When The Sun Sets On The Field In Bloomington

“Spring passes and one remembers one's innocence.
Summer passes and one remembers one's exuberance.
Autumn passes and one remembers one's reverence.
Winter passes and one remembers one's perseverance.” 
― Yoko Ono


It's drum corps season again. While the city of Dayton says goodnight to another year of indoor pageantry, an entire activity opens its doors to planning, training, and designing. One season ends and another begins. From winter we move to summer; from winter guard we move to drum corps. It's been this way for decades. It's what we know and it is how we live with this activity of ours that we call pageantry.

I was one of the fortunate ones. I was lucky and I can say that without a doubt, drum corps is the activity that made me who I am today. My strength, commitment to excellence, and refusal to never quit was shaped on the hot field of drum corp and specifically on the field in Bloomington.  Drum Corps was such a powerful force, that years later when I entered the Navy and went to boot camp; it was drum corps that gave me the strength to manage everything the United States military threw at me. It was drum corps that taught me how to use my mind to manage the physical, emotional, and mental challenges that is asked of you not just in the military, but in life as well. It was boot camp though, that made me realize how powerful of a force drum corps was, because as people would cry and struggle through the pain, I didn't. I took whatever was thrown at me and was quickly able to realize what was real and what was a game. There were multiple moments at boot camp where a member of my division would pass out because of exhaustion. In my mind, I would simply say, "Please. We've only been standing here 5 minutes." Having done both, I can look at it now and emphatically say that there isn't much difference between the two. Both require its participants to have personal discipline and the ability to manage anything that is asked of them, no matter how difficult. Both require teamwork and an understanding that it is only with the team that the highest of goals are achieved. Sleep is practically an afterthought as you exist on the lowest rung of Maslow's Hierarchy, until YOU make the choice to start climbing the ladder of self-love, self-esteem, and finally self-actualization.

I marched with the Star of Indiana for 2 summers...1990 and 1991. When I auditioned for Star I had almost no grasp of the activity I was auditioning for and absolutely no idea of the journey I was about to embark upon. So I titled this post, "When The Sun Sets On The Field In Bloomington," because  it is the setting sun that helped create the person I am today.  I remember summer days that seemed like they were never going to end. I remember sectionals with the guard where we never saw the rest of the corps until after dinner and when the entire corps met for ensemble rehearsals, I would just pray I could remember everything taught to me that day so I wouldn't get yelled at in front of 100 plus people. Into the night we carried our sunburns from the day. We were sore and tired. Our bodies were exhausted and our minds on auto pilot. You could smell the lingering sun screen mixed with sweat as a staff member up top utter the words, "Again." We had fought with bugs that at the time seemed like the size of rats, and what we looked forward to our few piddly hours in a sleeping bag on the floor...THE FLOOR! (At least at boot camp we got beds.) But damnit...we loved it, even through the silent tears and that single prayer asking for the ability to get through to another day.

Talking about it makes it seem like it was torture. Who in their right mind pays to deliberately run around a football field in places like Lisbon, Iowa in the hot summer heat spinning a flag?  What about the rain? What about showers? Those questions have been asked to every person who ever participated in a drum corps and everyone I know answers the questions differently. Many people say that it was all worth it because of the shows, the friends, and the crowds. Many talk about the travel and the hilarity of moments on a bus late at night.  All of those answers are true and very real, but I don't talk about any of that. I talk about something different. I always talk about the sun and how it would go down as we stood on the field looking up at our staff guide us to perfection. I tell people about the nighttime dew and how it would start to gather on the grass and how our flags laying in wait on the sidelines would gather a bit of moisture and we would get just a little cold because of our sunburns. It was at that time when performers would grab their corps jackets from their bags to wear for warmth, but mostly to wear for pride. That was the time when I loved drum corps the most. You could feel a sense of accomplishment as the clock ticked toward the end of a long day. There was a sense of camaraderie that didn't exist during the hot peak of the day and it was at night when a performer seems to come to grips with the personal demons they faced throughout the day and sometimes even, the demons living inside their spirit. It was the setting sun that made the weary performer believe in herself.

I loved sunset in Bloomington. I loved that feeling you get after a hard day of work, knowing that each moment is just one tiny thread of an entire seasons accomplishments. I loved seeing the entire staff come together and work in perfect harmony to give us a product we could be proud of. I loved more than anything getting to see how my little piece of the puzzle fit with the bigger picture.




It was when the sun went down, when a performer starts to realize how drum corps is really a microcosm of the bigger picture of life. It was at night when I felt the most in touch with my fellow performers as well as myself. It was the night time rehearsals when we came together as a team and as we pushed each other and told each other that yes, we can do it one more time. When your body was giving out from exhaustion, it was the members on the field who helped you find your strength to manage the final run through. Watching the sun go down in Bloomington was when I felt most alive and most in touch with life's rhythm. It is truly what I miss the most and I would do anything to stand on that field looking out into the setting sun as I held my flag awaiting the next instruction.

There is nothing like drum corps and no final placement or score would have ever changed that feeling the sun gave me as it fell below the earth every night behind the voices of our staff. I wish every performer this season a wonderful experience. I hope you realize the strength that exists inside you and inside the person marching next to you. I hope you realize that whatever happens to you this summer, will make you an amazing person to know 20 years from now. Because of drum corps, you will be the person people want to work with and hang out with. Because of drum corps, you will find you are some of the most interesting people in the room. Something years from now will happen to you that will test your strength and possibly your will to go on. It will happen. Life will slip up on you and test you in ways you can't imagine right now. Know this, though. When that day comes it will be the spirit of drum corps that will get you through it.  More than anything, I hope that wherever you are, you find your practice field sunset and recognize its beauty and know that its beauty exists inside of you.