Inauguration thoughts

I returned from Washington DC this morning, and after sleeping through most of the morning I started to reflect on what I went through earlier this week.
Instead of boring you with the details of the trip, I'd like to focus on the people that I had the opportunity to meet with and see. To start out, the Marching Band was extended an invitation to march in the Inaugural Parade after the U victory at the Sugar Bowl. We needed $160,000 in two weeks. It seemed impossible. As the critical days went by, I waited for any news from our Band Director telling us that we weren't going to go, we couldn't raise the money. Instead, there were constant e-mails updating us about how much money we had, and various fund raisers we could participate in. Many of us were up at news stations to be on the early morning shows to tell people about our quest. There were radio announcements, newspaper articles, and I'm pretty sure Oprah mentioned us on her show. We were soo close to our goal, about $130,000, when USANA stepped up and donated the rest of the money. Not only that, but they gave each of the band members an Ogio backpack filled with free stuff (we call this "free-stuffing the band").
One of the reasons we could get away with raising less than the original desired amount ($180,000) was because one Virginia principle decided that he was going to follow the "still small voice" in his mind telling him that he needed to help the marching band he read about in the Deseret News. His first thoughts were similar to what most of us would think... "wow, someone should help them." But after days of mulling it over in his mind, he talked to his wife about housing members of the band. She thought he was insane. He sent the challenge to members in his LDS stake, who reacted so quickly and in such high numbers, he had to turn many of them down. 2-3 band members were assigned to a host family, who let us stay in their house for two nights.
My family, the Browns, were BYU alumnists. They had 5 children, all under the age of 12. Another tuba player, Katherine, stayed there as well. One of the funnier moments happened when Kory, the mother, came down to the basement to show me how to use the TV. Her 12 year old daughter madison came down with her. She turned on the cable, and it turned on to a rather riskay scene in my favorite show House. She quickly covered her daughters eyes, while madison covered her ears. I rushed to help Kory change the channel, the whole time thinking "yay, house is on. I know what I'll be turning it to when she leaves." I made sure I changed it to a Disney station when I left. I am so grateful for their hospitality, and their kindness. It was so comforting to be staying in a family that had the same standards as me, and they made it obvious that If I needed anything, they would get it for me.
The LDS stake there donated soo much time to make our stay in Virginia as comfortable as possible. Members were at the Stake House hours before us making us breakfast each morning, and then at night they were there prepping dinner and listening to us rehearse. It was so inspiring. As we realized the events that unfolded to get us there, I realized that the Lord really does work through others. It is up to us to follow the prompting of the spirit in order to answer the prayers of others.
On the other end of the spectrum, there were so many people in Washington who were completely out of their minds. Now I don't care if you voted for Pres. Obama, but when you love him to the point that it has become Idolatry, you need to step back and get a good look at your life. I was completely blown away by how many people WORSHIPED that man. There were women crying in the streets, children running around screaming his name, and everywhere you looked posters with his face stared down at you like "big brother". More fucus was put on the outfits worn by the president and first lady than the topics of his... not so extroardinay speech.
Regardless of what happened earlier in the day, we still had a job to do. After sitting in the bus for about seven hours at the pentagon, we warmed up next to the wasington monument with some of the other parade bands. The Virginia Military Institute followed behind us in the band, and about 1,300 cadets showed up. They were way nice.

Video Courtesy of KSL.com

We started on Constitution Blvd, turned onto Pennsylvania Avenue, and marched about 2 miles before we were even allowed to play. We jumped on to the parade route and played God Bless America about 25 times. The last two were infront of the new President of the United States. I gave it everything I had and I have no regrets about how I played. My tuba had frozen twice along the parade route during the drum cadences. The spit and condensation literally froze my three valves closed. I had to blow warm air through my horn for about two minutes before they would move. I'm very glad that only happened on the way to the parade route, and not on the parade. When we finished marching, I was so numb I couldn't feel my face, hands, or feet. I also stepped in horse poop.