Maybe September

September was a big month for Nora. Not only did they turn 13 and see Six with some of their closest friends, but just after after Labor Day they finally started eighth grade at the Sheridan School. In the span of three weeks, Nora presented a poem on social justice to their class, was cast as Lady Macbeth in the fall play, attended an overnight rock-climbing and zip-lining field trip in West Virginia, and started a chat group with their friends. In that time, they've mastered biking to Union Station and getting on the Red Line with Owen at 7 am for their commute (although we still seem to be driving to upper northwest DC a lot during rush hour, though oddly never by the same route), figured out their way home on their own, and have even incorporated the occasional stop at Whole Foods for fortifications.

They also colored their hair blue (specifically Manic Panic's Bad Boy Blue) and started drinking a mocha each morning to prepare for the day (don't judge). Nora attended their friend's Bat Mitzvah, started DCYOP's fall season and saw Verdi's Macbeth at the Strathmore (featuring their viola teacher, Mr. Enrique) - which helped with their understanding of Macbeth's plot, but may not be Verdi's best operatic showing.

All of which is to say that Nora has totally transitioned to Sheridan, which has been incredibly welcoming, and is having a great fall. Now we just have to figure out high school applications for next year...

Virtuosi

As a junior at Duke Ellington School of the Arts, Owen is starting to take more of a leadership role in the music department. That means that he's now first cello in the orchestra and string ensemble, and is a member of Virtuosi - Duke's String Quartet (which currently has five members due to a recently healed broken arm). Virtuosi performs more often then the other ensembles, and had its first outing at Georgetown's Art All Night event, where they performed the Brandenburg Concerto #3 (above), Minuetto by Bocherini, Rondo by Mouret, Country Club by Scott Joplin, and Pachelbel's Canon (though you may not be able to hear that one since, despite being 300 years old and in the public domain, Facebook has decided that there are copyright issues with sharing it). It's was pretty amazing to see Owen and his friends performing so well only a month into the school year, and makes us excited to see what the rest of the year will bring.

Truman (1935-2022)

Allen's Uncle Truman (wife to his Aunt Janis) passed away at the beginning of the month. He was 86 years old and had suffered multiple bouts of cancer. He was also a gentle soul who Allen got to know well during his time in Austin. 

And so Allen flew down to say good bye, be with his family, and also catch up with some grad school friends, while celebrating a long life that touched a lot of people

(To see all the Austin pictures, click here.)

Cyberpunk 2013!

Two years ago a group of us from high school got together at Billy's house in Great Falls to mourn the passing of our dear friend Madoc. Still at the height of the pandemic, we found the time together particularly restorative and nourishing and vowed to gather for reasons of joy before we let tragedy pull us together again. It took a couple years, but we finally all descended upon Billy's house to joyfully relive our youths together playing Cyberpunk -- a dystopian roll playing game set in the distant future of 2013. Chris planted the seed, Billy hosted, CiCi made sure we didn't go hungry, Nick spent weeks designing the campaign and GMed our adventure with an assist from Billy GMing the netrunning portions of our adventure that veered off into the realm of Paranoia. Daniel Roos flew in from Sweden, Darin drove down from Buffalo picking up Joe and Chris on the way in Pittsburgh. Steve flew in from Dallas and Trevor came up from North Carolina. Paul, James, Nick and I were all local, and we made up quite the team bringing down the Zetatech corporation's diabolical plot to develop combat drugs for the Pain Lords booster gang to overtake Night City. Next year we'll try to gather again for a weekend of Call of Cthulhu!

Junior

Owen started 11th grade this week, which means that he's now an upperclassman (or person) and things are getting real. In the span of a week he already made Virtuoso (Duke's string quartet), changed his schedule to make sure he took the SAT prep class, and had chair placement. This year he has multiple AP classes and he's also taking most of those classes with friends, which should make for a more enjoyable learning experience (though hopefully not a less productive one). We just hope that we get to see him occasionally in between school, performances and the odd social outing.

Orientation and Ovations

One of the many changes we made this year for Nora (aka Noa), was to switch them to a smaller, private school. Their commute is now an early morning, hour long metro ride instead of a less early 15 minute walk, but in every other respect, Sheridan appears to be a much better fit and healthier environment for Nora this year (knock on wood).

Sheridan doesn't start until after Labor Day, however it scheduled a new student orientation and ice cream social on Nora's birthday. And so, after opening presents and saying goodbye to Owen, Nora, Allen and I headed to Union Station in order to metro to Tenleytown, walk to school and then leave Nora to a morning of introductions, acclimation and frozen treats.

We met up with them around 1 pm and got to meet some of their teachers and other eighth graders before we headed home for the rest (and more substantial part) of their birthday celebration. Months ago, Allen bought tickets for the four of us to go to Six on Nora's birthday when it played at the National Theater. Owen immediately informed us that he didn't need to see it again and that Nora should invite a friend instead, at which point Allen suggested we get two more tickets for us and then Nora could invite three friends while we chaperoned...

So Anais, Audrey and Harper came over after school and hung out for a bit before we left for dinner and a show. For the record, you haven't experienced musical theater until you've done so with four thirteenish olds. They had an amazing time and it was the perfect way to herald in Nora's fourteenth year and all that is to come.

(To see all the birthday pictures, click here.)

Thirteen

Twelve was heartbreaking – filled with loss and sorrow and not always the best of humanity. While there were moments of lightness and joy and lots of love from family and friends (and escargot!), it's still hard to look back at parts of this past year, knowing how much Nora went through. 

But they got through it, which is a testament to what an incredibly strong and amazing person Nora is. Despite it all, Nora made Junior Honor Society and climbed mountains this year. They threw axes and harvested honey. They puzzled. Nora plunged into the Chesapeake to save the environment, and into the Atlantic (just for fun). They made pasta and built a ukulele. They explored their artistic side and celebrated their love of musical theater. And all the while they leaned on their friends and their older brother, which involved some of the best of humanity, and also watching a lot of Doctor Who. 

Eventually, Nora was able to tell us what they needed and we were able to make some changes so that going forward Nora has less chaos in their life, and help with processing it. Hopefully, thirteen will be a less stressful year that gives Nora some peace and a safe space to be themselves, because quite frankly, they're awesome.

So happy birthday, little one. We love you so, so much and will always have your back. Now go blow us all alway.

1. Boba-Kiki, are they round or pointy?
2. Knowledge  is knowing tomatoes are a fruit; wisdom is not putting them in fruit salad.
3. Babies, from an artistic sense, didn't really come into their own until mid-fifteenth century.
4. "Think about all of those poor, orphaned highways just waiting to be adopted..."
5. Mochas!
6. Nora is good at things. Stuff is Nora's kryptonite.
7. It's Duck season...
8. She/Her, He/Him, They/Them. Us.
9. Never forget your emergency spoon. 
10. And in the immortal words of Jane Seymour in Six, 

You can build me up
You can tear me down
You can try but I'm unbreakable
You can do your best
But I'll stand the test 
You'll find that I'm unshakeable