And He’s Off! Fiddlers 2019 Trip

Tomas headed off on the road early this morning to go with his school music group, the Franklin County Fiddlers. They’re going throughout Maine and Boston as they zig zag from place to place, fiddling all the way until they come back on Tuesday. As he was packing up and getting ready for the big trip, I couldn’t help but think back over some of the different school trips I went on.

Funnily enough, there are quite a few of them that I just can’t remember anymore. I’m pretty sure I went on a whale watching trip in . . . 6th grade? I think I remember being on the boat, and I seem to recall watching some of my classmates eat lobster, but I can’t remember where exactly we went. Boston? I couldn’t tell you if you paid me. The trip is a blur. There are even later trips that are also really fuzzy. We went to Baltimore one time for orchestra. Or was it Annapolis? I remember going to King’s Dominion. I think. (Man, when did my memory get so bad?)

On the other hand, there are some trips I still remember very clearly. Our marching band trip to Paris my Junior year of high school. We were there for the New Year’s Day Parade. I remember seeing Notre Dame in the rain. Marching in the parade. The New Year’s Eve dance. Seeing Paris from the Eiffel Tower. Having lunch at the cafe in the Louvre. All of that’s up there in my memory no problem.

My senior year, I went on another orchestra trip, this one to Germany and Austria with the All American Youth in Concert group. I remember that very well, too. Well enough that when we visited the places I played back then this past summer, I still recalled what they looked like and what we did there.

And of course, none of these count the tons of marching band trips to competitions across the area, or the Dixie Band trips to nursing homes. Small little day trips here and there that when I think about them, formed a big chunk of my high school schedule.

As I look back at all of that as a whole, I’m surprised at how much I did. I think it’s important to go on trips like that away from home. It gives you a chance to do things on your own and find yourself a bit better than when you’re always near your parents. Of course, it also gives you a chance to do stupid things, but you’re going to have that chance sooner or later. Better to have it on a chaperoned trip so you get used to the “freedom” one step at a time.

Anyway. You won’t see Tomas around for the next few days. Unless you’re down in Boston, in which case you can catch him this weekend. Have fun, Tomas!

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