The Last Recital

When Noa announced that they wanted to quit viola, we understood. While Noa had a lot of enthusiasm for the viola when they first started (including designing their own clothing and creating a network devoted to all things viola), their devotion has waned over the years and they discovered new passions and quite frankly, wanted to free up their Saturdays.

And while we are fine with their quitting DCYOP (though I'm going to miss hanging out in Takoma Park on Saturday mornings), we were a little bummed that quitting viola also meant saying good-bye to Dr. Enrique, Noa's viola teacher since second grade. Dr. Enrique has just been a nice influence on Noa, meeting them where they are, finding fun alternative pieces to play, and not chastising then for seemingly never practicing.

So for their last recital with him (though I secretly hold out hope that they may want to take lessons senior year just for fun), I asked Noa to actually practice (since they didn't have school the week before or seemingly anything else to do). And they did. So for your viewing pleasure, we present Noa's final performance so their version of Brahm's Hungarian Dance No. 5. And always remember: it's not a violin.

Wilco

For the final show in our Spring 2026 Thursday Night Concert Series we ventured out to Wolf Trap for our what felt like our first Wilco show since grad school (but was actually the first time since seeing them here at Wolf Trap in 2009!). We had a lovely meal at Ovations with a nice young server who chatted with us about his Dad's experience as a French Horn player for the NSO, ran into Aslihan to make if feel more like a Texas show, and thoroughly enjoyed a great show by Wilco making us wonder what took us so long to see them again!

Employee #12

While I had paid employment starting in elementary school (a Wednesday afternoon shopper route, followed by nannying in middle school and working at a movie theater in high school...), neither of our kids have had regular paid work in their short lives. We can rationalize it – after all, both kids are late summer birthdays which meant they weren't eligible for employment most summers. Add in a global Pandemic and a purge of Federal workers resulting in an extremely depressed job market in DC, and it becomes clearer that their options were pretty limited. As a result, while both kids have previously volunteered regularly to fill their summer days (Noa at an art camp; Owen at Friends Meeting of Washington), neither of them has ever triggered a W-2 filing.

Until this summer. 

Back in the spring at a Smithsonian Women's Committee event, Don started chatting with a committee member about his grandson's love of baseball. Turns out she works at the Nationals and suggested that Owen apply for a summer job and flag his application for her. He did and after a fairly performative interview and a lot of on-line training, Owen officially became a Washington National... who provides Guest Services in June.

His job assignments fluctuate, but encompasses monitoring escalators, ushering, ensuring that individuals that catch flyballs don't require medical attention, handing out fan giveaways, and helping scan tickets. His schedule is every home game (he took off a couple for Iowa), and his hours are two-hours before the game starts until an hour after it ends (even if that end is extended due to rain delays, extra innings, fireworks and the odd concert). 

It's been a really good experience for Owen, and has not ruined his love of the game (I was a bit worried given Duke Ellington and the cello). The only downside is that Allen has lost his game buddy since Owen is working every time the Nats are in town, but it's a small sacrifice for Owen finally paying into Social Security. 

Sunset

 

Having our back yard on the east side of the house is great for shade when we're hanging out there in the late afternoon and evening, but it means we don't generally have great sunset views. Sometimes though the clouds work out just right that the whole sky feels like it's on fire at sunset. Tonight was one of those nights, so we all gathered on Owen's balcony to take pictures enjoy the show :-)

TEMPEST

One of the cool things about my job is that we don't just do modeling. I have scientists on my staff that do real field research, and I finally got a chance to visit the TEMPEST (Terrestrial Ecosystem Manipulation to Probe the Effects of Storm Treatments) experiment that they run at the Smithsonian Environmental Research Center (SERC) as part of the COMPASS-FME project. Since I was the first senior manager from PNNL visiting the experiment, the director rolled out the proverbial red carpet to give me a proper tour. The experiment is at the Smithsonian Environmental Research Center (SERC) site on the Rhode River, and I was visiting during 'flood week.' They have three large plots at the TEMPEST site – a control, and two flood sites, one that they artificially flood with fresh water and one that they artificially flood with brackish water pumped from the Chesapeake. The sites are wired to the gills with experiments generating millions of datapoints to understand how freshwater and saltwater floods may alter soil biogeochemical cycles and vegetation in a deciduous coastal forest. 

The cool personal connection for this is that the Rhode River is one of the memorable spots we anchored during the two week long Chesapeake sailing adventure I did with Dad and friends back in 1998. We anchored between three small islands and swam to one of them that was actually part of the SERC site. Today that island is submerged beneath the waters, and recounting that story to the director was a great way to talk about the changes they've observed over the years. To add onto the connections, the Rhode River is also the site of Camp Letts where the kids did sleep away camp and it is near Hartge's Marina where Don keeps his boat Innisfree! Finally, it turns out that the Smithsonian Women's Committee that Mom Mom has served as President of is a long time supporter of SERC and has funded many of their student scientists over the years. 

(Click here for all the pictures)

 

Elaine & Brad

One little thing we did to celebrate finishing my three years as co-clerk of FMW was to have my co-clerk Elaine Wilson and her husband Brad over for dinner. It was a great excuse to break out our tequila cured salmon recipe that we haven't made since the days when we were actually able to throw our Christmas party. It was a lovely meal and a great chance to hang out with Elaine and not have to worry about clerking!

 

Marusan

Despite the restaurant being convinced we were celebrating a birthday or something, we really were just out to have a good time and celebrate Steve being able to snag the only one available a night reservation for The Experience at Marusan. It was an amazing '15 course' (with lots of extras that apparently didn't count!) omakase experience with the most dramatic being the tempura soft-shell crabs that we saw crawling around at the beginning of the evening!

Opera War

Part two of our every other Thursday Spring 2026 concert series was Andrew Bird's tour for the 20th anniversary of A Mysterious Production of Eggs with the National Philharmonic Orchestra at the Strathmore.  We had box seats, which felt very Gilded Age opera war given we're looking to support other musical establishments given all that is happening with the Kennedy Center these days. Andrew Bird went to Northwestern with Elaine, though she didn't know about him until Dave gifted her this album when it came out a couple of decades ago. Funnily enough, Tracey was friends with Andrew at Northwester, though didn't know he had a music career after college, so she was thrilled to find out about how well he was doing for himself when Elaine shared our concert experience with the J1 crowd.

Tarps Off

The PNNL DC group sponsored an outing for the Nats v. Marlins game and Owen and I had to take the opportunity to go to a home game together before he started his Summer job with the Nationals. It was a gorgeous night, and the Tarps Off section was in full effect, but the Nats succumbed to their Marlins curse and lost 7 to 3.

 

Into the Woods at Duke

One of the most impressive shows at Duke every year was Opera Workshop, and when Owen wanted to go support some of his old friends still playing in the Orchestra, I jumped at the chance to go. This year instead of a proper Opera they put on a musical – Sondheim's Into the Woods. As you might expect, the performances were spectacular (though Owen did critique some of the singers for using an Operatic vibrato instead of a musical theater vibrato...). It was also a nice callback for us to when Stuart Hobson put on Into the Woods and Owen was part of the SWS crew that sang Giants in the Sky. Next year Burke is going stage Into the Woods for Noa's last high school theater performance, so that will really bring everything full circle!

 

Thursday Concert Series

Things lined up this Spring for us to have an every other Thursday concert series. I got us tickets for the New Pornographers and Will Sheff of Okkervil River at the 930 Club months ago, then picked up Wilco at Wolftrap tickets, and surprised Elaine with Andrew Bird tickets for her birthday. We kicked things off with The New Pornographers, one of our all-time favorite bands to see live. Looking forward to more shows this Spring!

 

Outro

Noa has been playing with DCYOP for 10 years -- starting with their intro to viola class in the fall of 2016 and culminating with the Youth Philharmonic the past two years. In the past decade they've had 4-5 violas, 10 concerts (including one in tents), recitals, a Folk Life Festival, numerous rehearsals, and a significanty number of bakery stops on the way home (which was needed sustenance and never, ever bribery).

And while Noa has enjoyed playing with DCYOP, they haven't really enjoyed giving up their Saturday mornings every week. That coupled with the fact that they've never really practiced to the degree they would need to for the final, touring ensemble, Youth Orchestra, and their Senior Year will likely require a number of school visits and other weekend obligations, they made the announcement this Spring that they were quitting viola and that this would be their final concert.

And so we present to you Noa's (and subsequently the entire Fawcett family's) last hurrah with DCYOP. We've really enjoyed our time with you over the years and everything you taught both of our kids.

Symphony no. 8 in B minor "Unfinished" – Schubert

American Salute – Gould

Victory at Sea – Rodgers

Samantha

When Noa was little and we were setting up their room in our new house we found a great desk from the Land of Nod that had short legs for kids and an extra set of full-sized legs to transform the desk into something suitable for a teenager. While Noa has long since been taller than Elaine, they have resisted swapping out the short legs and kid-sized chairs for the full-sized version. That all changed when they found a beautiful wooden rolling swivel desk chair left out in the neighborhood after the Hill-wide yard sale this weekend. They rolled it back home, asked if they could keep it, and named it 'Samantha'. Their were conditions of course for keeping the stray chair, they had to clean their desk, and get Owen to help with rotating the carpet in their room 90 degrees – all of which were agreed to and accomplished. After a long search, I found the extra legs, and Noa is now the proud owner of a proper adult desk and chair.

Top Chef Birthday

Since Mom's 80th Birthday Party was on May 13th, we celebrated Elaine and Megan's birthday on Friday with a lovely dinner at Marcus DC. It's been on our list to try for a while, but we had some extra motivation since one of our favorite Top Chef contestants on the current Carolina season, Anthony Jones, is the Executive Chef. The meal did not disappoint, the crab rice was phenomenal, and Anthony made an appearance. He ended up being asked to pack his knives and go the next episode, but it was our first time eating at a Top Chef contestant's restaurant during their season. 

80th!

For Mom's 70th birthday Katherine and Don planned a big surprise party with around 70 people. It was quite the success, but in the lead up to Mom's 80th, she made it clear that a surprise was totally unnecessary and she'd prefer to have a bit more input into the invite list and planning for the festivities. So this time around Elaine and I consulted with Mom on the guest list and planned a more intimate gathering of around 30 people at Little Pearl. 

It was the perfect venue for the party, with delicious food we've shared with Mom at special occasions in the past like the beggar's purses from Pineapple & Pearls and the amazing pork & lychee salad from Rose's Luxury. Nancy arranged all of the flowers, and other than worrying about the rain in the forecast the day of the event was all relatively stress free. A lovely group of Mom's closest friends celebrated with us – old friends, neighbors, archives friends, Smithsonian Women's Committee friends, new friends, and family. Mom gave some lovely remarks focusing on all of the people celebrating the day with her, and I tried to follow that with a few remarks of my own. It was a special evening to celebrate an amazing woman that I'm lucky to call my Mom.

(click here for all the pictures)

 

Moving on Up

Ever since Mom was hospitalized and we discovered Dad had Alzheimers in the summer of 2024, we've been trying to get them into a retirement community, preferably near Steve. They've been resistant – Dad didn't think it was necessary and Mom didn't want to leave Iowa. We pushed again last spring after Dad's stroke and got the same response. And while as their children it's been frustrating to have them need increasingly more support without their acknowledging it, we struggled to force the point.

But the past winter was really hard on both of them. Mom and Dad have been homebound since January when the car died (which was a bit of blessing since Mom stopped driving years ago and Dad's license expired in April 2025) with little outside interaction for Mom, and Dad only having his daily walks. We were finally able to convince Mom (Dad's memory decline means he doesn't remember the stroke, or getting lost on his walks, or having an expired license, so our arguments fall a bit flat with him) that it was time for a change when we found StoryPoint which only a few blocks from their house and adjacent to the park Dad love to walk in back in February. 

After visiting the place, we had a pretty serious discussion with them both. Mom was mostly quiet, but Dad would argue that a move was inevitable but not imminent, and anyway, wouldn't moving closer to one of us kids make more sense? We would then acknowledge that that being in Chicago would make it easier for us, but Mom was opposed to leaving Iowa so staying in the neighborhood, at least while we dealt with selling the house, made the most sense for now. Dad would then ask Mom what she thought; she would ask what he wanted to do, and we would have the same exact discussion again (conversations with Dad tend to loop these days). Eventually we got them to put down a deposit and get on a waitlist with a plan to move in April.

The move itself went reasonably smoothly. All three kids flew in to handle the move and setting up the new place (we tended to tag team with one keeping them distracted while the others actively worked or ran errands). Mom was somewhat zen about it all, while Dad continued to ask what was going on. And while not everything went perfectly (I really wish there were alternative options to "smart" TVs that don't involve menus or complicated remotes; and the landline is still in limbo), the people have been incredibly welcoming and the sheer number of interactions has been beneficial to them both.

Mom and Dad are still feeling overwhelmed (Dad keeps asking if this is where they're living for the rest of their lives) but they are adjusting. Steve got them to attend a chair exercise class while we were there and we've seen subsequent reports on StoryPoint's Facebook page that they attended the Kentucky Derby Party and a Teacher Appreciation Coffee and we think they made Communion this past week. And while the move hasn't solved every issue (they've both decided they are done with doctors, so that's fun), we at least feel like they have more support and community, and (hopefully) a little more joy in their daily lives.

(To see all the pictures, click here.)

Country Club for Nerds

During our Maine trip last summer, Nabeel let us in on his idea to start a board game club. When Joe and I met up with the Hyatts in Philadelphia for the board game convention where they were pitching Race to Kepler, that germ of an idea had become a real project, and we started talking about making a trip out there to to see it in the spring. The Tabletop Library is well on it's way now and Joe and I made our trip out to Berkley to see the progress and play way to many games. The idea is to make it membership based, and a place that where you would want to hang out, come as often as you like, and stay as long as you want. More informally, think of it as a country club for nerds. Construction and permitting are still underway, but they already have nearly a thousand games (many still piled up in Nabeel and Megan's back cottage), a board game Dewey decimal  and recommendation system.

We got to preview the back room of the space and play all sorts of games – Botswana, Fate of the Fellowship, Cascadia, Galactic Cruise, a 3v3 cooperative variant of Dune Imperium: Uprising, Eternal Decks, Old King's Crown, Escape the Dark Sector, and Cosmic Encounter. Megan and Kate even joined us for Botswana, Liam played with us for most of the games save for the longest and most complicated ones, and we'll all have to make it back out sometime when Elaine can join us after The Tabletop Library officially opens.

(click here for all the pictures)

Easter 2026

Easter conveniently overlapped with the Nat's opening home game weekend this year, which made it really easy to convince Owen to come home to celebrate (and to squeeze in a visit with Steve and Megan in addition to baseball and family). Normally we celebrate at Mom Mom's, but since Danny's been under the weather, we decided to instead bring Easter to Nancy and Danny's place.

It was a quiet, but well fed group. And while Owen had to head back to school before the requisite marbles game was played, Noa more than represented (and took very little pity on Mom Mom or Nancy).

(To see all the pictures, click here.)

Opening Day

It's not quite the same when the Nats start the season on the road, plus Owen and I got a jump start on the baseball season with the World Baseball Classic, but always great to get out to the ballpark on a gorgeous day and the Nats home opener didn't disappoint in that regard. The Nats started strong with a 3-run homer from C.J. in the first, but we couldn't keep up with the Dodgers. Shohei tied it up with his own 3-run homer and the Dodgers turned the game into a 13-6 romp. Couldn't be happier though to keep our opening day tradition going!

 

Take 2 on the College Front

Noa's Spring Break was a bit of a bust – they were sick the whole time, Owen's didn't overlap, and Allen spent most of the week catching up on work due to his unexpected extended stay in Miami following Sharon's hospitalization.  Still we rallied at the end to fit in a tour a Dickinson College – home of the Red Devils – in Carlisle, PA (outside of Harrisburg, PA, just a short two hour drive from home). 

Much like, Oberlin, Dickinson isn't a city with reliable public transit (though a train does cross campus once a day). The brick ratio itself isn't terrible, but the consistency of the building materials across campus has a similar effect. Also, it's really into study abroad (which Noa is decidedly not) and has a robust ROTC program (also not their cup of tea). 

But Noa really did like the campus (and our tour guide ). Dickinson is extremely eco friendly,  great class sizes, interesting majors, a hopping club and affinity group scene, and just a good feel. Moreover, downtown Carlisle has a great food scene (including a creperie that sells macrons)!

And so while Dickinson may not be an obvious choice for Noa, they are keeping it on their list. For just like when Dickinson commissioned a weathervane in the form of Triton to top the main campus building in 1803, only to have the local metalsmith who had no idea who Triton was craft a mermaid instead, Noa is flexible, adapts to the unexpected, and rolls with the punches. Unless too much brick is involved...

(To see all the pictures, click here.)

World Baseball Classic!

 

We originally had planned on squeezing in a ski trip to Deer Valley over the kids' spring breaks. It wasn't an ideal set up since Owen's break was the week before Noa's, but we thought a trip over the long weekend in the middle of their two breaks would be fun. But with 2026 shaping up to be one of the worst snow years out west we started contemplating an alternative plan. Noa was going to be doing college visits over the break, and when Owen and I saw that the World Baseball Classic was in Miami over his spring break, we jumped at the chance to get tickets to the final and semifinals. Mom Mom was interested two, so she planned on joining us for the last two games.

Owen and I flew down on Sunday afternoon, checked into our hotel, and headed straight to Loan Depot Park for the USA vs. Dominican Republic semifinal game that was shaping up to be the best game of the whole classic. Paul Skenes was pitching for the US with the likes of Bryce Harper, Aaron Judge, Kyle Schwarber, Bobby Witt Jr. and Pete Crow-Armstrong in the starting lineup, going up against an intimidating DR team with Juan Soto, Vladimir Guerrero Jr., Fernando Tatis, and Manny Machado. The atmosphere was electric, with a sold out crowd and bands with horns and drums marching around the stadium the whole game, and the loudest fans you could imagine. When Junior Caminero homered to center field off Paul Skenes in the bottom of the second to put the DR up 1-0, the crowd erupted with the loudest cheering I've ever heard. The USA team responded in the 4th with solo homers from Gunnar Henderson and Roman Anthony to take the lead, then it became a pitchers duel. Flame thrower Mason Miller came in to close it out in the bottom of the ninth, struck out Caminero, walked Julio Rodríguez, got Oneill Cruz to ground out, bringing up Geraldo Perdomo in the nine hole with Tatis on deck. Perdomo worked the count full, fouled off a couple 101 MPH heaters, then struck out looking on 89 MPH slider that was well outside the zone. The USA advanced to the finals in a riveting game that served as a perfect advertisement for the ABS system coming to MLB this year.

Mom was supposed to get in to Miami on Monday, but bad weather in DC cancelled her flight, so it was just Owen and I again. We went over to Miami Beach during the day to at least say we did it. I made sure to wade into the ocean, but Owen wasn't particularly interested in beach time, so we grabbed lunch and headed back into town. The game that night pitted the scrappy Italian team against Venezuela, who ousted Ohtani and the mighty Japanese team in the previous round. Italy jumped out to an early 2-0 lead in the second with a bases loaded walk and a fielder's choice, but the Italians couldn't manage any home run espresso shots and it was all Venezuela after that. After having walked the two miles from the ballpark the the hotel the previous night, Owen and I worked out the uber strategy to avoid the incoming rain, and started making plans for the day of the finals.

We decided to walk down to the walk down to the Bayside Marketplace for brunch and the up to the Frost Science Center where we enjoyed the aquarium and other exhibits and walked through the cat sculpture garden. Mom's flight got in on time and we all headed to Loan Depot Park for the USA vs Venezuela WBC Final. Venezuela's starting pitcher Eduardo Rodriguez silenced all those mighty US bats, Salvador Perez scored on a sac fly in the third, Wilyer Abreu hit a massive home run in the 5th, and things were looking bleak for the USA team billed as the greatest ever assembled. Then Bryce Harper hit a massive two-out two-run home run home run in the bottom of the 8th to tie things up and finally give the US fans something to cheer for. It wouldn't last though, in the top of the ninth, with Mason Miller unavailable, Eugenio Suárez crushed an RBI double to the gap in center putting Venezuela back on top, and they closed it out in bottom of the ninth to take their first WBC title.

We were all scheduled to fly home in the morning, but things got a bit sidetracked at the airport. Mom Mom started having stroke symptoms, so we sent Owen home on our flight, and I rode to the hospital with Mom Mom. It was scary, but after some clot busting medication, lots of MRIs and CT scans, and talking with many doctors, and three extra days at Jackson Memorial Hospital, we were able to come home and it turned out this was all due to Mom's seizure medication. She's on a new medication now and none the worse for wear. Now we can go back to watching the more relaxing and low stakes version of baseball that is the Nats regular season.

(Click here for all the pictures)

The Prom (as brought to you by Burke Theater)

Last Spring the rumor mill around Burke was that Brent (the Theater Director) was considering two musicals for Spring 2026 – Grease or The Prom. While everyone else was on the Grease bandwagon, Noa kept advocating for the lesser known The Prom, which is based on an incident where a prom was canceled after a high school student planned to take her girlfriend. The musical added some fallen Broadway stars trying to rehab their image by changing in minds in small-town Indiana. Hijinks ensues. Eventually, Brent agreed with Noa and announced auditions.

Noa was hoping for a major part, but ended up in the ensemble and as the understudy for Barry (which is a major part). While Noa was disappointed, they actually played Barry for a week during rehearsals while Tony the actor was visiting colleges, at which point they decided they were very excited to just be in the ensemble (there's a lot of dancing The Prom, and Barry does even more of it).

Anyway, Tony came back and was healthy for all the performances. It was an amazing musical that went off without a hitch (though the invited dress rehearsal had to be cancelled after a water main break...).

(To see all the pictures, click here.)

Plungeish

When Noa and I signed up for another Polar Bear Plunge with the team from Friends Meeting of Washington to raise money for the Chesapeake Climate Action Network, there was a massive winter storm looming and single digit lows in the forecast for DC and high temperatures that wouldn't get above the low to mid-twenties in the weeks before the plunge. That forecast turned out to be accurate and between the Snowcrete storm and the bitter cold temperatures the Potomac was completely frozen over on the planned plunge day so we had to postpone. 

When our new plunge day rolled around on February 21st, there was still plenty of snow left, but temperatures were above freezing and the ice had thawed; however the a 72" diameter section of the Potomac Interceptor pipe collapsed causing the overflow of more than 200 million gallons of wastewater into river. That put a damper on plunging into the river, but we still able to go to our usual spot at National Harbor and the plunge organizers arranged for a pool water truck to set up a gauntlet of hoses and ice-buckets for the plungers to pass through. 

It wasn't quite the same, but we raised over $1,000 and the full Quaking Quakers team raised over $20k for a good cause. Hopefully next year after two straight thwarted river plunges we'll be back in the icy waters of the Potomac!

(click here for all the pictures)

And so it begins

Junior year of high school is traditionally the start of the college application season. Noa took the PSAT in October and took a practice ACT test in November. Meetings with Burke's college counselors have started (though we as a family are bit behind in our submissions). Noa has even started padding their college resume by attending the NAIS Civic Leadership Summit (whiles the rest of the city and Burke were reeling from the effects of "snowcrete." And so when faced with a four day weekend for President's Day, we decided to have Noa's inaugural college visit to Oberlin.

Noa has stated before that their top factors in selecting a college are brick ratio (ah, Gen Z), public transportation, and weather (Noa's depression has a seasonal component), so on some level, Oberlin, OH might not be an obvious first choice (though apparently it's brick ratio is excellent). But two of Owen's best friends, Gabriel and Rosemary, are students there and Noa has a couple of Burke friends that are either students there or will be attending next year. And since Rosemary and potentially Gabriel would be studying abroad next year when it might make more sense to visit, we decided to go ahead and check it out now.

Megan, who is always up for a visit with Gabriel and Rosemary, joined our roadtrip (and actually drove most of it) as we arrived Sunday afternoon. We met up with Gabriel who gave us an excellent tour of campus (and even got his friend Mya to show us the visual arts buildings), eventually meeting up with Rosemary after she finished rehearsal. The kids went back to their respective dorms (Rosemary let Noa crash with her with Gabriel just a few buildings down) while Megan and I checked into our hotel and then met the kids out for and early dinner so the kids could get back to their studies (such good role models).

The next morning, Megan and I grabbed breakfast and Noa for our formal Oberlin information meeting (including an impressive presentation by Oberlin's President whose triplets are all freshman there this year) and tour. Afterwards, Noa checked out one of Rosemary's rehearsals and then bagged on Gabriel's econ class in order to join Megan and I at the school's art museum. We were all pretty exhausted at that point, so Megan, Noa and I headed back to our hotel room to crash and watch the Olympics before Megan met up with Gabriel and Rosemary and then we all reconvened for dinner and some stimulating conversation about whether capybaras spread the plague (ah college).

The next morning we headed out fairly early since Noa had a musical rehearsal they needed to get back to Burke for. And while they may not end up applying to Oberlin (because again, rural Ohio?), they really did have a lovely introduction to the college experience (thanks Gabriel, Rosemary, Megan and Oberlin!).

51st!

I managed to turn 51 before DC could become the 51st state, but we celebrated still. On Friday, Elaine and I escaped the snowcrete for a dinner at Little Pearl that also let us scout out the place for Mom's 80th birthday party coming up in May. Then on Saturday Mom Mom hosted a birthday dinner for me that Steve & Megan were able to join. All told a lovely birthday, plus the Winter Olympics are starting to make all the snow feel a little more appropriate.

Snowcrete

This winter brought one of our more unusual snowstorms in DC – the Snowcrete. Temperatures were well below freezing when the storm started with about 5" of snow falling and sticking immediately to the ground. Then a warm layer of air aloft moved in with surface temperatures still in the low 20s and we got another 5" of sleet that was topped off with some freezing rain. This left us with a thick layer of 'snowcrete' that was brutal to remove. I got an early start clearing the sidewalk out front in the snow phase of the storm but my snow shovel broke, so needed to share our neighbors Matt & Larry's shovel. We kept a narrow path clear, but the battle was lost in back. 

I also had to make the call to cancel our FMW/DCM dialogue on Sunday the 25th, and decide what to do about my flight to Richland on Monday for our first merged directorate leadership team workshop. My flight was out of BWI departing at 7am (hoping to avoid past problems in MSP) and I was able to move it to an afternoon flight out of BWI instead to buy a little time and hopefully take the MARC train to the airport instead of trying the roads. When the MARC train suspended service I cancelled my trip even though my flight was still on. Turns out that was the right call since the flight ended up being delayed 4 hours and my connecting flight was later cancelled. We had to postpone the Tuesday, January 27th dialogue as well since the roads and sidewalks were still impassible. 

Despite school being cancelled for the first half of the week, Noa was still able to go to the NAIS Civic Leadership Summit Tuesday through Friday. Elaine and Noa took an uber to the hotel in Arlington since our car was still trapped. It was a good experience for Noa, though seeing the monuments at night in the bitter cold with all of the snowcrete probably was more exciting for all the kids who came to DC from around the country for the conference.

The aftermath of the storm was brutal as we entered into a ten day streak of high temperatures below freezing and brutally cold lows for DC, the longest such streak since 1989 and the sixth longest since records started in the 1800s. Our car was trapped by the impassible alley until one of the apartment buildings hired a private plow to clear the alley to 11th St. That meant I could get out a hammer and slowly chip away at the snowcrete outside our garage door to clear a path for us to escape. Just in time for us to pick up Noa from the leadership conference on Friday and make and deliver soup for Grate Patrol. Eventually the city sent a skid-loader to begin to clear out the alley to 10th St, but the remnants of this storm would last a long time.

Fake Christmases

While I generally don't like to argue that there is one true anything (especially these days), during the holidays we do tend to have official celebrations which correspond with the designated Christmas holiday, and supplemental celebrations which tend to occur on whatever odd day works with everybody's schedule. We colloquially refer to the latter as "Fake Christmas(es)."

The timing of these celebrations was all over the place this year. For instance, Jennifer, Ahzer and the kids flew into Maryland prior to celebrating the holidays along the Eastern Shore (I think they officially ended up in Connecticut though there might have been a detour to New York as well) which meant we were able to get together with them the evening Owen got back from St. Mary's for a lovely dinner and a lot of noise. We met up the Pearsons, who were in Virginia to celebrate with Chris's parents before Elise had to go back to Pittsburgh for work, for dinner and game play right before we headed off to Iowa. We saved opening our immediate family presents and stockings until we got back from visiting Grandma and Grandpa Z in Iowa on the 26th.And then Owen invited his high school crew over for New Years.

But the biggest, fakest Christmas was held January 10th when we were finally able to get together with Mom Mom, Grandpa Don, and Nancy & Danny for the non-so-Secret Santa exchange (limited persons and non getting anyone in your household makes it pretty easy to figure things out). The exchange was originally going to happen around New Years, but given the kids social calendars and Danny still being radioactive at the time from a treatment, we decided delaying another week made sense.

The extra time allowed people to really step it up. Danny got Owen three Nationals World Series Baseballs (signed by Zimmerman, Rendon, and Corbin respectively). Owen, harkening back to Christmases of yore, had personalized "Stinky Dog" hot sauce made for Don, with a picture of Pumbaa in a Cubs hat as well as a matching t-shirt. Nancy, having been interviewed by Noa for their Women's History class which resulted in a podcast that culminated in the story of Caroline Harrison releasing ferrets in the White House to combat a rat infestation, gifted Noa a "symbolic adoption for a black-footed ferret" from the World Wildlife Fund, as well as some more cuddly mementos.

But the winner of Fake Christmas was Noa (or rather Mom Mom who was the recipient of Noa's generosity), who painted a portrait of our family enjoying the beach this past summer, and finished up just in time for us to get it framed. Mom Mom was thrilled and it's now proudly on display in the her living room. 

(To see pictures from all of our fake celebrations, click here.)