So... it's been two weeks since I ventured a blog and it's been a whirlwind of activity (not that it hasn't been a whirlwind of activity for pretty much as long as I can remember here). The weekend immediately after the last blog, in a sort of attempt to make up for not being at jazz fest, by being my own jazzfest, I took part in the first ever Petaluma Moose Marching Band... pulling my trumpet out of mothballs (actually borrowing one from the band "director") and putting it to my lips for the first time in over a dozen years. I took that horn home to my new little apartment and drove my new neighbors (and landlord) crazy while I attempted to bring my lip back out of musical atrophy and played Rebirth Brass Band over and over and over again, trying (more or less sucessfully) to figure out my 5 measures of notes for Saturday's Butter and Egg Days Parade.
Bright and early Saturday morning I joined my partners in crime at the Moose Lodge and picked up my music from band leader Michael Whitley who must have thought he was insane taking on this raggedy bunch of wastrel musicians into a public venue. Michael was a great director; patient, attentive, creative, and most of all lacking in any big expectations. At the bottom of my music sheet ran the words, "PLAY ANY NOTES YOU WANT." It was good of him to give me that sort of permission since what I was actually playing was more or less beyond my control. What was really amazing was that while we all waited for the parade to start Michael started vamping on "Low Rider" and when the band picked it up, I was right there along with 'em.
The fact is the parade was an absolute joy to be a part of, not only because I was getting the chance to play trumpet for the first time in decades, but also because the celebration of Petaluma's 150th anniversary (an all year event you're bound to hear more about in the coming months) was a nice thing to be a part of; a chance to settle into this place that, over the last couple of years has become quite unexpectedly (and more or less against my will) a real home to me. As much as I have fought it throughout most of my life, finding my place in this little Northern California town has brought me a centeredness and a joy that I was not really sure that I would ever find. Happy Birthday P-Town!
