A week spent at a convention is like travelling in another dimension, our own personal twilight zone, for a while. We arrived at the airport in the dark early morning, and, unlike the ordinary world, we begin to recognize friends in the waiting room. Familiar faces surround us on the plane and in the terminal. This phenomenon grows - at the hotel, we are greeted by friends and our chorus members. We are stayed in Indianapolis at a hotel some of us had stayed in before, in 1993, so the place is somewhat familiar, if slightly blurry with time-worn memories. The streets are laid out in the same pattern, but the storefronts and businesses are new and changed from how we recall.

Every day, the routine is unlike our normal lives - we sing and rehearse, listen to music, eat at new restaurants, meet friends old and new. I turn the corner and run into someone from Hawaii that I know from years ago. Our quartet gets to spend so much quality time together - this is a gift that up until this week, we had not received.

My brother and family come for an evening from Ohio. This is certainly surreal, and so generous and loving. The competition goes on and on, each performance more breathtaking than the last. Our chorus enters this dream time, dressing by dawn's light and applying stage makeup, warming up to sing early in the day, and jumping on to the semi-finals with full confidence and joy. We are rewarded with 11th place. To me, this is another gift, an opportunity to perform on the finals stage. Others are disappointed that we did not make our goal of top 10, but only 6 points separated us from that goal. I can't feel the disappointment, only the thrill.

The exhaustion of being out of time begins to build. The martinis and the delicious food of Indianapolis (who would have guessed that there would be so many good meals?) begin to dull our senses - or more likely, we are tired out with the emotional overload of having our hearts touched and pulled again and again by the harmonies and lyrics of barbershop songs.

Another fantastic time on the stage, and another full day of incredible performances by choruses whose sound, generated way in the front of that large large room, pushes against my sternum (in the back of the hall) and brings tears to my eyes many times.

Highlights of our twilight zone:
L'Attitude rehearsals, dinners and making new friends
Harborlites singing "Something's Comin"
Singing in the lobby bar with Mission Valley friends
Scott's face at our rehearsal
Having our meal in the wine cellar of St Elmo's Steak house
Singing with Razzcals (our friends, and #2 in the world) at our party

At the airport check in, I glanced at the passenger list on the terminal, and the name list looks like our chorus roster. It's like one last dream moment as I sit up in my seat on the plane and look back down the aisle, and see so many faces that I know smiling back. They have been there with me, and we will hold the moments in our hearts.

This entry was posted on Monday, November 01, 2004 at 3:52 PM. You can skip to the end and leave a response.