This piece was written to commemorate the retirement of Colonel Jack Grogan. Col. Grogan had told the composer that he was of two minds about the military, and held his patriotism and love of country on one side, and more militaristic aspects of service on the other. This piece presents music from the patriotic/ love of country aesthetic simultaneously with the music from the military. The conductor offers one meter in the right hand and another in the left hand, with both meters sharing downbeats. This bilateral conducting represents a conductor who has had her corpus callosum (nerve system that connects the two halves of the brain) severed. Musicians are instructed to follow one half or the other. To emphasize the effect, the conductor may also visually split down the middle, with one half of the body white and the other black.