Subtitled:  "To Parade or Not to Parade, That is the Question!"

Haven't done any parades in nearly 2 years. I guess it'll depend upon how badly Greendale needs me on the 4th. (if I have the presence of mind to get sunscreen before then, I think I'll be OK).

Speaking of parades:

Some 15-20 years ago Greendale did 2 parades back to back within short driving distance of each other. We got through the first one all right, but on our way to the second, one of the rear tires on the wagon we rode in started to go flat--so as we were pulling in to a filling station to pump the tire up, one of our dry-humored trumpet players started playing something that fit that situation (down, bluesy), and a guy driving a convertible right ahead of us turned around and gave this player the dirtiest look--after that the rest of the band burst into a peel of laughter. We still had to pull out of the second parade only 1/3 of the way through, because the tire was still giving trouble.

The following year, at the last rehearsal prior to the 4th parades, a humorous whoop went up after I asked the director how the tires were, and wouldn't you know, history almost repeated itself,--fortuately, one of our trombone players just happened to work for a filling station, so he got an air pump, filled the tire up, and this time, things ran smooth as silk, thank you very much.

(Wonder if all us musicians will ever meet at an eatery, and just swap humorous stories--we'd be there all night!)