My trombone-playing, MSU marching band veteran niece Valdemort posted this guerilla marching band link on Facebook this morning. This is in Dee-troit and it is really cool. Aaaannddd…

One of my secrets is that I am a professionally trained flautist flutist flute player. I was am good. I mean that I reached a point in my study of the flute and music that is kind of like learning to ride a bicycle where you don’t quite ever forget and I could go on and on about that but I won’t. I can remember looking at pictures of flutes when I was a very young child (think three, yes really) and wondering what all of those complicated keys did. And wanting to play one. Two of my beloved older cousins did play the flute in school and I was always as envious as all get-out. And then. Finally. I got to be a 5th grader and I managed to be issued one of the three crappy flutes available at Lincoln School and a lesson book. I finished the lesson book in about two weeks.

I’m not here to tell that whole story tonight. That’s meeeeee at Interlochen in about 1971. My second year there. I am sitting in first seat in that photoooo and I hated those glasses and my hair looks awful and it looks like I’m wearing a windbreaker type thing over my Interlochen uniform, which consisted of a yellow short-sleeved shirt and blue skirt. And yellow kneesocks! Yeee. It must’ve been raining that day. Usually, it was just hot as all get-out at Interlochen. The guy two chairs down is John. He was originally assigned first seat but I beat him out at the first week’s challenges and kept my chair for the second. You go, KW. He was also from the Yoop. He had lessons. I [mostly] did not. I had to bash my way through whatever music I could get my hands on all by myself. He carved out a successful flute career for himself. I did not. But I am successful in my life and I have no regrets. And, you go, John!

Whatever. I love this guerrilla type marching band. Is the music perfect? No, but it isn’t supposed to be. It just looks like fun. If I had time to be involved, I would be wearing some sort of sparkly skirt below the band jacket. And my raggedy old Chacos. And I probably wouldn’t be playing the flute because the flute is useless in a marching band. Piccolo? Maybe. More likely the cymbals or some other percussion instrument.

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