Hey, it's good to be back home again.

This weekend's trip to DC was less intense, and thus less exhausting, than last week's expedition. My ABA Commission on Mental and Physical Disability Law meetings were productive and interesting. We reportedly have nearly 60 law students with disabilities participating in our mentor program! It's exciting to see how many people with disabilities are attending law school right now. Most of them are pretty savvy about getting the necessary accommodations, and some of our mentors appear to be learning as much about new technology and assistive devices from their mentees as the students are gaining support and insights from their experienced-attorney mentors.

By 3:00 on Saturday I was off-duty, and able to enjoy a gorgeous Washington weekend. Had a great (and much-needed) workout, then strolled all over the Dupont/Adams Morgan area with my great gal-pal Lily, enjoying the comfortable night air and eating tasty sushi and drinking assorted sushi-complementing beverages and talking up a storm. I felt a few pangs of nostalgia for DC, though they were put to rest when I arrived home to equally lovely weather, minus the humidity and plus my beloved mountains. I spent several years bouncing between Washington and Palo Alto, and I truly love the District. At least in Northwest, which is really what I mean when I talk about DC, it is tree-laden, walkable, and saturated with great architecture, interesting public art, terrific ethnic food, neat shops, and a tangible energy that comes from being at the epicenter of so much high-level decisionmaking. There are a few too many lawyers per square foot, but as I may have mentioned before, I kind of like hanging out with lawyers. In fact, I hung out with quite a few of them over the weekend, and enjoyed my time immensely.

I shared a delicious and lively Mother's Day brunch with my law school marathon-running buddy, her husband (a political consultant who, in a total coincidence, is a college friend of mine), their adorable 20-month-old daughter, my co-clerk (who met my running buddy through me when they worked at the same firm), her partner (an academic), and their three rambunctious boys who range in age from 14 months to 8 years old. I've written often and at length about my unequivocal support for gay marriage rights, but when I spend time with this couple and their sons, I come away utterly baffled at how anyone -- particularly anyone who purports to support family values -- can oppose the right of gay people to marry and raise families.

One of them is a stay-home mom with a PhD, the other is a successful attorney who is about to leave private practice for a counsel position at a national non-profit. They are committed to each other and to their children at least as much as any straight couple I know, and they are raising their family with a deep and daily connection to Judaism. The boys are smart, funny, athletic, creative, loving, and happy. One of them loves baseball and can spout statistics going back years. The other is a soccer fanatic and an artist, wonderfully sensitive and sweet, yet so tenacious that in response to my joking dare, he played the first several minutes of his soccer game yesterday with his mouth full of grapes, just to prove to me that he could. The baby is adorable -- round and sturdy and blessed with the most mischievous Cheshire-cat grin imaginable. The older boys play together nicely, they are kind to younger kids, and they can talk comfortably with grownups (at least for short periods of time, which is pretty impressive for an 8- and 5-year-old). I dare someone to show me another family that better embodies "family values."

In any event, it was a fun and eventful trip, and took less out of me than last week's travels. I managed to get up and hit the pool this morning, and I'm hoping to stick to my tri-training schedule all week. Steve is climbing in Idaho, the lucky dog, giving me a few days of solo time to catch up on laundry, sleep, and de-clutterizing. We've been talking about taking the weekend to camp and climb down on the South Platte, but it now appears that I will be desk-bound and frantic at least through next Friday (when I have a huge brief due, an oral argument, and then just a few days left to pound out a reply brief). At some point this week, I need to write about the book I finished on the plane, but that post will be long and emotion-laden, so will have to wait until some of the piles are moved from my desk to my secretary's.

It is good to be home. I think I'll take off my coat and stay a while.

Comments

[TPB, Esq.]

"I dare someone to show me another family that better embodies 'family values.'"

The Osmonds. Because, when I think family, I think freaky "Stepford Wives" clones from the Desert Southwest.

[mad]

YIKES!