Allie was in 6th grade, middle school at GCS.
We gave the first of what proved to be a short-lived tradition of inviting friends and neighbors to a post-New Year’s open house. It was a nice idea: it forced us to clean up the house, it was a good chance to meet our expanding list of neighbors in the Fox Meadow community, and it was a good chance to bring together Barb’s office friends into a non-work social environment which was fun for many of them (I think). It was also a lot of work to get the array of food and drinks together for a 4-hour reception for 40-60 people. I think we did it for three years before giving up, but each of the parties was deemed a success. The death knell for the parties came once I started doing robots which had it’s own big kickoff event the first Saturday of January.
After the party, the rest of January seemed to focus on settling in with our community of cats.
In February, Allie wrote a detailed report on Samuel F.B. Morse and the Telegraph for the school’s Academic Fair. I thought it was pretty impressive for a 6th grader. I helped her with some of the research but she did most of the substantive work on her own.
February 25th brought our second snowfall at Pfefferkorn. It wasn’t a big snowstorm, but enough to get a sense of how pretty the house looked in snow. Plus, the photos are a record of our various tree plantings looking tiny compared to what they would become.
March 17-24, for Spring Break, we ventured to Florida. I found a summary of the trip that Allie wrote for her English class, so I will let her take the lead describing the trip:
For a week, I visited Florida with my family. We only hit three cities there: Gainesville, Orlando and West Palm Beach. My family and I went down to the Sunshine State via the Autotrain. It is a train which, when you bring your car, they store it on a train and it travels to the place you’re going with you! By saying with you, I mean only with you, figuratively. It doesn’t actually travel with you; in fact it travels in a separate train car. You can either stay in the Coach cabins or the Sleeper cabins. We stayed in a Sleeper cabin. Since it takes a long time to get to Florida, it’s an overnight trip. I stayed in one of the beds that swing out when one of the nice attendants make your bed while you are eating dinner. Then, when you come back from breakfast the next morning, it magically disappears! The food on the Autotrain is edible, while not delicious. Plus, sometimes, random people get seated at your table, and they keep talking to you while you’re just trying to eat your food. It’s a very good way to ruin a meal. I went to and from Florida on the Autotrain. Generally, it was pretty pleasant, but there were a few tidbits which were less than satisfactory.
This was the one and only time we took the Amtrak Auto Train to and from Florida. I thought the train made sense for the sake of having our car in Florida to cover the ground between Orlando, Gainesville and Riviera Beach, plus there was the romance of riding the rails and all that. Reality was a little grimmer than the romantic fantasy.
The train left from Lorton, Virginia which involved a 90-minute drive and another couple of hours at the station going through the logistics of getting us and the car checked in and loaded. It would actually have been faster to drive than take the train and it was more expensive than getting a hotel somewhere on the road. No wonder Amtrak hasn’t really cracked open the market on the eastern seaboard.
Our little sleeper cabin was adequate but only barely so, not really a comfortable place to hang out like in movies. The views from the train were mostly of industrial backyards or screens of trees, no majestic vistas or sunsets. The meal service was so-so — better than an airplane but not nearly a fine dining experience. Once we were ready for bed, the cabin attendant helped set up our room which was helpful, but the beds were still tiny and not very comfortable. I can’t remember the bathroom situation; I think we had a tiny toilet in the cabin but had shared shower spaces on the sleeper car.
The next morning, the AutoTrain deposited us in Sanford, Florida, not far from Orlando. After another wait to get the car unloaded, we drove up to Gainesville to see Sue and her gang for a couple of days. Susanna was working as events manager at a nice hotel in Gainesville (that no longer exists?) and got us a discount rate which we appreciated. Allie picks up the thread:
The Autotrain dropped us off at Sanford, Florida. Sanford is not that far from Orlando, another stop on my family’s list. But, according to our itinerary, my family and I first had to travel to Gainesville. It didn’t take that long to go to from one place to another, but it’s a long stretch of highway. If you are planning to take this drive I suggest either taking a long nap, or entertaining yourself. Trust me on this, the driver has plenty of things other thing on his mind other than to add “entertain annoying creature in the backseat” to his to-do list.
In Gainesville, we were to see my father’s sister, Sue, my cousin Keri, Keri’s husband Jon, and their new baby, Jonah. In Gainesville, it was a warm and sunny day. It was a perfect day to play tennis, and this is good because that day Keri was playing tennis. But, before we went to her match, we played with Jonah. I love all babies; so of course, I thought that he was adorable! Plus, he can wave to you. You got to love it when a baby has tricks to show you!
After we had played with Jonah enough to make him play with the new alphabet drum that we got him, we grabbed some sandwiches, and went to the Butterfly Gardens. I learned that butterflies are attracted to white. This was not a good piece of information at the moment, because, of course, I was wearing white that day. Many butterflies landed on me. I freaked out, so then the butterflies went to annoy some other poor person wearing white. At Keri’s match, I got to play with Jonah. We went to a nearby park, and I put him on swings, and slides. He didn’t like the slides much.
Photos from the afternoon with Sue, Keri, Jon and Jonah at the Butterfly Rainforest in Gainesville. First, playing with Jonah outside while Keri and Barb negotiated tickets.
And now…Allie’s shots:
Inside the Butterfly Rainforest — many beautiful butterflies, including some that were attracted to Allie.
We had Sunday brunch with everyone at the Northwest Grille, one of Sue’s favorite restaurants in Gainesville.
After Gainesville, we rode back down to Orlando. Of course, the only place in Orlando that we went to was Disney World. In Disney World, we stayed at Port Orleans-French Quarter. There was also a Port Orleans-Riverside, but the French Quarter was nicer. The theme at French Quarter was Mardi Gras. In the dining area (which was basically a huge cafeteria with different counters to order different things, such as chicken, pastries, et cetera), there were huge figure heads that stared down at you while you were eating, which either made you wonder if the dirt from up there fell on your food, or feel very self-conscious about your food. It made eating very difficult.
Port Orleans, since it is a Disney Resort, gets buses to and from the different parks. Over the four days that we were there, we hit all the parks, even the water parks, Typhoon Lagoon and Blizzard Beach. The first day that we arrived in Disney, we only had about half a day left. So, we went to Magic Kingdom because we knew that we would never get to ride all the rides that we like in it on Thursday, the day that we had designated for it. My favorite rides at Magic Kingdom were Space Mountain, Buzz Lightyear Star Command (I like shooting the little Z’s, it was very challenging) and “It’s a Small World” (a classic!). We also went on many other things to kill the time because of Fastpass. Fastpass is very helpful, because you can skip most of the line, but you have to wait in other lines until your designated Fastpass time comes around. My family used these lots of times.
That night, MGM Studios closed late. So, figuring the crowds weren’t going to be huge, we foolishly went. But, nighttime is when the teenagers play, so, although the lines weren’t too treacherous, they were very bothersome. But, it was fun listening in on their conversations. At MGM, the two big rides are The Tower of Terror, and Rockin’ Roller Coaster. That night we went on Rockin’ Roller Coaster, and it’s now my favorite ride! We would have also gone on Tower of Terror, but a chicken sandwich that I had eaten killed my stomach, so we couldn’t do much more.
The next day, we went to Epcot. At Epcot, it was an early morning, and that was the time when not many people go to the parks. Epcot is a magnet for old people in scooters. We were a little late because some people couldn’t get on our bus with their scooter. But, we still got to Epcot before the park opened. Epcot’s big rides are Test Track, Soarin’ and Mission Space. Soarin’ is a new ride that raises you right up to a huge IMAX screen, and shows you different flying scenes. Its huge claim to fame is that it makes it feel like you are hang-gliding, and throws winds at you and different scents. It’s not all that Disney said it would be. Test Track and Mission Space were the best there.
At Epcot, we checked out Allie’s From 1999 through 2000, Leave a Legacy photo that we had done when we visited in 2ooo. Her smiling face is located at East-4-C-14-11-35. Check it out next time you go.
After we got all these rides done, it started pouring. So, we went to Blizzard Beach, where no one even thought of going to! I’m not going to go into details about the water parks, but they are FUN!
That night, we went to dinner at the California Grill at the Contemporary hotel. It was very delicious, and the view was breathtaking! We saw the fireworks at the Magic Kingdom without hearing them (a HUGE bonus for us), and they were breathtaking!
The next day, we went to the Animal Kingdom, where there is the new roller coaster ride Expedition Everest, which is a big adrenaline-booster. That was really the only thing at Animal Kingdom, other than the Safari where you just saw different animals and went really fast.
Then we went back to Epcot to go to Innoventions, which is really interactive. After that, we went to MGM again, and this time we went on The Tower of Terror. I closed my eyes the whole time, so all I could feel was going up and down and hear people screaming. Because on this day the Animal Kingdom was open late, we went back there. This time, we went on the Primeval Whirl, a very spinney ride.
We went back to The Boneyard, a play area in the Animal Kingdom, where Allie had fun and we recreated some of my favorite pictures from when Allie and I went there together in 2003.
A flashback to 2003:
We caught a few more of the attractions at the Animal Kingdom, including the Kali River Rapids (I opted out; Barb and Allie did get wet, but not soaked) and saw tigers and more on the Maharajah Jungle Trek.
That night, we had a final meal at Port Orleans and took some farewell photos on the dock.
The next day, our last day at Disney World, we returned to the Magic Kingdom. My mom rushed us so that we could get on Space Mountain without a long wait. It worked! We went on the first car of the day. After a morning running through many other rides, we left the Magic Kingdom, and spent a good few hours at Typhoon Lagoon. Then, we hustled back to the car, to hit the road again.
We drove down to Riviera Beach to see Grandmom and Grandpop, about 2.5 hours.
This ride was pretty long too, and I don’t suggest drinking sweet tea, because then you’ll have to take a lot of pit stops. Again, you should only entertain yourself. The next stop on my family’s list was West Palm Beach, where my grandparents live. In West Palm, we really just go to the beach, the pool, and my grandparents’ house for lunch. We still did all this, but the same days that we were there, there was also a hip-hop concert, called the Spring Bling on the beach. My grandparents were very skeptical of this because they were afraid that the concert would be loud, and the people attending it, rowdy. But, it turned out to be not so bad at all. After two days in West Palm, my family and I went back to Maryland on the Autotrain again.
Allie and her camera captured the family in our natural environments.
We returned home to crocuses! I began my non-profit career by landing a Marketing Manager position with the Association for International Practical Training, or AIPT, in Columbia. Time to turn a new leaf.
On April 6, Allie and I went down to DC to see the cherry blossoms in bloom…and managed to not take a picture of each other.
Later in April, Allie had to write a character sketch of someone for school. She chose yours truly. I was honored.
When you see this person, you can tell that he is fun, interesting and a good listener. He often wears sweaters and pants, and has brown hair and eyes. He was born in Short Hills, New Jersey, but he didn’t stay there. He moved a lot as he grew up, but he does remember playing sports like baseball, tennis and golf. He especially remembers living in Florida and riding his bike. Since he moved a lot, he went to many schools. For high school, he lived in Hong Kong and went to Georgetown University in Washington D.C. Some of his favorite subjects were Social Studies, History and a little of English.
This person had many jobs. Two of them were selling US electronics equipment to China, and working for a telecommunications company. This was his favorite, and he worked there for almost twenty years. Over this time, he noticed huge changes in technology and communications, political happenings since the fall of communism, and in his own family. His favorite books are Singularity is Near by Ray Kurzweil; One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez; Neuromancer by William; Hamlet by William Shakespeare; and The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams.
The most interesting place this person has ever been to is Hong Kong. There, he met his wife, which led to other great things. His favorite pet is his cat, Harry and he likes listening to David Lindeleg’s (sic, should be Lindley) guitar playing. His hobby is reading newspapers and such to stay informed. His favorite sport is golf and he likes the commercial that his daughter was in. He also enjoys traveling and planning vacations. Also, he likes gardening and seeing things grow, plus hanging out with the girls in his life. The person that I interviewed is my father, William (Bill) Howard Duncan.
On April 14, I took Allie and Paige for a pretty cool JHU CTY behind-the-scenes tour of the National Aquarium in Baltimore.
Allie’s modeling career culminated with a showcase before prospective talent scouts at a big DC-area Barbizon competition on April 15. Allie was invited through her modeling school to compete for slots at the regional competition. She went through preliminary auditions in March and out of more than 650 kids she was one of the 150 invited to fill one of 75 slots at the competition. The competition itself had a $795 entry fee which is why twice as many kids were invited as there were slots. We were encouraged by reports that Allie was “a winner, one of the best of the day; calm, collected, confident and an old soul.” Well, in that case, sign us up!
The competition was at the Hilton Alexandria Mark Center. Allie and I had to get there by 7am which meant leaving home before 6am — not conducive to bright eyes and positive mental attitudes for either of us. Again, I don’t remember a lot about the specifics other than dropping Allie off and waiting around all day in the lobby with hundreds of other parents. Allie had to memorize a “commercial” that she would present in 15-seconds and chose a Disney pitch. Judging was based on runway modeling and how she presented her commercial. I could have paid another $25 to sit in the ballroom and listen to hundreds of kids do their thing but I think I passed.
We prepared dozens of copies of Allie’s headshot and contact information to hand out. We still have many of them, if you want one.
It may come as a shock, but Allie was not discovered and flown off to Hollywood. In fact, the experience pretty well put an end to the thought of pushing Allie any further into the world of modeling or entertainment. Allie qualified to go to another big, expensive national competition, IMTA in New York, but we finally declined after getting some very pushy phone calls. I have an email that shows her agent, Melissa, called in June with an audition for a toy commercial and we declined because she’d be in Australia. I don’t think Melissa sent any offers after that. I’m sorry if we crushed any of Allie’s dreams but I don’t think she was any more enthusiastic than we were at that point.
I started to keep a spreadsheet of Allie’s modeling income and expenses. At the beginning, the $500 (net $400) income from her initial commercial seemed good but was dwarfed by the modeling classes, photo shoot and mileage to and from various auditions. Before long, I stopped keeping track. Chalk it up to lessons learned, wish fulfillment and dreams deferred, but in the end Allie learned some useful skills in makeup, comportment and flashing a winning smile. She’ll always be our favorite star model.
I wish I could remember the circumstances of this photo at Allie’s school on April 20. No doubt I was being a stern panda dad, telling Allie she could only get nine-tenths of something she wanted.
The prior year, in 2006, we purchased a Blossoms of Hope cherry tree in honor of Louise, with the goal of planting it in Western Regional Park which was under construction at that point. On April 27, 2007, Allie and I attended the inaugural Cherrybration ceremony at Centennial Park and received recognition of our contribution. It took another year or two before the tree was actually planted. We have paid it sporadic visits since, not fully honoring the memory of Louise, but I did take pictures in Spring of 2021 and I’m glad we did it.
At this same Cherrybration ceremony in 2007, we got a redbud sapling that I planted in the sloping garden of our backyard. It has since been a welcome harbinger of spring each year. Here are some shots of it over the years. You get the idea…it grew.
In early May, I helped prepare a slideshow summary for the first of Allie’s three years of MYPIC, Maryland Youth Partners in Change. This ambitious program, conceived and operated by one of the teachers at Allie’s school, David Weeks, connected a cohort of students from GCS with an equal number from The Barclay School, a Baltimore City Public School. I went as chaperone on some of the field trips, including Fort McHenry, the Beltsville Agricultural Center and the Baltimore Zoo. This gave me a chance to get to know more of the kids in Allie’s class and some of their parents. It was also my first involvement with a non-profit project funded by outside resources and I got to know Mr. Weeks through the year. He was extremely appreciative of this slideshow summary because he used it in fundraising efforts for the coming years.
Preparations for Allie’s People to People trip to Australia continued through the spring. We attended regular information workshops with Allie’s group of maybe 30 students (and their parents) from various parts of Maryland that were making the trip together. We knew one of the other kids, Maya, from Allie’s other activities (Gymboree, I think), mostly because Barb was friendly with her Mom. Maya’s dad was a former Ravens football player who lived in a nice house in Columbia; we went there once or twice but I can’t remember who he was — another failed brush with fame for me. To get ready for the trip, the group studied about Australia but also learned the basics of traveling together in a group and being away from home.
As a sort of practice run and to build up their student ambassador credentials, the group took a field trip to Washington, D.C. for a guided tour of the Capitol on May 21. I tagged along as a chaperone of sorts but mostly I wanted the tour, too. We had a good time seeing parts of the Capitol one doesn’t always see, including some time in the House and Senate galleries. We also swooped by the Library of Congress and Supreme Court but mostly just for a photo op.
On May 23 I downloaded the Thunderbird email program to help manage my Comcast email account. This gave me an independent place to save, edit and send emails, separate from Comcast’s own crappy email interface. Since then, it became a bucket for me to store old emails offline from Comcast which deleted them after a couple of years. The result is that from this day forward I have a more or less continuous record of my life’s main transactions. So be forewarned, this website’s exercise in tracking my life threatens to get even more granular.
On May 29 I opened Allie’s first email account of her own, [email protected]. Two days later she sent me her first email, enthusiastically forwarding a right-wing joke that had been making the rounds among her school buddies. We were off to a bad start.
Dad, don’t delete this; it’s muy comico! ~~Allie~~
From: Jess Wooleyhand
NOAH IN 2006
In the year 2006, the Lord came unto Noah, who was now living in the United States , and said, “Once again, the earth has become wicked and over-populated, and I see the end of all flesh before me.
Build another Ark and save 2 of every living thing along with a few good humans.” He gave Noah the blueprints, saying, “You have 6 months to build the Ark before I will start the unending rain for 40 days and 40 nights.”
Six months later, the Lord looked down and saw Noah weeping in his yard – but no Ark. “Noah!” He roared , “I’m about to start the rain! Where is the Ark?”
“Forgive me, Lord,” begged Noah, “but things have changed. I needed a building permit. I’ve been arguing with the inspector about the need for a sprinkler system. My neighbors claim that I’ve violated the neighborhood zoning laws by building the Ark in my yard and exceeding the height limitations. We had to go to the Development Appeal Board for a decision.
Then the Department of Transportation demanded a bond be posted for the future costs of moving power lines and other overhead obstructions, to clear the passage for the Ark’s move to the sea. I told them that the sea would be coming to us, but they would hear nothing of it.
Getting the wood was another problem. There’s a ban on cutting local trees in order to save the spotted owl. I tried to convince the environmentalists that I needed the wood to save the owls – but no go!
When I started gathering the animals, an animal rights group sued me. They insisted that I was confining wild animals against their will. They argued the accommodation was too restrictive , and it was cruel and inhumane to put so many animals in a confined space.
Then the EPA ruled that I couldn’t build the Ark until they’d conducted an environmental impact study on your proposed flood.
I’m still trying to resolve a complaint with the Human Rights Commission on how many minorities I’m supposed to hire for my building crew. Immigration and Naturalization are checking the green-card status of most of the people who want to work.
The trades unions say I can’t use my sons. They insist I have to hire only Union workers with Ark-building experience.
To make matters worse, the IRS seized all my assets, claiming I’m trying to leave the country illegally with endangered species.
So, forgive me, Lord, but it would take at least 10 years for me to finish this Ark.”
Suddenly the skies cleared, the sun began to shine, and a rainbow stretched across the sky. Noah looked up in wonder and asked, “You mean you’re not going to destroy the world?”
“No,” said the Lord. “The government beat me to it! ”
On June 6 Allie submitted to Mr. Weeks the following summary of her year in MYPIC.
During MYPIC, I gained a great deal of experience about many things. One was about friendship. I realized that it’s hard to break the ice at first with someone really new. Also, even though you may be comfortable with someone, it may take them longer to break out of their comfort zone. My goal in MYPIC was to learn about things that I’d never even heard about. An example would be the mites. Another goal was to meet new people that I normally wouldn’t. Again, an example is my partner, Nashai.
A change in my knowledge is that, now, I can say that I know why chocolate is ACTUALLY good for you, contrary to popular belief. Also, I know more about mites, and the Addra Gazelle. And, I have MYPIC to thank for this.
A change in my skills is that now I can design a poster board and advertise something now. Plus, I can now fold a flag correctly.
My attitude has changed towards food now. Now, I know that some food is dangerous, and you shouldn’t eat anything that is rotten or has mold on it. Also, now I feel sorry for the Ft. McHenry people, staying up all night to fight, and being so courageous to protect our proud country from the English, at least then. Now, times have changed, and they are our allies. But little did our soldiers know then.
Some thoughts about the MYPIC program are that it’s better for kids to be interactive to learn things, rather than just listening to lectures. There should be activities where kids play games to learn, because that is the best way! Also, like the first meeting, it’s great to have games where the partners get to know each other to build a better relationship. And not just with their partners, but with other students from the other school, too. But, the MYPIC program is definitely something that I am glad I joined.
On June 13-14 we took a trip to Williamsburg, Virginia with Sydney and her mom, Faith. Faith was a big fan of Colonial Williamsburg (she went to William and Mary) and took the lead for an evening there, including making sure we had dinner reservations at one of the taverns.
Otherwise, we showed Faith and Sydney the more downscale touristy side of Williamsburg, staying at the Great Wolf Lodge with their indoor waterpark and spending some time at Busch Gardens. Sydney’s Dad, Rick, would not have approved — he was probably traveling somewhere else for work so that’s why Sydney and Faith could go slumming with us.
Busch Gardens time included a flume ride, Escape from Pompeii.
Emery is in a few of the pictures from the Great Wolf Lodge, but none of the others. We overlapped with Emery and Leslie at Great Wolf for one night and then headed down together to North Carolina while Sydney and Faith stayed in Williamsburg and went home. Around this time we discovered the Hampton Inn at Corolla where we could stay in the Outer Banks for a few days rather than renting a house for a full week. I know we went there a couple of times with Leslie and Emery; Allie and Emery used to love playing in the Lazy River pool at that hotel…though we don’t have any pictures of it from this trip.
By June 21 we were home in time for a summer storm which brought a rainbow to our fair neck of the woods. Our home was the pot of gold…if you have the right perspective.
On June 24 we took Allie to Baltimore-Washington International Airport to bid her bon voyage on her People To People adventure to Australia! Our little girl was on her first big-girl trip on her own!
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