Pandemic Weeks 117-118: Swimming & Father's Day

Happy Father's Day

 School is out and the swim season is on!  The season kicked off June 11 with morning time trials and the annual pancake breakfast.  It was an unusually chilly Saturday morning with temperatures hovering around 60 degrees and the threat of downpours (this is not exactly the kind of weather that makes new swimmers want to stay).  Besides the chilly weather, there were a number of swimmers and their families that out due to the latest round of COVID (this will likely be a theme throughout the season).  Theresa joined the pancake crew and found herself making pancakes under an umbrella outside.  Fortunately, the heaviest rain held off until later in the day.

The crazy weather continued from 60 degrees on Saturday to 94 degrees on Monday, which was also the first B meet of the season.  There is nothing like standing around the pool in 90 +degree weather with hundreds of kids waiting to swim (Monday night meets are essentially practice meets that everyone can attend....and they do).  As luck would have it, a line of severe thunderstorms erupted right over the pool, resulting in cancelling the rest of the event after only an hour.  Anna was not disappointed.

Concert at Wolf Trap

The first official meet of the season occurred on Saturday, which was a beautiful day.  It was an away meet, and as always it was a challenge to get Anna out the door.  This time, being late paid off as the assistant coach called (she lives three houses down) because she forgot the body paint and needed Anna to go retrieve it from her room.  It would not seem that body paint is critical for a swim meet; however, it is a tradition for the team and could have made the difference in the meet.  Fortunately, Anna was able to retrieve this critical item to ensure that the team would be covered in red, white, and black handprints.  Anna had a great meet in her first year in the senior group - taking 3rd place in freestyle and breast and 1st place as part of the relay time.  The relay was very exciting with Anna dropping 2 seconds from her breaststroke time and her teammate Page dropping time on the anchor leg and pulling out a come from behind effort.  It was very exciting to watch!  The team won the meet (it was probably because of the body paint) and is back in action on Monday night at home.

In other news of the past couple of weeks:

• Anna is lifeguarding, babysitting for the Tran's, and junior coaching a couple of nights a week.  She is definitely keeping busy and earning some money towards her Japan trip, which is slated for next summer.
• Joe and Theresa got to enjoy their first concert at Wolf Trap since the pandemic after a last-minute decision to go so Sheryl Crow and Jason Isabel.  Thanks to a very kind park ranger, they were able to snag parking in front (yet another lesson in it pays to be late) and enjoy the show on a beautiful night.  

  

  The Winning Relay Team

• A beautiful Father's Day meant a picnic at Riverbend Park.  Joe and Anna enjoyed relaxing by the water while Theresa got a hike in.  Joe's picnic lunch was what was billed as the "Ultimate tuna sandwich," another recipe from Cook's Illustrated.  The sandwich got good reviews.
• Anna finished crocheting a sweater - a birthday gift for one of her friends.  This was a 6-month project that came out great - complete with puffy sleeves!
• Theresa is commuting downtown 3-4 days a week.  Since she works for the Federal Transit Administration, last week she decided to try public transit.  It should be noted that the Metro trains have been at reduced service since the fall following safety issues with rail cars.  As a result, they are only running every 20 minutes (normally during rush hour they would run every 2-3 minutes).  In short, it is very important to make the train, or you are going to be waiting a while.  Theresa decided to bike to the metro station the first day.  This requires its own special planning as you need to think about what you wear (no skirts) and how much you have in your backpack.  Upon arriving at the station, Theresa discovered there was a new bike lock facility in the garage (great news) but you needed to register with your metro card to use it (not great news).  She left her bike at an outside bike rack and sprinted to the train.  Also, because of the train infrequency it is a real problem if you need to change trains, which is what Theresa would normally need to do.  She opted to walk 15 minutes from another station.  The end result of this effort:  a car ride to the office of 45 minute vs public transit of 1 hour and 20 minutes.  This is not exactly a good commercial for public transit or coming to the office.  On the plus side, Theresa got additional exercise.
  

Happy Juneteenth!