High school football season is over and I'm always a little sad about that. It's not that I'm a fan of young men knocking each other down on a lush green field while others around them cheer. Nor am I nostalgic for my own high school days when the young men of my day would knock each other down in a brownish green field because after all it was a Catholic school and they couldn't afford lush for the field. Too busy filling the coffers for future litagation I suppose. But I digress. The reason for my mournful state is that after football season, I can no longer hear the band. The local high school sits a mere quarter mile from my house and starting in the mid summer and all through the fall, it's all tubas in the moonlight and big drum solos. Sometimes they go all 70's and they do the theme from Hawaii Five-O which brings a tear to my eye because of the memory of the cheesy coiffed area code that was Jack Lord's hair.
It's funny what seals the deal when you buy your house. For me, way back in 1988, it was being able to hear the high school band practice. Over the years, I'm sure some bands have been better than others but I really wouldn't know the difference. I do know that those days in the fall when I'm returning the trashcans from the curb, or taking a walk around the block or just standing in my yard wishing for fireflies, I hear them in all their teenage angst, marching and keeping a rhythm while they are all worried about their Algebra test,or their facebook profile or their best friend, still playing, not knowing they are serenading me.
4 comments:
Okay I know there was a melancholy, sentimental intention: the passage of time and all that. But you distraced me so well with the line Sometimes they go all 70's and they do the theme from Hawaii Five-O which brings a tear to my eye because of the memory of the cheesy coiffed area code that was Jack Lord's hair. That incredible metaphorical wit rolls out of you so easily when speaking. A wonderful thing about your daily blogs is that I can go back and enjoy them again and again.
We live a little farther from our local high school but close enough that I've had this same experience. For us to hear them, the wind has to be blowing our way or maybe those are the days we open our windows and so we hear them. I'm sure people have not purchased homes because of high school proximity but it's something I enjoy as well.
Have you been to a high school game lately? We went last year and it's an experience that reminds you more vividly of all that angst you mentioned.
Ditto JSG's comment about the good writing, BTW.
The area code and wishing for fireflies got me.
Ahhh.. marching band. Sadly, in Florida, without football, many schools wouldn't have a music program at all.
Post a Comment