Camping Out

Tonight is a special night. It's the night that I go to Great Lakes and camp out for Madrigal tickets. I'm actually here right now in the student mall. What memories it brings back.

Madrigals is a dinner drama that Great Lakes puts on every year at a church downtown here in Lansing. There's a full 4 course meal, a Shakespearean drama written by the English prof, and an a capella conert by a 12 voice choral group. It is a great evening.

Camping out has been a tradition for some time now. I used to camp out every year. It was a tradition that my roommate from GLCC, Matt Fallott, and I began in 1993. Sure, there were others that camped out before us like the old guy in his lawnchair, but it was our tradition. We camped out our entire time at GLCC. When I moved back to Lansing after seminary, it was a given that on the first Sunday in October, I was camping out, no matter what.

The last two years I cheated, though. I didn't feel like camping out. So, I would pay a student to do my dirty work and get my tickets. It just wasn't the same, but it worked. Unfortunately, she graduated last year. So here I am, out in my own lawn chair at the front door of the college, typing a post.

Sitting here makes me nastalgic. I can't keep my mind from running back over all the different camp out times. I can't keep my mind from thinking about my time in Madrigals while at GLCC--about how it would really set my mind on the Christmas season. I can't help think about the friendships that I built during those times in rehearsals.

Unfortunately, I'm the old creepy guy in the chair now. Great.