Little drummer boys...

Like most of America, I tuned in to President Obama's swearing in at the Capitol yesterday, with all the pomp and circumstance of the festivities and parade that followed. As I watched, I was reminded once again of how how much I enjoy military and marching bands and had fond memories of earlier times in DC. Funny how the mind works like that, isn't it?

My first husband was in the Air Force in our early married years, so we didn't have a whole lot of money for extras. With a little toddler in tow, we had even less $$ for entertainment. We did, however, live close to DC then, so we often took advantage of the freebies available in the city.

One of our favorite things to do on balmy summer evenings was to drive into town to enjoy the free military concerts on the Capitol steps. The U. S. Army, Navy, and Marine bands used to perform on different nights of the week pretty much all summer, so the most we ever had to spend was for gas, which back in the mid-60's was still ridiculously cheap.

I'm convinced that my son's innate sense of rhythm and love of drums flourished due to this early exposure to military music. It was precious to watch this little guy imitate the uniformed drummers while he marched to the beat of his own across the top of the steps.

I was never able to supply him with a real drum set of his own, and he didn't actively pursue a career in music, but to this day, at 40+, the man still loves his drums. Not surprisingly, his youngest son, encouraged by his dad, inherited that love and plays drums in his school band. He has his own professional drum set at home... that he lets his dad play with.