Sunday morning I was up bright and early to sing in the choir. Following the Second week of Lent, we sang "I Surrender All". After making the rounds at church I made my way home to prepare my self and take care of a last bit of homework. At 12:00 my Aunt and Uncle (Linda & Tim) picked us up to head out to Rialto. My cousin Quinn, is a United States Marine, who we are all very proud of. In any case, he was selected to be a part of of the Silent Drill Platoon, and has since risen his way up to Assistant Drill Master, and next year will be the Drill Master, the one who creates the program for the platoon for the entire net year of performances. The Platoon in out in California now for their West Coast Tour after having trained in Yuma for a month or two. After their time here in the Great State of California, they will return to Washington D.C. where they are stationed.
In the car with us were two more of my cousins Sarah and Tegan. We arrived at 2:15ish. The ride was uneventful, I made some progress in Tim O'Brien's "The Things They Carried", which I can highly recommend, during which we were serenaded by K-Earth 101, the local Oldies station. We parked and made our way to the bleachers of the Eisenhower High School in Rialto. The sun beat down on all the gathered spectators. The Eisenhower High School is home to the ROTC program of the area and all the recruits in they funny camo uniforms were directing traffic and guarding the bleachers. A rather peculiar sight in all honesty. The performance began at 3 and was quite a sight. "The Commandants Own" band performed well ending with "Stars and Stripes Forever". The Silent Drill Platoon were in fantastic form as ever and didn't make a single mistake. After the performance, we took pictures and talked to Quinn. After they packed up and made their way to the hotel, we all went out to dinner at an Outback Steakhouse. All in all a very good evening. It was great to see Quinn again and tank up on American Pride.
Monday passed without event. Tuesday though brought with it a few unexpected, yet pleasant surprises. Tuesday was Super Tuesday here in the US, where 10 or so states hold their primaries to elect a candidate to run against the opposition in November. The California primary however is in June so the College I attend had "Civics Day". Where all the local parties were out in full force to advertise, recruit and create awareness. They ranged from the Freedom Socialist Party, to Tea Party, from Republican to Democrat, Libertarian to Occupy Movement. As a Political Science Major, I considered it my duty to "sample the wares" and collect as many pamphlets and handouts as possible. "MISSION ACCOMPLISHED" I also received as an added bonus an invite to a meet and greet with Tony Strickland on Saturday as well as a copy of the California Constitution and other related documents including: The Magna Carta, the Mayflower Compact, Declaration of Independence, the US Constitution, the Bill of Rights and other Amendments, Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, California Constitution and all the affiliated documents concerning California entering into the Union. It was given to me by the Tony Strickland people and partially because of this I've decided to attend the upcoming meet and greet.
After school I dropped by the local Target on my way home to buy the newly released "Wrecking Ball" by one of the great champions of Americana, Bruce Springsteen. I am listening to it as I write this and I must say it very good, very Bruce, very much a genuine, grassroots, heartfelt bit of American that captures the Zeitgeist quite nicely. Being the thrifty Capitolist that I am, I found a few graphic Tees, including an appropriately themed Guinness tee, a Red "Airborne" tee with parachute and wings, and a light blue Shelby Cobra tee. All in all a very successful shopping trip! And a great Tuesday!
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