Part Two, Mission Complete. God, How I Love My House

That's Gibson, playing a broom trombone. Trombone is his instrument. And I was wrong. It was not a jazz concert but a general band concert. Last year Gibson was in the jazz band but this year he's moved over to the concert band. 
Whatever. It was a great time. I really do mean that. 
I remembered from last year how much I enjoyed the band concert. The band teacher is young, full of energy, and I bet she's a whole lot of fun. I noticed this evening before she put her jacket on to conduct, that she had a large-ish tattoo on her bicep which made me love her a little bit. But besides being energetic and obviously cool, she kept the concert short. 
I doubt the whole thing lasted forty-five minutes and that included a lot of kids moving on and off the stage for the different band configurations. There were seven songs, none of them interminable, each one as fun to listen to as I'm sure they were to learn and play. 

This was when they were first assembling. There was a definite Halloween theme going on in both the decorations and the music. And you know me. I studied all those young faces, or at least the ones I could see from my seat, and I am so glad that kids can dare to express themselves in such diverse ways. So different than when I was their age and we all seemed to be afraid to be anything but exactly alike. Our hair, our clothes, our shoes, our very bodies- we wanted them to be like everyone else's and we all based this on what the cool kids were doing. By the time we got into our final years of high school, in the very early 70's, there was more acceptance of a little bit of the expression of individuality when it came to appearance, actions, and thoughts. Of course the education system's powers-that-be fought this whole rebellion thing tooth and nail and banned long hair on boys, short skirts or pants on girls, and (oh god forbid!) going braless. 
Seriously, they checked.
NO HIPPIES!
Which of course only made us want to fight the status quo even more and, yes, definitely become hippies. 

Kids are freer now to explore their identities in ways we never could have even imagined back in the olden days. And I love it. 

BUT- there are still band concerts. There are still teachers that are changing lives with their involvement, dedication, talent, and caring way beyond what their job description says, and way, WAY beyond what they are being paid to do. 
And there are still many, many parents, siblings, and grandparents who are proud of their kids and show up to support them, to get a tiny sliver of a picture of what they are learning and who they are learning from and with. 

I am so glad I went. I knew I would be. There was no doubt. It was so worth going out for. And yes, it was dark by the time I got home but all is well. I am not afraid that I'll crash into something and die, it's that I am so incredibly fearful that I will hit someone walking in the road because I cannot see them which is my worst nightmare. But I didn't hit so much as a frog, as far as I know, and when I walked into my house my soul let out a big sigh.
Home. It is always here for me. As funky as it is. It is here. 
My bed, board, bath, and peace of mind. 

Love...Ms. Moon