The sounds of Spring Break

Spring Break has started, albeit much later than normal, around these parts at Marist College. Here in Athletics, we are the only spring sport that does not travel anywhere for a “spring trip” for the break. This is by design. We have been training and racing, long and hard and every day, since early January. We all need a “break.” And besides, these “spring trips” cost serious money. We have made up for our lack of a spring trip by traveling to (hopefully warm) Virginia for our first two outdoor meets, coming up soon after Spring Break.

So anyway, this being Spring Break, we plan on spending as much time at home doing family related things. Once the outdoor track season starts, it will be a blur of van and bus trips, near and far. I already told my family that I will be away more than home for most of April – not to mention the end of March and most of May.

And so it was that I found myself out at rural Webutuck High School in Amenia, N.Y., on Saturday afternoon. Webutuck is in Dutchess County, but the look and feel of it makes it seem as though it is in another state or region. The long drive out there to the eastern reaches of Dutchess County is rural and beautiful, and when you crest that ridge heading down into the Harlem Valley, the scenery is amazingly unchanged from the first time I drove out there nearly 30 years ago. It is stuck in time, but in a very good way.

We were at Webutuck for the All County Music Concert, of which my daughter Natalie was a part. At least in my world, as a track coach and sports enthusiast, so much of what we say and do as parents revolves around organized sports. But there are so many other organized group activities that our kids can take part in that are so worthwhile in their overall growth and development. Music is one of them. So yeah, it was kind of weird NOT being on the sidelines of some game, cheer competition or race, but rather in a warm auditorium, having to silence my phone and squelch my desire to belt out a hearty NICELY DONE with two thumbs’ up toward my daughter. This was, after all, a serious music event.

And then the chorus – made up of selected fifth and sixth graders from all over Dutchess County – started singing. There was Natalie, with her friend Jeremy from her school, and all the rest of the girls and boys from all over the county, singing their hearts out – beautiful songs and beautiful voices. After having been at other “music concerts” of understandably rudimentary quality, the sheer skill and precision of this group was striking. Quite honestly, it blew me away. Within minutes, I noticed that a tear was forming in my eye. It was beautiful. It really was. During a break in the songs, I looked over to Heidi, two seats over. Her eyes were moist from tears as well. I grabbed her hand, and I understood.

So begins Spring Break, a time when I will be thinking a lot about our athletes and our program, but not really doing much on a daily basis in terms of practices or meets. It is a break, and on Saturday, it was literally music to my ears.