Another July 4th Holiday

As has been the tradition for the last two years, I went back home to play the July 4th concert with the orchestra there. The twist this time was that my brother was also coming back to play, fresh off his own concert season. The program was almost identical to the ones from the last two years, and even the same ringers were back. This year, no one from the 1st violin section bugged me about my tuning technique, nor did we play in the stadium or under a giant tent. There was just enough threat of rain to make the director call the concert indoors, which meant inside the local hockey/multi-purpose arena. That development alone was enough to make my mom decide that we'd all go to either New York or Baltimore (or somewhere else) rather than risk having to play this horrid concert again, and inside the run-down arena.

There was one funny moment, though: Running into my old high school music teacher at the rehearsal, because her five-person a cappella group was performing with the orchestra. She was totally shocked to see not only me, but my brother, after 12 and 15 years, respectively.
Speaking of whom: My brother is a chatty drunk, and unbearable when he's waiting to hear back from a woman. He already knows this, though. :P