Can you have a tour moment when you're not even on tour? Don't know what a tour moment is? I think a tour moment is just like one of those passages in a corps' show that brings the whole crowd to its feet because of a spectacular musical performance or a guard move that dazzles you so much you just have to say "Wow, that's really cool."
Tour moments, to me, are things that happen while traveling with the corps that make me stop and say, "Wow, that's really cool." Like striking up a conversation in a small-town supermarket about why you're buying a dozen gallons of milk and every loaf of bread in the store and ending up trying to explain to the checkout lady why you're doing this seemingly crazy 24-hour-a-day job of taking care of 135 kids who are playing, spinning and marching their guts out while on your VACATION, while the whole time thinking to yourself that it's not really crazy but a really, really cool thing to be doing.
There are a couple of others from last summer: an incredible evening rehearsal in an Indiana gym that left me muttering "I don't believe what I just saw" for several days and an absolutely magical evening in a stadium in Illinois with the sun going down over a nearby cornfield that was straight out of "Field of Dreams." But what I wanted to get back to was the question that started this whole ramble.
Can you have a tour moment when you're not even on tour?
It happened to me yesterday at lunch when I stopped at the grocery to buy enough puffed rice cereal and marshmallows to make Rice Krispie bars for, oh about 160 people. The woman at the checkout said, "You must be making treats for a crowd." Which led to an explanation of drum corps and life on the road with 160 people and, yes, the Colts are going to be in Ankeny this year and you've really, really got to go. And there it was. That "Wow, that's really cool" feeling and at least for the moment, it was a tour moment.
Thanks, Colts. And here's to many, many more.
(Got a tour moment to share? Even one from home? Just click on the word "comments" at the end of this message and let the rest of us in on it....)
2 comments :
Usually, when I'm shopping for the corps, the cashier says "you must be havin' SOME party!" Oh yeah, it's a party... Perhaps I should follow David's example and turn it into an educational opportunity. Recently, in Dubuque, the store manager said "Oh, you must be with the Colts. Are they in town?" which was a nice tour moment for me. - Jim J.
I had a tour moment last Thursday night in Lancaster, WI, prior to the Colts dress rehearsal there. We had just arrived and as I walked around to the side of the kitchen trailer, where serving was in full swing, there was my "80 something" mom serving brownies. My daughter (her granddaughter) is a member of the guard and Lancaster is her home town. When we knew we might be there for a spell, I suggested she come and volunteer. She is a great cook and a very active lady for any age - let alone hers!
She helped on the trailer for 2 days and apparently had the time of her life! She's trying to figure out if her busy schedule and the sleeping arrangements could accommodate her going on tour. She was amazed by the whole process and very pleased by how polite, nice and hard-working the corps members are. And, of course, she couldn't believe how much they ate!!
The corps will be in Dubuque again next weekend and I am sure she will be with us, cooking up a storm. I am certain this is a tour moment that will stay with me (and hopefully my daughter) forever. Thanks, Grandma Dee! You're amazing!
Polly
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