March comes in like a lion...

Rebecca just went to Washington D.C. for Close-Up, where she will have political seminars and discussions with students from all over the country, visit the Capitol Building, and things like that. All seemed to be going well, and we repeatedly checked the weather forcast for Washington to make sure Rebecca packed appropriate clothing, jackets, umbrellas, and such. She left early this morning, before I woke up.

Soon after I awoke, I turned on the TV to find that today's snow would be light, but a second snowstorm would barrel through the next day, dropping up to more than a foot of snow all across the East Coast, as far south as Alabama. I quickly checked the forecast for Washington; it predicted six to ten inches of snow overnight. This was a problem. Rebecca had not brought boots, and she would have to walk all over Washington D.C. in the snow. Boston is good at plowing the streets, but Washington probably doesn't know what to do with so much snow.  Why couldn't they have predicted this unexpected storm earlier?

My father, who is always good at finding clever solutions to problems, called me downstairs later, saying, "You know how when astronauts are having a problem in space, the people on Earth test solutions before telling the astronauts what to do?"

I did not know where this was going to go; my father often tells me about interesting science-related things. I answered, "Yes," and came downstairs.

He was wearing plastic bags around his feet. "Do you think these would work as boots?" he asked.

"Yes," I responded, quickly figuring out what this was about. "Good idea." We eventually decided to try calling Rebecca to tell her about the plastic bag idea, and we thought maybe the entire Close-Up class could do it too. After all, who would want to spend the day in the hotel room when you could see the Mall all glittering white with a fresh cover of snow?

We were eventually able to talk to Rebecca, and we told her about the plastic bag idea. I don't know what will come of it--probably nothing--but it was a fun exercise in problem solving nonetheless.

When you return, Rebecca, please feel free to share your experiences in Washington on this blog. We are excited to hear about them.

-Philip