summer fun

For six of the seven weeks between my Poland/Slovakia trip and my week in Boston (just two weeks til then!), I'm working full time in the Marching band office. I've had some fun, too, and wanted to share with you folks some "firsts" I've had this summer.
FYI: Since I'm trying to save money after developing 204 pictures from the missions trip, I don't have pics of my own for any of these events, but check out the websites that I've linked and get the full multi-sensory experience! (hee-hee)

Floating the Boise River
It's a Boise institution, this river, and floating it on a tube (or raft or whatever else will float) is the thing to do on hot afternoons, especially this past July 4th weekend since the "powers that be" finally opened the river to the public just before the holiday. So, on Sunday July 2, after a hot, sunny morning, I was excited to join some friends for my first river float. By the time we got on the water, it was cloudy, but the air was still warm. Then we saw it: lightning, and lots of it. Beautiful and only a little frightening. Later when folks asked how the trip went, I said...

the lightning was cool.
the thunder was cool.
the rain was just cold.

So it was quite an adventure. But I guess I'm a glutton for punishment since I headed out to float the river again on the 4th with another group of folks. Mind you, the forecast said nothing about clouds or rain, but by the time we had rented our tubes and were on the water, the sky was again covered with clouds. This time we missed the rain by about 5 minutes. Every day I ride home from work along the river and watch folks basking in the sun on their tubes and rafts and laugh to myself because it hasn't rained in Boise since those two days, nearly two weeks ago! :)

A fellow Boisean and flickr geek took pics of some other folks on the river Sunday July 2 in the middle of the rain storm. Check out his photoset here.

National Fiddlers Contest and Festival Weiser, ID
A big deal for this cute little town in rural Idaho, close to Idaho/Oregon boarder, the fest has been held every year the third full week of June since 1953. It draws something like 350 contestants from 35 states. I just went out there on the last night of competition for the Grand National final rounds. It's a family thing, with kids as young as 5 and as old as 80 competing in 7 age divisions, in addition to the Grand National division. Lots of fiddlers! In another part of town, an open-air stage showcased local bluegrass musicians and other oldtimey stuff. We saw a bunch of kids from a local clogging school perform. Cute. While oldtime fiddling is not my favorite of the fiddle styles - I'm a Celtic girl all the way :) - the event was definitely a cultural experience, deep in the heart of rural America.
For pics and to hear some tunes (Real Audio), check out this site set up by Idaho Public Television.

DCI (Drum Corps International)
So what is DCI?
Before this summer, I had no idea. But this past week I was initiated into all things marching band-ish with the goings on in my office: "Cavalcade", a camp for high school marching band kids and their directors; and "Thunder in Boise", my first drum and bugle corps show. It has been "the off season" (non-football/marching season) ever since I first started working in the office in February, so it has been pretty quiet most of the time. Not so last week! The phone was ringing off the hook with parents calling about last minute stuff for their kids in camp, and the office was full of directors schmoozing, and I took so many ticket orders over the phone for the DCI show I think I could still recite the schpeel in my sleep. The day of the show was long. On the other hand, even though I worked 10 hours, my boss and supervisor worked something like 14 hours each. Anyway, I enjoyed the show more than I expected to. There is something cool about all the uniforms and choreography and dance and flags. The kids who do these shows range in age from 14 to 22 and they tour all summer long, with rehearsals every day and adjudicated shows two to four times a week. I suppose you could say they are "uber" band geeks and many of them are quite talented. At these shows you discover a whole 'nother world, and folks get quite passionate about the groups, evidenced by the corps' paraphanelia for sale at each show. Also, don't ever confuse a marching band with a drum and bugle corps, at least not to those in the know, or you will receive a lecture on the differences between the two. :) To get the lowdown - you know you want to know - and even see one of those multi-sensory experiences I mentioned, go to the About DCI site. Warning: the video is a promo for DCI and kinda sappy!

So that's some of the things I've been up to. I heard rumors a few weeks back about some friends going to a rodeo, and there's always a chance for more River floating, so more firsts may be coming soon. And I'll let you know if I ever make it down the river without rain!