76 trombones? Very nearly.

This weekend, the husband and I travelled home to watch my sister compete in a marching band competition. It was actually pretty fun, and her school was one of the five to move on to the state competition, which is a Big Deal.

I have never seen a marching band competition before, let alone an intense and important one. I went to a small high school, whose marching band performed at football games and that's it. Apparently Indiana is known for its intense marching band competitions, but I had never even heard of the concept until my sister joined up at her school. (My parents moved after I graduated, and my siblings go to a giant high school.) Here are some things that I found surprising about competitive marching band:

1. There is interpretive dance. Okay, as I said, I went to a small high school. Our "color guard" carried a flag or two and sometimes threw batons. Apparently, they were supposed to be symbolizing the movement of a butterfly while wearing an outfit that looks like Madonna's Like a Virgin outfit if she had decided to incorporate a playing card color scheme. But a joker tutu will look silly without accessories, which brings me to...
   
2. There are props. Each of the bands divides their performances into four (or so) movements, during which the color guard uses different banners or other props. One school had big umbrella-ish things with dangly parts - they looked like cat toys. Another had things that looked like hamster balls which they danced within. Another band had big wrenches to go with their car racing theme. They also had banners with the faces of famous racers, including, of course, Dale Earnhardt. This is Indiana, after all.
   
3. The fans get into it. Obviously the parents get into it. (One mom, whose daughter was in color guard, not band, would ring a cow bell every time the girl did something impressive. A cow bell. During a band competition.) But there were also peers of the band members who were very into it. There were shirtless teenage boys with their chests painted representing a school that is 120 miles away. Of course, during my own geeky high school years, there were shirtless teenage boys with painted chests at the state Academic Decathlon competition (for reals, people), so maybe teenage boys just like to take off their shirts and paint their chests.


4. It is hard, and my little sister is very good at it. All sarcasm aside, I am pretty proud of my sister. She has spent hours and hours practicing throughout the summer. The weekend before last, when it was in the high 80s outside, she was marching with her clarinet. She has worked her ass off. (Literally - the girl's a healthy eater and a size 2. We are not a family of size 2s.) And while I can not walk in a straight line while well-rested and concentrating, she walks in intricate patterns, often sideways, while playing a musical instrument. And she is a high school girl who regularly appears in public wearing a hat with a giant plume. If that doesn't show guts and determination, I don't know what does.