Ah yes, the mouthpiece! When it was really cold the biggest challenge was keeping the mouthpiece warm. And the lips. I played trumpet and flapping your freezing cold lips in a freezing cold metal mouthpiece doesn’t work very well. It’s almost akin to sticking your tongue to a metal lamp post in sub-zero temperatures. Thank goodness our band had some pretty awesome band parties.

I’ve always wanted to go to a gay pride parade but sadly neither of the two towns I’ve lived in over the last 24 years has ever had one. I’m glad you mentioned gay pride parades because I did not even think of that when I wrote that article. That is one kind of parade I would definitely go to. The town I currently live in (which voted 98.3% for Donald Trump in the last election) would never have a gay pride parade. If there was one, an army of gun-toting rednecks in pickup trucks with Confederate flags would show up to stop it. Now that I think about it, what this town really, really, really needs is a gay pride parade. When that happens I’ll finally be convinced that there is hope for America.