Our Week With the Crossmen

Dave and I spent just under a week serving on the food crew for the Crossmen. Our greatest accomplishment was demonstrating our prowess as world-class dishwashers. Let me tell you, feeding 135 corps members, plus 30-40 staff and 10-12 volunteers four times a day is not restful. In addition to washing, rinsing and drying hundreds of pots and pans, we chopped scores of vegetables, prepared thousands of french fries and chicken nuggets, re-filled dozens of ketchup, mustard and salad dressing jars, replenished paper plate and plastic utensil supplies, and boiled LOTS of pasta. We did lots of other stuff too, but you've gotten the idea by now. Oh yeah, we also took delivery of a load of groceries for the Crossmen and for the Cadets (our sister corps). Dave spent much of that time arranging the perishables in the refrigerator/freezer, while I helped lug non-perishables to their proper trucks, one for us and the other for them. To give you some idea of the scope of that operation, it took the delivery guy two hours to unload his truck. We, of course, had to sort and store it.

This is the truck in which Dave and I lived when we weren't sleeping in the RV (something we didn't do very much). It's a full-size transport truck that's been outfitted as a canteen.


The meal schedule varies wildly from day to day, depending on what time our show begins in the evening, how long it will take to get from our housing site to the show site and whether we have to travel after the show. There is very little down time between serving one meal and preparing the next. Actually, someone is usually starting the next meal as others are clearing the serving tables. The truck is equipped with a generator, so we can run lights and ovens and feed the corps on-site after a performance. We ate at about 9:00 PM last night, in the parking lot of Giants Stadium (Eli Manning didn't come to the show - he has no idea what he missed). Unfortunately, we have no access to running water for road meals, so all of the pots and pans from a post-show road meal have to be washed early the next morning, before breakfast.

Now, some Crossmen terminology:
Reefer - no, it is not something one smokes illegally. It is the refrigerator/freezer unit.
IBS - no, it is not Irritable Bowel Syndrome. It is Ice Box Special - a fancy term for leftovers.
EPL - Eat/Pack/Load - this is what happens during the snack before a show, or the meal before moving to another venue. A 45-minute period is usually designated for the completion of all these activities.
Bones - the mascot who occasionally appears at shows dressed in a uniform and cape.

The corps does the bulk of its traveling at night, after shows. Last week, we moved with the corps three times and arrived at our housing sites anywhere from 1:30 - 3:00 AM. We were always ahead of the corps, which travels in a caravan of 9 vehicles: four buses, one food truck, one equipment truck, one RV, one concession truck and one van. They typically arrived anywhere from 15 minutes to an hour after we did.

The next two photos show Joshua during pre-show warm-ups. The horn line warms-ups together for awhile, then breaks into sections.



Here's Joshua "At the Gate," waiting for the signal to stand up, put on his hat and take the field.

Dave and I agree that the past week was incredibly busy, but fulfilling. If Joshua travels with the Crossmen again, we'll probably sign up for another stint on the food truck.

Female Bluejay

I went to the park for a little while after work yesterday. I veered away from the path, wandered down by the edge of the creek and was rewarded by the sight of a female bluejay (I believe) bathing in the creek. This is the best photo I got of her.

March Photo Challenge #3

This is my final entry for this month's challenge. I've seen many geese, ducks and birds in the past few weeks. But I know spring has arrived when I see the turtles sunbathing and swimming in the pond. I've seen a couple of dozen turtles, several in family units, hanging out by the pond this week.

March Photo Challenge #2

The photo below is my second entry for this month's Signs of Spring photo challenge. Don't let the kids see it, as the fellow was not wearing a helmet!

Duck Hunting Season is Near!

I got to the park for 15 minutes this morning and came across four ducks, two males and two females, snoozing in the pond. They quickly woke up when they heard me crunching through the snow toward them. I had to shoot quickly (I got 40 photos) as they swam to the other end of the pond. These are some of the better shots I got. I'm a pretty avid hunter, but at least I don't hurt any of the critters I shoot.

Busy Times - Again

This is a photo, from backstage, of Joshua's Symphonic Band concert, which was held this past Thursday evening. Joshua is in the trombone section, but only the side of his head is visible. He is the fifth trombone player from the end.

Last night, Joshua, Dave and I traveled to Harrisonburg, VA so that Joshua could audition for the Virginia All State Band or Orchestra. This evening we'll find out whether he made it. Anyway, we all just got home awhile ago, and we will be out again shortly for Joshua's jazz band performance this evening.

There's always something or other going on in our family. This is just one of those weekends!

Spring is Coming!

I found this guy and a bunch of his friends digging for worms in the park this afternoon. The ice is melting off the pond, the birds are coming out - spring must be on the way!

February Photo Challenge Entry

Since I selected the subject for this month's photo challenge, I figure I'd better kick it off with an entry. Just in case you've forgotten, this month's theme is RED.

Since I'm a chocaholic (I haven't gotten up the courage to enter CA yet), this one is a no-brainer. I'm playing around with some other ideas, so I may enter something else later in the month.