appalachians
Things finally started clearing up weather wise as we got onto US-35 and approached the Ohio River.
Moments later, we were entering uncharted territory (for us at least)
This eastern part of Ohio is very similar to the majority of West Virginia; low mountains and expansive valleys.
But soon enough it flattened out into almost prairie like farm lands and presented a fairly consistent view of not much for the next couple hundred miles. On the up side, US-35 through southern Ohio is a fairly well maintained limited access divided highway with very manageable traffic. The drive may have lacked grand sites, but it also lacked any major frustrations.
Somewhere in the early evening we got back into civilization and found ourselves entering the outskirts of Dayton, Ohio.
Tamara and I checked into a good hotel room in the north side of town (in an area known as Hubber Heights), got some dinner at a very nice local Italian restaurant within walking distance and then settled in for the evening. Tomorrow had the potential of being a very long day.
= = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =
Camaraderie
Youll notice that a moment ago when I said that we had checked into a hotel, I failed to mention that that our son was part of the group. That would be because he wasnt there.
With us that is.
He had made the journey up to Dayton via bus the day before. Well via coach actually but its a similar idea
that my regular readers are now quite familiar with.
To cut down on the cost burden on each family, they split the travel expenses by sharing the trip with a percussion unit from one of the other schools in the area where we live. Since each schools scheduled initial performance times were several hours apart, they also took turns helping each other haul gear and stage-set once inside the arena.
As an additional method of conserving funds, they also skipped the hotels and camped out at a youth center in the Dayton area. Since this space included a regulation gymnasium, it was also a good spot to rehearse prior to performance day. Some kids from the adjacent elementary school even took a short field trip to walk over and watch them work. Needless to say, this was an activity that most of them had not encountered before.
There was a Q&A session afterward and several of the younger kids were impressed enough to say that they were now considering music once they got into middle school. Its a good day when you can inspire someone to try something new.
Being as this road trip was going on while school was still in session, there were also regular (and mandatory) homework-a-thons.
Oh, when I said earlier that they camped out at this youth center, I meant it; sleeping bags and all. I tried to convince Max to take an air mattress as well but he figured that no one else would and vetoed the idea on the grounds of not wanting to stand out. I argued that rather then standing out, those without would be dope-slapping themselves wishing that theyd thought to bring such, but (being smarter the me) he begged to differ. Once everyone started settling in for the first evening though, it turned out that most of the others had come to a similar conclusion as I had. Being wrong is bad enough, but the boy also had to sleep directly on the hard floor for his trouble. Needless to say, my bed was a lot comfier then his.
Lesson learned?
Dont know.
Well see the next time a similar situation arises. He was certainly mad at himself afterward, so just maybe hell listen a little more seriously the next time I offer up a bit of advice.
A teenager
listen
to a parent!
What kind of dream world you livin in boy?
= = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =
Round One
The next morning was bright and clear. Not a drop of rain in the forecast (bout time too). Now since wed be indoors all day, that didnt really matter much, but it still beat the conditions of the day before. Tamara and I headed to the Dayton University Arena (Home of the Flyers), found ourselves good seats in the lower level and settled in. Wed be here a while. There are several classes of competition, but the largest was made up of musicians affiliated with specific high schools from around the country. Sixty-four of them to be more precise; divided up into four rounds of 16 units each. We intended to stay and see every one of them perform (yep were that nutty). Oh, and if the kids made it into the next round, wed be stayin for that as well.
At about this same time our kids were outside in the parking lot warming up and getting in some last minute practice.
They were scheduled to perform second to last in the first group. Youd think that would give one plenty of time to prepare, but their call time rolled around far quicker that it seemed like it should have. While waiting on deck some watched the folks ahead of them on the overhead monitors, others were trying to stay focuses on the performance to come.
At 12:05 they were given control of the floor. The kids from the other school were on hand and helped spread the floor tarp
Every group uses one of these to define the size of the stage and as a thematic visual for their performance. Watching each group unfold their tarp is like getting to open a present. Some are very creative. They give you a clue about what their going to do and along with the title of the show, offer some insight into the nature of the performance to come and what pieces of music they may be interpreting.
and a minute later they were all set for the only guaranteed performance theyd get.
Three quarters of the schools that would be performing that day would get only one shot and then theyd be headed home. If we were going to make it into the semifinals, the kids would have to finish in the top three of their round. If that didnt happen then it would be a fight against twenty-six other groups from the first half of the day for only three remaining wildcard spots. Since the Nation Ford percussion unit had never competed on a national level before, we didnt know what to expect. We had no real frame of reference. All they could do was take the court and put on the best performance they had in them.
The end result of this run
Looks like were going to be here for a while yet.
Next up: Is that Lake Erie?
And low and behold
well be doing a bit of actual sightseeing
Really!
:
alas tis true.
