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.