17 Again

Sixteen was semisweet. 

It had some amazing moments. Noa appeared in three plays last fall, nailing a monologue as Ann Kronenburg in Dear Harvey, taking a convincing turn as a disaffected young white male in #Matters, and then playing Sandy Stier in Proposition 8, a mom who sued the state of California in order to marry her partner (which resulted in Noa now having a wife and two kids at Burke). Noa painted a family portrait. They started college visits including staying overnight at Oberlin visiting Gabriel and Rosemary. They got their learner's permit... and logged three entire hours of driving. They rescued a desk chair from the streets of Capitol Hill. Noa got a fancy camera and started playing with light. Noa went to both homecoming and prom. They went to a cafe filled with cats. They discovered peaches & cream Olipop.

But, sixteen was also really hard. There were issues with teachers and homework and seasonal affective disorder. The college process, while exciting, is also scary and overwhelming and translates into even more homework and deadlines. 200 million gallons of waste water contaminated the Chesapeake right before Noa was supposed to plunge into it. Noa quit viola and youth orchestra (though did squeeze in a final concert and recital). They lost their rubber ducky (which was also part of their art project). The Potbelly at Union Station closed.

We did what we could to mitigate the sad times. Teachers were talked to (and Noa, belatedly, worked on advocating for themself). They got a light therapy lamp (albeit at the end of winter and one which takes up their entire desk). Noa did not jump into the Chesapeake, and instead were sprayed by really cold water outside in the middle of winter to support Climate Action. A gelato place opened on H Street. 

Because the truth is, sometimes life is really hard and you just have to get through it, even if getting through it isn't always fun. But you don't always have to get through it alone.

So happy birthday, little one. Remember that we're always here for you, Noa, and that we love you so, so much.

1. "Pluck around a little twinkle, twinkle on the piano."
2. Sometimes, if you're young at heart and you work it right, you can still order off the kids' menu.
3. I have a cat.
4. Sapphic love and falling off cliffs are not directly related. They aren't unrelated either, though.
5. Plan B: ferrets.
6. Acting is all about commitment. Unfortunately, that commitment sometimes culminates in a bloody nose.
7. You can't get what you want, particularly if the local coppersmith has never heard of Triton. But sometimes you get what you need (sort of).
8. Let's go, lesbians!
9. You don't need a bunch of role playing rules. Just write a good mystery, draw some cool assets, have a bunch of creative friends, and a Perfect Six will work just fine.
10. And in the immortal words of Nick in Zootopia 2, 

There's a lot of different animals out there, and sometimes we start to look at all of the little reasons that we're not the same. And it makes us worry. But maybe if we just talk to each other, if we just try to understand one another, we would see that our differences don't really make any difference at all. Maybe we even see that what makes me, me, and you, you, can make us even stronger.

OBX 2026

We returned to the Sea Gypsy for our beach trip this year and were rewarded with a week of beautiful beach weather, and unlike last year we thankfully didn't have to ride out any hurricanes! We did have some sad news right before our beach trip started this year, Mom Mom's cat Morse sadly passed away, and despite Noa's best efforts, we didn't find another cat to bring home from the beach.

The water was bathwater hot the day we arrived (not bathtub hot – that's just a dad malapropism), but was much cooler the next day, so Elaine and I were the only ones to truly brave floating in the ocean, though Owen did give it the old college try. We had fun playing games – marbles, Flip 7, puzzles of course, bocci, Owen's new corn hole set, and Owen almost beat Don at golf this year with a remarkable comeback, but just lost out on the second playoff hole. 

Jeff flew down again, and Owen, Don, and I flew with him down to Ocracoke. We had planned to land at the Billy Mitchell Airport right by Cape Hatteras, the eastern most point of the Outer Banks, but as we made our landing pass we saw that the runway was closed for resurfacing, so we detoured to Ocracoke for lunch. Owen got to fly the plane as co-pilot on the way down, and he kindly gave me a turn up front on the flight back. We had to dodge a few storms on the flight back, but it was a great little adventure.

We celebrated Owen's 19+1 birthday, had lots of walks on the beach, Noa and I had our photography adventures, Elaine spied some cool sandcastles, and we all can't wait for another trip to the beach next year!

(click here for all the pictures)

Nineteen Plus One

While it's hard for all of us to accept that Owen is no longer a teenager, Noa seems to be taking it the hardest. Not because they object to Owen growing older per se, but because they reject 20 as an age in principle. After all, no additional milestones are unlocked upon turning 20 – you still can't drink or rent a car – but despite the absence of new found privileges, you're cast off from your cohort, and that seems wrong. And so, Noa declared that for the next year, Owen would be considered 19+1.

It was an interesting year for Owen. He declared multiple majors while growing his hair multiple inches. He rekindled his love of baseball (or rather, blew up the group baseball chat) and continued to grow the St. Mary's softball club (though still not enough to field a full team). He had his first fender-bender (and out of solidarity, his parents had one too). Owen got his first paying job and opened an IRA. He got jury duty (and had to request a deferral). Owen went to Miami for Spring Break (with his father and grandmother in tow). He learned the importance of comfortable shoes and hydration. 

But mostly, Owen just continued evolving into a young man that cares deeply about the world and its people, despite what some people are doing to said world. And while we wish that things in this timeline were a little brighter, we trust that with Owen eventually on the job, we'll get there.

So happy birthday, our not-so-little man. We love you so, so much. 

1. The loan sharks are coming!
2. You get one warning for vaping. If I have to tell you a second time, I'm getting the manager...
3. This is the drone you've been looking for.
4. "An alien came up to me the other day. Big alien. Strong alien. Tears – green tears – running down his face." 
5. If only there were some way that Washington could win the pennant...
6. St. Mary's does not cancel classes for snow. Snowcrete, however, is a different beast entirely.
7. The USA is really lucky the DR couldn't use ABS in the WBC.
8. One doesn't simply walk to Mordor, but you can get there by listening 15 minutes a day.
9. 2026 is all about living the dream... if we define "dream" as an absurdist social simulation game.
10. And in the immortal words of Aunt Mae in Spiderman, Brand New Day, 

    You are a really special person. And I would hope that that will make you feel really great about yourself, but I know sometimes it doesn't. Sometimes you'll be really lonely. And sometimes, becuase you're special, people can do dark and monstrous things to you. But this is what I want you to know: You're beautiful and the people who love you, they love you not because you're special, we love you because you're you. Remember that, even when it feels like you're totally alone. That's your deepest responsibility. Never forget that, no matter how powerful you become.

    
    

Permitted

While Noa has enthusiastically supported friends in their quest to obtain their driver's license (Noa aced Maryland's test as a sophomore) and has provided numerous, unsolicited driving tips to their parents and sibling for years, Noa has been reticent about acquiring their own permit since they became eligible last year. We were patient for the first six months or so, but facing a summer free of work, either paid or volunteer, and only a single one week class (to work on the college application process which they've also been avoiding), Allen threw down a gauntlet: Noa had to get a permit before we left for Iowa (with the hope that they would drive once we were there).

This was more challenging than anticipated. Having obtained all the necessary documentation (Allen's been burned at the DMV before) and working around some scheduling issues in order to take the test, it still took Noa a few tries before they were able to pass the exam, despite getting 100 percent on the online practice tests. In their defense, I would assert the DC's DOT's is mistaken and in fact HAWK is not an acronym for High-intensity Activated Crosswalk.

Nevertheless, Noa persisted and was awarded a DC learner's permit two days before we we left town. However, given the brevity of our time in Iowa and the absence of deserted parking lots or other safe spaces for inaugural driving attempts, Allen and Noa decided to wait until we returned to DC, where they were free to venture out to the former RFK parking lots to work on all the turns as well as proper distancing from ice tea containers (Allen has a method!!!).

We are trusting the process, and accept that the process takes time. Still, Noa has a full 2 years to get the 50 hours of supervised driving under their belt, so hopefully, they'll be driving confidently in time for our 2027 Iowa visit...

Pitstop in Pittsburgh

While I love seeing the Mettenburgs, I placed a moratorium on visiting them in the winter months years ago after getting trapped in their driveway multiple times (a minivan is no match for the snow and steepness that is Pittsburgh between late October and early March). While this limits our trips to just late spring and summer months, it does make it for a lovely break when driving to Iowa in the summer.

Usually we spend 2-weeks in Iowa during the summer, but given Allen's limited vacation leave and no longer having Casa Zimmerman at our disposal, we only booked an Airbnb for seven days in the homeland. This meant, however, that we were able to spend a few days in Pittsburgh hanging out with Joe, Cate and the rest of the crew.

We got in late Friday afternoon – shortly after Joe finished work. We hung out for a while and were then joined by Elise Pearson, who was working in Pittsburgh while the rest of her family was in the DMV. Elise stayed for dinner so we were able to spend several hours catching up before crashing. It rained for most of the day Saturday, which leant itself to a leisurely breakfast, a series of games and cat naps.

When we originally reached out to the Mettenburgs about visiting, they suggested several potential activities for Saturday evening. Noa immediately shut down Picklesburgh – they have an irrational hatred of all things brined. However, we were all intrigued by the prospect of seeing Danny Elfman perform with the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra. And while attending meant circumventing pickle enthusiasts who'd been reveling in dill all day and navigating a packed and under construction parking garage (props to Gigi for driving the kids and finding a spot first), it was all worth it to hear pieces from Batman, Beetlejuice and Milk, as well as see Elfman perform live, The Nightmare Before Christmas.

The next morning, we packed up the van, said our goodbye, and smoothly exited the Mettenburgs' driveway before making our way to Iowa.

Danny & Millie

 

We've often lamented that we don't get invited to many weddings anymore, so when Danny Rowe reached out to see if we'd like to come to his and Millie's wedding we enthusiastically said yes! Now I'll admit that we were hoping that the old SXSW crowd would all make it to Boston for Danny's nuptials since it would be incredibly fun to hang out with Brandon & Anneke, Charles, Wolfe, McCarthy, and of course Jeff, plus some more of the old Psi U crowd. In the end only Jeff made it from the SXSW crew, but we had a wonderful time none-the-less with Paul & Michelle, Wilson, Tim Shaw, and Jeff & Cat. Plus it gave us an excuse to buy Elaine a new dress and a new suit for me. 

We had a great time exploring Salem with Jeff & Cat in the morning, the wedding itself was beautiful, the reception was a blast (despite Danny's carefully trained DJ not showing up and the replacement not playing Pulp when we all really wanted to dance;-) and Millie & Danny are a wonderful couple.

(click here for all the pictures)

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.