A Cacophony

I love working on a college campus this time of year. The high school marching bands come for band camp and shortly, the university marching band will be back. Soon, sounds of the fight song will compete with the traffic noise outside my window. I enjoy the sound of the drumline and the field commanders yelling "tut, tut, tut..." to get everyone on the same beat.

It's a beautiful thing when it all comes together — everyone playing the same song and moving in the right direction.

But as someone who had been a chaperone at band camp, for three years, I can tell you it's not always that way. I've seen kids trip (while the director yelled "watch the tuba"), lines move in the wrong direction and the occasional time when a whole section is playing the wrong song. It reminded me of the scene in National Lampoon's Animal House with the band marching into a wall.

A Cacophony

Too much noise ... too much chaos ... 

Not enough direction

While yesterday called for the sound of silence, today brings a cacophony of thoughts and images that haven't begun moving together. I don't think they even know what song they're supposed to be playing.

So the internal field commander is quietly repeating "tut, tut, tut" while the director works to take the noise and chaos and blend it into something that makes sense.

I am the director ... I should have paid more attention in music class.