When I went to bed last night (after forcing myself to stay awake long enough to pick up Steph at 11:30 from a Bat Mitzvah party), the last thing I heard was that the weather forecast was calling for rain, showers, precipitation, thunderstorms, and any other word you can think of for water falling from the sky. I was already starting to formulate Plan B for the Boston AIDS Walk.
When I got up, I saw a new phrase on the weather forecast: "strong storms." That didn't sit so well with me. But off we (Steph, Pete, and I, along with two of Steph's friends) went to the train station to meet up with the rest of the Brown team—several hundred strong! There another of Steph's friends joined our mini-team. It was overcast but not raining.
We arrived at the Arlington Street stop and emerged from the underground station to medium-heavy rain. We donned our rainjackets, and I thought to myself, "OK, so we'll get wet. We can do this. As long as there isn't thunder and lightning, there's nothing to worry about." We got rained on for about 5 minutes, and then it stopped again.
And that was it for the rain for the whole morning! I couldn't believe it! I had been hearing about street flooding and tornado warnings and was really getting concerned. But it was downright pleasant—overcast but mild and breezy—really, the ideal conditions for a long walk. (Yesterday was very hot and very sunny and very un-breezy, and I probably would have melted during the first mile of a walkathon.)
The Brown team came in third of all the teams in terms of donations! We were all wearing our turquoise T-shirts and feeling very team-y. There were teachers (and the principal), parents, students, and siblings. Plus everyone else, of course, something like 15,000 strong!
I'd never walked 6 miles before, and although it was doable, I wasn't sorry when the finish line was in sight. When we were done, I reminded the kids that marathoners do what we just did more than 4 times, running! Wow.
We got home, and Andy took all the kids to the pool while I went back to work. A couple of hours later, I heard some big-time thunder, and they came home moments later. Shortly thereafter, we finally got the mother of all storms. From the time the first raindrops fell to the time I ran upstairs to close the last window, Pete's bathroom floor was already soaked. The wind was wicked. Later Andy went out to pick up dinner, and he said there were trees down everywhere, and he had to take a few detours. I am so grateful the storm waited until after the AIDS Walk! It was a great experience in so many ways.
I overheard one of the younger teachers saying that she used to do the AIDS Walk with her family when she was a kid (this is the 25th year that Boston has been doing it!). I thought to myself, "We didn't even have AIDS when I was a kid!" It's such a different world now. The nice thing is that my kids are growing up knowing that anyone can get AIDS but that it is both preventable and treatable. It is no longer a mystery how it is transmitted nor is it an instant death sentence, and it's most definitely not a risk for only this group or that group.
I am exhausted. It was a good day, and now I'll say good night!
I forgot you're a Brownie. My daughter went there (son was at Toke Hill) and we LOVED it. Mr J is such a great principal. The only negative is one teacher who shall remain nameless, although if you have experienced him, you know who he is, who refused to give a grade higher than a C and made sure that the kids knew it. My daughter tried SO hard in his class, but she got nothing but C's on all her papers. So I wrote one of the papers. Me, the professional writer who has written plenty of books and papers. And he gave me a C and clearly marked off stuff that was ridiculous. So I made an appt with Mr J, brought in my strunk and white and chicago manual, amongst references and disproved EVERYTHING this guy had marked down as being wrong. It was WAR from that moment on, and Mr J admitted that had there not been tenure, this teacher would be long gone. :-)
I did the Aids Walk once, but my walking days are long over with. It was a great experience, along with the Walk for Hunger which I did a couple of times. Can you say SERIOUS blisters?
We lost a tree which is now laying dramatically across our front lawn. Fortunately it did not block any street, driveway, or fall on anything other than grass. Unfortunately, we have to deal with it ourselves because it isn't one inch on city property. Damn.
Have you driven down Chestnut yet? It looks like a war zone. Trees down left and right, and all sorts of debris from branches already cleaned up. OY, what a storm!
Posted by: margalit | June 07, 2010 at 04:12 PM
One more Brown comment. Have you experienced Mrs C in the math dept. BEST MATH TEACHER EVER. OK, she talks about her daughters non-stop and she's strict and HARD, but your kids learn way more with her than with anyone else. She tells the kids that, too!
Posted by: margalit | June 07, 2010 at 04:14 PM