By Allison Owen To answer my own question -- about last camp in Mississippi -- "Yes, the wind always blows if the guard is going to be spinning outside." This weekend was my last camp before move-in. In preparation for this summer we had a corps meeting Friday night, after rehearsal, to discuss many of the aspects and important details about tour. We were given our tour handbooks and other important information that we would need to know before coming to camp at the end of May.

The stormclouds roll in Mississippi this past weekend.
During our meeting and snack on Friday night the heavy rain and thunderstorms caused the power to go out for a few minutes. There was slight chaos for a moment or two, but everyone maintained their composure before the lights came back on. Later, after lights out, all the emergency lights came on in the gym -- the power had gone out again. Hoping this was not a sign of things to come -- we had a day of learning drill ahead of us -- we all tried to go back to sleep despite the bright emergency lights. It was pleasant to wake up Saturday morning and find that the rain had stopped and an overcast sky awaited our visual rehearsal. The horn line and drum line stretched together, while the guard stayed inside to do our own stretching and across-the-floors. We headed outside after around an hour of our own time to join the visual block. Following our marching basics block we were given our drill sheets and began to learn some of our opener drill. By the time lunch rolled around we had successfully learned about 10 pages of drill. After lunch the guard stretched and went for a jog while the rest of the corps went to learn more drill. The guard worked on flag basics and then rifle while the corps continued their visual rehearsal. Saturday evening the guard went tracking while the horn line and drum line worked on music in ensemble and sectionals. As a follow-up to Friday night's meeting the guard had some tour preparation time of our own. We discussed necessary items and other things that we could live without bringing. Afterwards I felt better about getting ready for tour. Once again as we tried to fall asleep Saturday night, heavy rain could be heard -- although this time the power didn't go out. Sunday's rehearsals went well in all the sections. The horn line and drum line worked on the drill more and successfully learned the opener, while the guard worked on across-the-floors and weapons. We all went our separate ways for the last time knowing that when we rehearsed together again it would be the beginning of our summer rehearsals and tour. Overall it was a very productive and successful camp, despite some threatening weather. After this last camp I feel better about preparing for move in. It's hard to believe that soon enough I'll be preparing for a great summer. There are a lot of things to be done, so I'm not wasting anymore time.