I came to a rough realization this past weekend in Madison; I'm out of shape. Going to the gym three to four times a week and attempting to eat healthy just isn't doing it for me. Maybe if I were to run on a treadmill in a walk-in freezer for 30 minutes every day, things wouldn't be so bad.

Eric Fox
My body is spoiled -- I guess you could say since I live in near perfect weather 75 percent of the year and it doesn't enjoy being frozen. I'm getting good at tricking my mind into thinking it's not freezing outside. I put it to the test by wearing shorts all weekend long while I was outside, no flip-flops this month, can't play marimba in flip-flops very well. A fun time was had by all in the front ensemble this weekend. We even had a party on Sunday, a truck cleaning party! We partied hard all of Sunday, moving equipment from the newer equipment truck to the old one so some modifications could be made to it. Loading a truck in the cold is bad enough as it is, but trying to load a completely different truck in the cold is even worse. Nothing says party more than a frozen marimba waiting to be lifted into a truck. The corps also had its first experience of the year sleeping in a gym together. Unfortunately the lawnmowers came out rather quickly -- those who snore very loudly. I was fortunate enough to have my sleeping bag next to one of the louder lawnmowers in the corps, fellow front ensemble member Steve Montalvo. Steve's one of the few people I know who can snore while lying on his stomach, but it's nothing a little shoe-toss can't stop. Getting used to sleeping on a floor is something which troubles me each year, no annoying air mattress for me this summer, I'm going commando. Each camp, I'm starting to realize more and more that being a Madison Scout is pretty much its own lifestyle. It really is a completely different experience from all my other past corps, but in a good way. I just love how nice everyone is to each other, everyone respects one another and it's great. In the next few weeks I'll be introducing the 2004 Madison Scouts front ensemble members, if there's any questions you'd like to ask us, feel free to chime in and send me an e-mail. Eric Fox's last article