We were playing a gig in Fort Myers, Florida on 14 April 2008 when I wrote this next poem. In it, I reference taking a walk on the beach. I don't know if I actually walked on the beach that day or not. If we were close to the water, I'm sure I did. When the Jazz Ambassadors (one of the performing components of The United States Army Field Band) are on tour, we most commonly stay in a hotel that's right off an Interstate exit. So, we tend not to be near great places to walk. I still take a long walk almost every day, though. After a couple hours of riding in the van, I need to do something physical. I walk, I run, I hit the treadmill in the hotel fitness room ... something. Because I am old, I also take a nap every day. Although, to be fair, I also took a LOT of naps when I was a young man.

I have a little secret
I think that I should tell
Went walking on the beach today
And there I found a shell

I brushed the sand all off it
I held it to my ear
And heard a sound quite different
Than I thought that I would hear

I did not hear the ocean
I did not hear a bell
I heard a sound so beautiful
My heart began to swell

It was the Jazz Ambassadors
Doing what they do best
They're musical magicians
So much better than the rest