The GBB played our concert for the International Trumpeters Guild at Columbus State University this afternoon, so I took the day off from work to do it.
In a normal life, that would’ve meant that the individual taking the day off could sleep for an extra hour or two. In my life, that doesn’t happen unless I go out of town. The cats seem to think that 6:00 is when the day starts, and I really don’t get a say in the matter. So I rolled out of bed, gave the kitties their breakfasts, and walked about 3.2 miles.
I should mention that my new morning route is a bit over 3 miles now – I added the extra mile after last weekend, when I explored a new road and figured that I could make the 3-mile hike work in the mornings now that I’m so close to the office.
After the walk, I went to the old office (yes, I showered first) to pick up a print-out from the plotter there, then got my hair cut and drove the 2 hours down to Columbus to have lunch with Joe (music director) before our 2:30 call time.
You’d think that, when you order a slice of pizza from a pizza restaurant, you’d get it in less than an hour. You’d think that. So did a good number of the band. Apparently, that’s not the way things work in Columbus. What was supposed to be a leisurely lunch followed by an equally-leisure stroll to the venue with plenty of time to spare turned out to be a lot of waiting, followed by wolfing down food, followed by running to the venue.
Once there, while waiting for the rehearsal hall to open, I talked to Cy and learned that Dad and Diane will be on hand for the GBB concert in Middlebury next month. Excellent!
The ITG concert itself went very well. It’s hard not to have a great time when you’re playing to an extremely enthusiastic packed house. Several standing O’s and good vibes all around. Then another 2-hour trip back to Duluth, and the day is pretty much over.
I mention the two 2-hour trips because I’ll be making a couple of 13-hour trips in the next four days. Early on Saturday morning, I’ll be hitting the road for Waukegan, Illinois. Why would I do this? Why not? Doesn’t Waukegan sound like the perfect getaway for a Memorial Day weekend?
Actually, I’m going up there to spend a couple of days getting to know more about this trumpet-playing woman who was mentioned a few days ago in this blog. The two of us came to the conclusion that, after having sent a few hundred texts and emails to each over the last two months, and after having spent a sizable percentage of the last couple of weeks on the phone, maybe actually hanging out together would be a good idea. So I’ll be driving up there on Saturday morning (arriving Saturday afternoon) and coming back Monday morning (arriving home Monday night). In between those two anchors, the only plan at this point is to catch a church service at which she’s playing on Sunday. The rest of the time, we’ll just see what happens. I’ve never spent any time in Chicago, so tourism is likely. There is, supposedly, some really good pizza up there – and I’m guessing it doesn’t take an hour to get it – so food is also likely. 6-hour conversations are also quite likely.
Interesting side-note here. Google Chrome does not like the word “Waukegan,” and keeps recommending that I replace it with “Milwaukee.”
On this day in history, something probably happened. I don’t feel like looking it up, though.
TWD