Day 27

Date: June 10, 2011
Time: 11:50pm
Playing on iTunes: "Futures" by Jimmy Eat World






Location: Meriden, CT
Recent Trip: 189

Arriving at Maloney High School in Meriden, CT at 3:45 in the morning was very interesting for me. One of the admins Melissa came on our bus and gave us instructions on what to do. Of course I heard everything she said but then the second she left, I turned to my seat partner Nate and said "What's going on? What are we doing?" But I finally realized that we were getting floor time!! YES!! My first floor time of drum coprs. Floor time is when you arrive to a housing site (practice area) early and you have a few hours to kill before breakfast, they will allow you to go into the gym and take out your air mattress or whatever you sleep on so that you don't have to sleep on the bus. It's great. Floor time is precious. I think our next stop we're getting around 6 hours!! Hopefully!

Connecticut is beautiful, and the pit found this quaint area at the bottom of this hill behind the middle school turf field...yes I said MIDDLE SCHOOL turf field. Only in Connecticut can you find a middle school with a turf field...

Behind us was a BMX (bicycle motocross) dirt course. It was comprised of jumps, bumps, steep corners, and lots of dirt. What an opportunity the pit could have to...HAVE A RELAY RACE!! And yes. We had a relay race. During our lunch block, Iain (our instructor) broke the pit up into 3 teams of 5. Each person was placed at a different place on the track and we used some old broken mallets as our "baton" to pass off. My team did not win unfortunately, BUT the videographer of the Cadets did get some hilarious footage of the entire race. I'll make sure to post that when it's up online.

Dr. Iain Moyer (instructor) prepping the track for racing

The runners getting ready for the relay race

Today I got a last minute visitor to come see our community performance. My dad and my brother! I called my dad earlier today and asked him if he wanted to come and he figured a few things out and brought my brother Mike out. It was great to see them. It made my performance more meaningful and more enjoyable. I'm so grateful for them and so happy they got to see me before I left for the west coast. They really enjoyed the show. It was their first drum corps experience ever and my dad says to me afterwards, "Mannnn! Those kids can really blow those horns! My god!" Hahaha I got a kick out of that. My brother commented on the fact that the subwoofer was extremely rumbbling and shook him out of his seat. He loved it. And I know George Hopkins loves it too. So glad we could please a few people with our powerful electronics! 

Dad, me, brother Mike

Everyone in the stands absolutely loved the performance and I am so grateful to be able to play with the musicians that I do. They're all so talented, and their drive for perfection is unparalleled. I am honored to play with them and it makes me happy that we put on performances everywhere where not one person does not enjoy the show. Thank you guys!

Off to Allendale, NJ!

Thought of the Day: "To be excellent at something, you must do it everyday. Whether that means being a truck driver, a musician, a dancer, a chef, or a parent, you must do it everyday to be excellent." - George Hopkins