Last Days of Summer

It’s the last Wednesday of August. Tonight the Band will wrap up the summer concert season with its last concert at the Capitol. Five weeks from today, the Band will depart on its 90th Concert Tour. It’s the last Wednesday of August, and we still have one Parade to march before summer is officially over, but it feels more like the end of September.

We’ve been sleeping with the windows open, and the cool air carries the sounds of crickets and frogs. It feels like harvest time and football games; the skies are crisp and blue with impossibly puffy clouds. It feels like fires in the chiminea and raking leaves; I throw on a light jacket to take Jamey to school in the wee hours. It feels like Tour is days away, not weeks.

I am not performing on this week’s concerts, so I don’t feel the closure that comes with performing the last concert of the season. I’ve had a few days to slow the pace of an extremely hectic summer; to enjoy the beginning of a new school year with my son, his last in public schools. I’ll have some fun playing a flute and harp duo for the Commandant on Thursday, and I’ll march in the last Evening Parade of the season on Friday. Maybe then I’ll feel that summer has run its course.

Already I see that preparing for this year’s Tour will be a bit of a challenge. Jenna is returning to Northwestern for her Senior Year, so we will be packing for her mid-September return while I am preparing for Tour rehearsals. There will be the usual long-distance parenting as she adjusts to the Northwestern environment after a year in Ireland.

Jamey is a Senior at Annapolis High School, with a fairly full load of AP and Honors courses even though he only needs Senior English to graduate. (He gleefully signed up for AP Micro and Macro Economics, AP Physics, and Forensic Science to complement his standard fare.) His more immediate goal of a driver’s license will fill two full weeknights of Mom’s Taxi schedule while he takes the coursework for driver’s ed. in September. The thought of my car sitting idle while I tour is an extra incentive, of course.

But Tour is five weeks away – temperatures are bound to rise (I’m marching the last Parade, so I’m pretty sure it will get warmer and more humid) – we’ll probably have what we used to call an “Indian Summer”, dragging out the shorts and sandals briefly in September.

Tour? Already?

The mutterings and musings started early this year.

Granted, I have had Tour milling around in my subconscious for some time now. I’m not sure it ever really leaves, given that we always seem to be On Tour, Just Home from Tour, or Planning for Tour. It is a very large part of what we do here. I know I’m not the only one with random Tour Thoughts popping into my head. But for some reason, all these random Tour Thoughts are already being verbalized by others.

Most of us were caught off guard when Public Affairs announced Guest Pass sign-up would begin the first day of August.

August? Guest Passes? Already?

We used to sign up for these in the final days of August, more likely early September, receiving them in time to mail them before the first concert. Is the Public Affairs Office on the ball, or what?

Last year when I showed up at 0715 for the 0730 opening of the Guest Pass Book, I was third or fourth in line. This year I was first. Granted, there was little or no traffic on the way to the Annex so I was early, but by 0725, only John Mula and a few Phase II personnel had joined me. People aren’t used to thinking about tour planning this early.

Usually, we race through the end of the summer, looking for that small break after the outdoor concerts and parades before Tour rehearsals begin. Usually, we shove Tour thoughts to the back of our mind until the Library posts the Tour Programs. Usually, we show up after the Labor Day 96 to find the Bus Points and Seating Charts posted on the bulletin board.

But Trox posted the Bus Points on Wednesday.

August? Bus Points? Already?

It didn’t register with me at first. I probably walked by the board a time or two without seeing them. It wasn’t until Trox tapped me on the shoulder after break and told me to check the board that I realized they were there.

Following rehearsal (for a summer concert, I might add), I could barely make my way down the hallway to the locker rooms, so many people were crowded around Trox’s display. (He has really outdone himself on the diagram details this year. Andy has the photos, but once Trox gets his hands on them, I’m sure we’ll see another collage on the bulletin board.)

It was a little disconcerting to see them so neatly arranged in the corner of the bulletin board before I was mentally prepared. A jumble of thoughts rushed through my mind; lists forming, schedules rearranging, mental post-it notes.

August? Blog? Already?

Piercing through the traffic jam forming in my mind was the thought – Blog! I have to get in Blog Mode! Everything is starting so early, I’m already behind!