Oxford Goes to DC

This weekend I went down to DC to help move everything out of the apartment. It's so sad to think that I won't have a home there anymore...now I really feel stuck in New Jersey. We went down Saturday morning I took Oxford into town to swim in the fountains and walk on the Mall. It's nearly impossible to take 10 steps with a duck in a city full of tourists and not be stopped by someone wanting a picture. Its strange to think that there are about 50 complete strangers out there with my picture on their camera. I can just imagine them showing their vacation pictures to their friends...."and this is the duck lady we met on the mall..."
Saturday night I went to dinner with my parents and my mom's cousins Tom and Ruth and we visited the WWII memorial and the Pentagon memorial. It's interesting to think that the people down there had a completely different 9/11 experience than those of us closer to New York. I'm sure our media was much more focused on the World Trade Center and theirs more on the Pentagon. It's hard to believe I was only a freshman in high school when it happened...it doesn't seem like that long ago.

Sunday I went to church at NCC for the last time in a long time. I think that was the hardest thing about leaving DC, because this was the first church I'd ever been to where I would actually count down the days until the next service. Oxford came with me to church in my purse and was really well behaved. I took him down to the Lincoln memorial after the service to swim in the reflecting pool, and it took us nearly 4 hours to get there and back because so many people wanted to stop and pet him. Mom and I topped off the weekend by seeing Night at the Museum in the IMAX at the Smithsonian. Pretty cool to watch a movie in the place it was set.

Adventures at Colliers Mills Lake

I've been taking Oxford to the lake every day to do a little swimming and he's been having a blast running through the grass and eating all the tadpoles he can fit in his little belly.

There is another female duck that lives at the lake that doesn't get on with Ox very well. She follows us everywhere and pinches his butt if he gets too close. There's also a black snake living in the reeds near the shore but so far he hasn't caused us any trouble.

New River Rendezvous

I took a road trip down to West Virginia Thursday to do some climbing and drink some beer at the New River Rendezvous. Ox made the trip with me so everyone knew me as "the person with the duck" all weekend. It stayed pretty dry during the day, but it rained late in the afternoon every day so some of the climbs we wanted to get on were a bit too wet.

Friday I went down to the Bridge Area with some guys who climbed Trad. We walked nearly the entire length of the cliff from North Bridge to Overlook Buttress, but most of the climbs we had in mind were pretty wet from the night before. Still, we got on three really fun climbs and i got a lot of exercise

Midnight Moonlight 5.7 (Central Bridge Wall)
Easily Flaky 5.6R (Bridge Buttress)
Out to Lunch 5.8 (Overlook Buttress)

Saturday I took a sport climbing clinic with Chris Lindner out at Summersville Lake. I learned a lot of little tricks and got some solid instruction on how to clean a climb...something I never learned sport climbing in the gym.

Hippie Dreams 5.7
Souled Out 5.9
Baby Has a Bolt Gun 5.10c (only got half way up this one)

Saturday night the skies really opened up, so Sunday morning Jen and I make a fire and roasted some marshmellows while we waited for everything to dry out. We headed out to Sandstonia around noon and I got to put what I'd learned in the clinic into practice. I lead the routes and set up the top rope for Jen, then I climbed it again to clean it. Since we had already packed up the campsite I had to bring Oxford with me. I thought he would wander all over the place, but he stayed really close by and even tried to follow me up the first climb.

My favorite climb of the day was Butterfly Flake. Last year David clipped the first bolt for me and it was actually the first climb I ever lead. It's a huge right-facing flake that's great to lay-back and just walk your hands all the way up.

Five-Five My Ass 5.6
Bobby D's Bunny 5.6
Butterfly Flake 5.7
Shady Lady 5.7

Overall it was an awesome weekend. I met some great people, ate some great food and did some great climbing. Ox has a blast meeting new people and hanging out at the cliffs, and he made great company on the 9 hour drive and sleeping for a night in a sketchball Walmart parking lot.


Update: (2 weeks later) See if you can catch the Oxford references in this description of the Rendezvous on Climbing Magazine's website:

On May 14-17, 2009, climbers from all over the country, a few dogs, and even a duck descended upon the bullet sandstone of the New River Gorge to raise funds for New River Alliance of Climbers. Perfect, sunny weather held for several days of great climbing and even when Saturday night's rain did come, the crowd's enthusiasm and high spirits were not to be subdued. Shown in this gallery is climbing action at the Kaymoor and Bridge crags, as well as festivities at the Burnwood campground: slack-lines, dyno competition, tug-o-war, and hula-hoop.

Reasons this was the Best WeekEver:

1. Oxford's first play date with Tim's ducks Daphne and Dwayne

2. Volleyball on Wheeler lawn

3. NO MORE COLLEGE CLASSES! (at least not until grad school)

4. Cliff diving at Panther Falls yesterday


5. Tubing down the Appomattox River with Durbin and her duck Maxwell (and escaping from aggressive water snakes)


6. Cheddarwurst on the grill and Bocci Ball

They grow up so fast...

Oxford sure is getting big...he's about three times the size he was when I got him. He's still got his baby down but I can feel a few real feathers coming in on his tail. I think if I were to compare it to human stages he's about to enter his awkward teenage phase. The weather was gorgeous this past weekend so he spent a lot of time swimming in the Chi fountain and basking in the sunshine on Brock Commons.

Welcome to the Motherhood

Through a very strange set of circumstances, I have recently become the mother of a 2 week old baby duckling that I've named Oxford (Ox for short). He's a domestic, or "house duck," meaning he was bread from a long line of captive ducks and will most likely never learn to fly.


I've been caring for him since Sunday night and he's already hopelessly imprinted on me as his mother. If I take two steps away he follows me, trying to stay right between my legs. For anyone who thinks it would be cute to get a duckling for Easter, my advice would be to think twice. They don't stay ducklings for long...Ox will be fully grown in about 30 days. Having a baby duck is a lot like having a baby human. I have to clean his container and change his water twice a day, he cries whenever I'm out of sight and is only quiet if he's sitting in my lap or tucked in his nest under a heat lamp. He also wakes me up every 4 hours because he's hungry and will only eat out of my hand. Still, I don't mind the extra work...how can I say no to such a cute face?