Three days. Count 'em -- 1, 2, 3. That's how many days I have at home before I leave for the summer. Sometimes it feels like the 2004 season just ended, but in reality, I handed in my uniform nine months ago. Time has really flown by this year, but I'm not complaining or anything. I cannot wait to move in and be a part of a show that has the potential to be the best thing anyone has ever seen or heard in the history of DCI. I'm all packed up and once I find my missing sleeping bag, I'll be ready to go. I can't wait to be with everyone for the whole summer. Three months is a long time, but in drum corps, three months can feel like six or eight months in my opinion. I've had a lot of good friends ageout over the years, but hey, that is life.

Paula Hyman and Rick Brown in Bristol, R.I., in 2002.
Fortunately four very close friends will be touring with The Cadets this summer as either administration, or visual staff, so I'm very excited. Having them around will be great. I get to see a ton of others at random shows. They always bring me food and Gatorade. Thank you guys -- I love Gatorade on tour. My sister flew down from New York this past Saturday, and she is leaving tonight. It has been great to spend time with her, but it's a little depressing that she's leaving so soon. Back to Jethro the Lizard for a bit. I received an e-mail from a reader named Damien a week or so ago, who of course wanted to know what happened to Jethro. Damien marched East Coast Jazz and had a story of his own to tell me about a frog that some of the horn line befriended during spring training. It was definitely a surprise to hear a similar story! Here it is: "It was during death camp (all days, everydays - whatever you call them). It was around 105 degrees and 98 percent humidity that day. We had to call the ambulance about three times, and on the third time the
staff told us to take a few minutes to cool down. While us members found what little shade we could, we saw this toad just hopping along on the hot blacktop. "One of our baritone players, Jill, said we could save him. She brought him in to the shade. We named him Xavier (we think he was a he), because that was the name of one of the baritone players that vanished
before death camp -- we thought he came back to us as a frog. Jill ended up placing him in her empty water bottle because it was cool in there." Just like the Jethro story, I couldn't put the full version in here, so if you want to know the rest of the story, and I'm sure you do, just send Damien an email at Carnivore91@yahoo.com and put "Xavier" in the subject line. Well, the next time I write, I'll be up in Allentown, Pa., doing the call-a-thon, which is a fundraiser for the corps. On Sunday George Hopkins is taking the 10 of us who are doing it to a Phillies
game, and then Monday and Thursday we will be working in the office during the day, and making calls for a few hours at night. I did it last year, and it's going to be a lot of fun. I'll be back next week to let you know how cold it is in Pennsylvania. Until then, take care and thanks for reading! Paula Hyman is a fourth-year member of the Cadets where she is the mellophone section leader. She is 20 years old and currently single. Originally from South Florida, Paula recently made the move to Allentown, Pa., to work for YEA!, the umbrella organization of the Cadets, Crossmen and the U.S. Scholastic Band Association. She ages out in 2006.