Strike A Pose!

When I returned downtown Saturday from swim practice, 

I happened to see the entire Purdue University 

All-American Marching Band 
had been gathered for their official photo. 

The site was the south side
of the Indiana War Memorial, 
just about the only place with enough stairs 
to accommodate this large band. 

I watched the proceedings with a number of other 

interested on-lookers, as the band director 

(Of course, it was! Who else?) 

arranged this group of people to his liking; 

with each move he made, you could see the improvements 

in the spacing and line-up of musicians, dancers, 

baton twirlers, drum majors -- 

"Trumpets, I want each of you to move two spaces 

to stage right to fill in the line." 

"Flutes, I need for you to step down one row." 

"Dancers, I want you to move towards the center, 

taking out the two benches on the ends." 

Et cetera, et cetera, et cetera.

And then, "Strike a pose!"

The musicians held up their instruments, 

the baton twirlers smiled prettily in their sparkly outfits,

the drum majors looked officious, 

the dancers turned their knees towards the center, 

the flag bearers got the breeze to hold 

their colors aloft, and the World's Largest

Drum was the center of it all.

Here is a YouTube video of a Purdue AAMB 

pre-game performance