Crazy 'bones!

Got trombones?

There must be some mutant, renegade gene that determines trombone aptitude.  So far as I can see, playing a trombone goes way beyond a certain musical style.  There seems to be a "fun" gene involved in the makeup of a trombonist.  Could you really choose to play an instument with that great slide if you had no intention of poking people with it?  And can you picture any goofier instrument?  Trombonists can take a note, dump it off its line, drop it several spaces, then swoop it back up to where it started again.  Without taking a breath.  Sometimes intentionally.  Sometimes while trying to remember in what position the note is really supposed to be played....  For a trombonist, there is a delightful inconsistancy to notes.  We can play any note a little sharp or flat.  Or a lot sharp or flat.  So much that it sounds like a whole different note, even....  We don't tend to take ourselves (or anyone else) too seriously.  Is it any wonder that there is generally plenty of laughter coming from the trombone section in a band? 

I'm glad to say that I have plenty of trombones (and trombonists!) in my life!  "Thing 1" (one of the guys from a goofy town band I play in) invited the rest of the trombone section over to his house this week. Where there is laughter, there is warmth.  Yup... lots of warmth in this section!

I really don't have enough words to describe the evening.  We laughed, we talked, we joked, sorted blueberries, made pie, played music.  But it was the little things that made the evening special.  Like the birthday hat on the mailbox marking the driveway.  Or the two blueberry pies due to an animated discussion about the merits of grahm cracker crusts verses traditional crust.  (Not to mention crumb topping or crust top and the question of how much sugar is neccessary for a blueberry pie...)  It was the music we played.  'Bone-caroling.  Christmas music in August.  It was the comfort of sitting with friends, chatting and sorting blueberries.  Or swapping trombone mischief stories.  The peacefulness of standing on the deck looking over trees and a treehouse.  Or trying the myriad of very strange and wonderful instruments that "Thing 1" and "Moe" had with them.  Joking about breaking kids.  Or very big shoes.  Or "Curly" going back for her third and fourth pieces of pie.  The random jokes that make us all grin.

Another piece of the evening... friendship.  Shared experiences.  This was Lucie's trombone section.  She would have loved the evening.  It was bittersweet to gather without her.  Yet she, of all people, would have been quick to proclaim, "sweet!"  And it was.