An Explanation

I'd like to apologize to my regular readers who've probably been wondering what I've been up to lately and why I haven't been posting very much.

You see, several months ago, some very good friends of ours opened a dance studio. When the studio opened, they asked if any parents would be interested in drumming for the dancers when they were performing Tahitian dance numbers. In competition, dance schools are expected to provide their own drummers for any of their dancers who make it to the final round of competition. Since both of my daughters take Tahitian dancing, I thought this would be a great opportunity to get involved with my daughters' activities and help out my friends at the same time. My son also decided to try out his hand at drumming so it's really become a big family activity.

I guess I picked up on the drumming fairly quickly as my friends bestowed upon me the honor of being the lead drummer for this group. It's a role that I've taken very seriously and have done all I can to not only improve upon my own drumming but to get our drumming group to play together as a cohesive unit. It's been very challenging but also very rewarding.

We've performed at a few shows and a parade so far and I think we've been steadily improving. But I have to tell you, there is no feeling in the world quite like being up on stage drumming and looking up to see your own daughter dance to the beat of your drum. That alone has made this all worth the effort.

So now you know what's been taking me away from this blog for large periods of time. We've been rehearsing like crazy these past few weeks for our performance at the San Francisco 49ers' halftime show coming up this weekend. We're all pretty excited about that.

And so, as I hastily write this post before I head off to work for the day, I want to thank all of you for your continued support and readership. I'll still be posting on here (though far less frequently) and you'll still be able to catch a glimpse of my freewayblogging. I'm not ready to give that up. The world needs my running commentary posted up on the freeway overpasses.

I've loaded up a sample of Tahitian drumming below. This is not my drumming group and while the video quality isn't very good, it's the best sounding video I could find on Tahitian drumming. Enjoy.

Drumming Merced 05