Last weekend I didn't do nothing. Use of a double negative there was entirely intentional. Because I did do something. I merely stated it as such to emphasize that this past weekend was different from others, during which I may do absolutely nothing.
Saturday morning I drove to the city to take part in a ceremony for Wreaths Across America, an organization whose goal is to place wreaths on graves of those who have served in the American armed forces. My part in the ceremony: bugler. I was asked to play Taps along with a few other trumpeters/buglers during the ceremony as well as a couple other short military calls. It was a really interesting experience in that a) I had not touched my trumpet in a month or so, b) I had never played Taps in front of people...or loudly...or maybe I've never even played it all the way through, and c) I had never heard of the other calls before and thus have never played them. To top that off, we only pseudo-practiced before the ceremony. It was a real hodge-podge kind of deal, but we pulled it off and I think it sounded great.
Last night I drove back into town and went caroling with members of my church. There were a few reasons I went. I thought it would help get me in the Christmas spirit. I thought it would be nice to cheer up those for whom we sang. I thought it would help me get to know some people in the church, where I am still relatively new. Really, I just thought it was the right thing to do. I had a good time, but all that singing made me thirsty.
