>Ah, road trips. It’s amazing how much you can glean from a few license plates. It’s not the child’s ABC game or List the States game, either.

I got on the road early this morning, drove through Jo to Go (she knew my order again — must be going there too often), and hit the highway for my training workshop in Mad City. As I moved from the main highway to the smaller, two-lane road, I noticed I was not alone. What the heck were all these cars doing on this not-so-major byway at 6:30 on a Saturday morning?
The answer: the car ahead of me had a UW-Madison license plate. Ah-ha! Badger game kicks off at 11:00 a.m. This line of traffic is headed for Camp Randall. Parking is limited, and of course, they needed to allow time for tailgate parties.
I arrived at my destination. On the way into the parking lot, I noticed several personalized plates. HARP 1. TUBA 1. ISING 4U. DRUM LDY. MUSCPWR. And these, a little more challenging to decipher: BZASAB* and ROA ROE*. If I hadn’t known I was going to the School Music Association building, the cars around it would have clued me in.
It was a great workshop, both informative and validating. When we were in discussions and I heard an expert make the same comment that was in my head, I felt reassured that I really, really do know what I’m doing. When I learned statistics that show how many students participated in the types of festivals that I judged last year, I knew my work was and continued to be important. For example: 250,000 students nationwide play football. 219,000 students participated in music festivals in my state: that’s statewide, not national. And the best part? None of these student musicians sat on the bench. Every one was an active participant.
So if I moaned a little when my alarm went off early, if I doubted my wisdom in spending the day on the road, now I know it was worthwhile.
And that’s OKBYME.

The two more challenging plates? BZASAB = Busy as a bee ROA ROE = Row, row, as in Row, row, row your Boat, Gently down the stream…