EV,IL

Late last summer, my former two seat, roommate and bridesmaid, reached out to organize a crew reunion for this year's alumni row, coinciding with her 30th college reunion. I immediately said "yes" since I hadn't seen Amy in a while and I've haven't seen the NU boathouse since they moved from the the Chicago to the Skokie River, or really anything NU Crew related since I graduated. Unfortunately, I hadn't factored in that it wasn't my 30th reunion and so while Amy and any others from our boat would be hanging out with their classmates and sorority sisters for most of the weekend, I was on my own.

So I contacted Audra and asked if she'd be interested in meeting me in Evanston and hanging out in the in-between times.

It sort of worked out perfectly.

On Friday morning I flew to Chicago., Audra picked me up from Midway and we drove around campus for a really long time before eventually making it to our airbnb. Audra hadn't eaten much, so we decided to grab a quick bite and drink at 4 pm which ended up being dinner because we are old. After a stop at Trader Joes for provisions, we walked back to the airbnb, facetimed Cecily and then crashed.

The next morning, Audra and I picked up Amy and Geoff and then drove to Dammrich Rowing Center in Skokie to see Northwestern Rowing's boat house (which has tanks!) where Audra dropped the rest of us off and headed back to NU for her own alumni swim. Rowers from as far back as 1984 and as recent as 2023 gathered at the boat house and 7 brave souls (plus Amy's daughter, Kate, who as Amy's daughter and alumni chair, had no choice) agreed to let me cox a boat. While I wisely asked a current cox to get the shell off the racks and into the water, I did get eight people (including a male stroke from 2013 who was in his feelings) up to full power for 20+ strokes and docked it without hitting anything!

Afterwards, Audra and I walked around campus some more (including a couple of gallery exhibits) and then met up with the other alumni for a happy hour. Sadly, none of the other rowers from my day showed, but it meant that I got some extra time in with Amy and Geoff (and Audra) to catch up before saying goodbye and heading back the next morning.

To be honest, I was pretty anxious about going -- post election I haven't been up for socializing outside of a very small circle -- but it was really nice to see some old friends, however briefly, be on the water, and just take a break from the beltway.

Maybe I'll even come back for my 30th...

(To see all of the pictures, including the rowing ones courtesy of NU Crew, click here.)

John Proctor is the Villain

It's been a rough week for a lot of us, and so while maybe not the obvious choice, escaping the real world for a highschool play about 2018 rural Georgia where a #MeToo reckoning is taking place with the backdrop of a English/Sex Education class reading The Crucible, was actually a treat. Noa (as Allison Wilcox) and all their friends (especially Bea, Ari and Ash as Raelynn, Beth and Nels) were pretty amazing as they worked through that despite what Arthur Miller might have intended, in the end John Proctor is the Villain (and spoiler, so is their English Teacher). And don't worry, if you missed the Burke production, the play is heading to Broadway soon...

Foiled

For four years, Owen attended a performing arts school (actually given his first year was during the pandemic, he less "attended" than was "enrolled"). As such, Owen's school days consisted of an hour commute, six hours of academic classes, another three hours of cello-related classes, followed by an hour commute home, and supplemented with the odd late night rehearsal and/or performance. This meant that there was no time for high school baseball, that climbing was restricted to Earth Trek's "beginners team" since all the other team practices occurred while he was still in extended classes, and that extracurriculars pretty much didn't exist.

In college, Owen has had a bit of a course correction. His non-academic time has been filled with climbing club (non surprisingly), a pick-up softball team (which he serendipitously discovered while biking across campus) and the fencing club. While the latter is a bit far afield from Owen's pre-high school activities, he always loved sword play and we had tried to get him in a fencing class at one point (which again, schedule...). Anyway, after attending a club fair, Owen decide to give fencing a chance, or more specifically foil.

Two months in, the SMCM fencing cub had its first tournament of the 2024-25 season and Owen made his foil debut. Conveniently for us, he did so at St. John's College in Annapolis, roughly 35 minutes from our place.

So we dropped Noa off at orchestra (they metroed home) and headed to Annapolis, arriving in time to see Owen before his first bout. He was a little anxious, but resolute and managed to win two out of three bouts versus Navy. Things took an odd turn when competing against the University of Delaware and was introduced to a new style which seemed to involve a lot of spirited jumping. While Owen initially took the lead, he eventually lost that bout. After a lunch break, Owen and the rest of the team faced University of Maryland Baltimore County who were really good and ended the day playing the home team Druids (although with a reduced number of bouts owing to some illness on each side).

To be honest, Allen and I had no idea what was going on, but Owen looked great and seemed to be having a lot of fun and his teammates and community seemed quite lovely. And after a week processing the potential end of the world, it was really nice to see Owen and know that if it ever comes to it, he can totally use a sword.

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

The Definition of Insanity...

The election effects us both personally and professionally and quite frankly, we're not really up for discussing it with those outside our inner circle. For the record, Owen successfully voted for the first time, despite some challenges with Maryland's registration system. Allen was in Korea at a conference and so had to process the results on another continent – we're grateful he returned. Noa and I were at home, both trying to avoid the news (they were more successful than I was) while giving each other hugs when needed. There were even more hugs the next morning, which I suspect is going to be the only way we get through the next four years.

(To see related pictures, click here.)