The Show Must Go On

Tuesday proved to be not unlike a typical high school band trip. Call time moved up 1.5 hours with very little notice. Hoping we reached everyone (text, email, handwritten notes passed by hotel staff), we started loading the bus and headed out. The highway was closed (SNOW!) so we had to go the "back way" through small towns in blizzard conditions.

Our 90 minute trip took  3.5 hours and showed me snow I have only ever seen in photographs. Surely the Grinch lives in these top heavy, curling over, snow laden trees! Though I never saw the "mean one," I did see folks shoveling 5-6 feet of snow off their rooftops, plows and blowers moving snow from one place it doesn't belong to another, and the most beautiful fruit laden persimmon trees, leafless and dripping with deep orange fruit and snow.

Honey, will this fit in the living room?

On arrival at our mountain town performing arts center, Koidego Culture Hall in Uonuma, we unloaded, set up, ran tech and lighting, and prayed folks would brave the weather to come hear us play. We played a great concert to a relatively small but very appreciative crowd while the snow continued to fall. Afterward we invited the attendees to our "petting zoo" where they were all too eager to get their own hands on our instruments. Manning the bass tables, my job quickly turned into whisking a bell off the table before a guest put his down on top of it! I needed a sign that says "the bells don't like to touch each other!" Most remarked "sugoi!" (heavy) and marveled at my picking it up with relative ease. For many, the bell was nearly as big as they were!

Cheryl, Joe, Patti, and me!

So, in my mind it's ok with me to sleep on the concert hall floor and drive back in the daylight. But good news, the highway is open! We get on the bus and drive what seems to be a block or two and then wait. and wait. News! We're waiting for the snow plow. Boy this snow plow is taking a long time. But this group doesn't need a karaoke machine for fun, so sing we do, everything from Chicago to "Joy to the World" (and the fishes in the deep blue sea!) and "Snowflakes (Raindrops) Keep Falling on my Head," our age showing a bit. An hour later...news! The snow plow has been in a collision with a car and we are waiting for a tow vehicle. The singing and conversation fade as I drift off to sleep. Two and a half hours after boarding the bus, we are finally on our way. I should have called Mom to tell her I would be late! The highway is open, I am back to sleep and the hotel appears quickly. Maybe it was all a dream.