A Week From Today

In one week, band will be over. In one week, life will for a third and final time make that adjustment from the intensity of marching practice day after day. I'll get sick from the overdue exhaustion. I'll have more time than I know what to do with.
The pattern is the same every season. What makes this year different is how I've realized what the pattern is. I now observe it in other people. I know who the people are who are going to collapse in exhaustion the week after finals. You can read it as clearly as the bags under their eyes and the vibes of stress they let off when they rush from band to school to band to home to band. Being able to identify these symptoms puts me in a state of calm. I accept my fate. Why stress out over being under a lot of stress?
I'm ready for band to be over. I'm ready to have my life back. Band has been life for the last few crazy weeks. Deep down, I know that I will miss that part of my life, and that band will always have a part of me. There's something enchanting about being in uniform in a packed stadium, hearing a deep voice say, "Pacifica High School, you may now enter the field in competition." The intensity of that moment, as you wait for the count-off, I wouldn't give for the world.
But there will be another moment that I will never give away, and that's the moment our horns snap down after the final chord on Sunday, with sweat dripping down our foreheads, our breaths heavy, but contented our final performance. I'll be ready to march off the field for the final time.