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.
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.
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
Your high school sounds like a nightmare. We're the same age and my high school in Seattle had none of these restrictions, thankfully.
ReplyDeleteWell, Seattle has always been undoubtably less conservative than Florida.
DeleteI was in 9th grade before girls finally won the fight to wear slacks/jeans!
ReplyDeleteI think I was a Jr. in high school when we were.
DeleteWhen I was in school no girl would have dreamed of going bra-less, they were all so proud to be growing up they got a bra as soon as they had enough to put in even the smallest size. Mini skirts were okay too, but not micro mini, they had to meet certain requirements. Wearing pants to school was allowed when I was still in primary school and the rule was no pants for girls, dresses/skirts only, but my dad made a fuss about me getting cold through winter and I was allowed to wear the corduroy pants he'd bought for me, so soon enough other girls copied and that was the end of the silly skirts rule.
ReplyDeleteThe concert looks like a lot of fun was had, love the broom trombone. Does Maggie play an instrument?
Sounds like there wasn't much push-back from the school administration when you young women decided you'd had enough of the pants prohibition.
DeleteMaggie doesn't play an instrument. I asked her last night if she was going to take band when she was in middle school and she said that no, she wasn't. "How about chorus?" I asked. Again, no. I told her, and it's true, that she has a lovely voice and should think about that. We shall see if she does.
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ReplyDeleteSo happy you powered through and relished every minute. I’ll bet Gibson plays a wicked broom.
ReplyDeleteYou better believe it!
DeleteIn your last post I was going to add, you gave birth to four babies, you can do this.
ReplyDeleteSometimes when I compare what school was like in my days to what the grandchild is experiencing, I am glad I survived those years more or less whole.
I never really think about being brave when it comes to having had four children but I do use the fact as a guide when I'm having pain issues. Like when I went to the hospital with a kidney stone and they asked about my pain and I said, "Look. I gave birth to a 10 pound, 2 ounce baby at home on purpose. I know pain. This is pain."
DeleteAlso-yeah. It's pretty amazing any of us survived all that ridiculousness.
DeleteSo you survived and thrived! I'm glad you not only made it, you had a good time. It's great that the conductor kept it short, though. One of the drawbacks of school shows is length, where every group has its turn and it can go on and on.
ReplyDeleteOh my god, you are so right. As I told Lily last night, these band concerts with this teacher are easily most enjoyable school concerts I've ever attended.
DeleteThe concert sounds really good. The band director must love her job and that is all important. Putting on a stage performance for friends and family takes lots of practice. Well done!
ReplyDeleteIt seems only the private schools (and not all of them) require a dress code. Personally, I just want kids to get a good solid education and thrive.
I think the band director does love her job and it shows.
DeleteYeah. A lot of private schools still require uniforms. I know that public schools must have some sort of dress code about what can and cannot be bared, or what is acceptable to wear on a T-shirt.
So glad you attended and supported the concert! Kids need those outlets and knowing some relations are there to see their efforts. Oh the dress codes through the years! Keep on driving (carefully) whenever an important function occurs at night!
ReplyDeleteI think it's good for the kids too, to see all the parents and family who show up at these things.
DeleteSo- how do we define "important function?"
When I started High School (Summer of 1970), Freshman year girls still had to wear dresses except for a few special Fridays when we could wear pants, but not jeans. The start of my sophomore year we all moved to a brand-new High School. Our class (1974) was the last freshmen since we also changed to three-year high school and what used to be freshman was now junior high ninth grade. With the new high school, it seemed all dress code rules went out the window. Now we were wearing jeans, tops that did not work with bras and all sort of clothing that looked more like the summer of 1969. It was such a big change for this girl that grew up only wearing a dress to school and freezing legs in the winter. Years later our town added a second high school and went back to the 4-year high school system.
ReplyDeleteYou were only two years behind me in school and boy, I don't think things had changed that much two years after I graduated. But Winter Haven, Florida was hardly the most progressive place in the country.
DeleteI'm glad you were able to get out and enjoy the concert. Sunday when I was in Texas, I went to a piano recital for 2 of my grandkids and it was great fun. So many students, playing a variety of songs from "Hot Cross Buns" to much longer fancier pieces from the older students.
ReplyDeleteI went to Catholic schools so we always had uniforms and the skirts were supposed to touch the ground when we knelt down and the nuns would check that if you tried to roll up your skirt!! ;)
I will be quite honest- when concerts or recitals go on forever, I sort of lose my mind. And then feel guilty about it.
DeleteWhen I was a cheerleader in the ninth grade, our uniform skirts had to be no shorter than finger tip length. If you held your hand down by your side, the skirt should go no further than your fingers.
Well, you're dipping a toe into my world now -- the world of student band performances! Seriously, glad you had a good time at the concert. It IS refreshing how free young people are now to become themselves -- in most if not all ways.
ReplyDeleteHOW DOES DAVE DO IT?
DeleteI wonder what the dress code is at your school. Is there one? I seriously doubt there are restrictions on hair length or anything like that.
We fought that battle tooth and nail. My senior year there was a boy who wore sandals (with socks so no bare feet) and the principal told him sandals weren't allowed. His father backed him up, he was threatened with expulsion, the students divided into supporters of the school and supporters of the kid that culminated in a day where the jocks got the firehose out on the front lawn and threatened to turn it on the kid and the kids supporting him. School administrators stopped it I guess but the kid never came back. Don't know if he was expelled or his parents withdrew him. All over sandals with socks.
ReplyDeleteOh god. The energy that was spent on the most ridiculous of rules. Such an absolute waste of time and effort.
DeleteGlad you had such a good time! Nice to see there was a Hslloween theme to the band concert.
ReplyDeleteYep!
DeleteI love that your grands are having this multifaceted experience of humanity. It is families like yours that give me hope and how wonderful to witness our young ones exploring their creative souls.
ReplyDeleteYes. Things are so different for my grandkids and actually, they were when my kids were in school too. In Winter Haven, Florida, it was one white, anglo saxon protestant kid after another except for the small group of Black students who began attending after desegregation.
DeleteWhy are arts the first things to be cut from schools when funding gets cut? Well. We all know the answer to that.
I am glad that you had a good time at the concert. I love hearing and seeing children perform, something I really miss about my job as a teacher.
ReplyDeleteYou really enjoyed going to the concerts? What a seriously great teacher you must have been. Your students were lucky.
DeleteI am back to not being able to comment on your blog posts. Please know that I am reading. I really hope that Murray quits using the guest room as if it were a gas station men's room. He surely is a cute doofus.