Lake Arrowhead, Again

Samuel views the vista at Lake Arrowhead

Another year, another MSTP conference at Lake Arrowhead!  Samuel and I tagged along with Steven to the conference on Halloween weekend.  Steven is an advisor and we're guests. Lodging, and a complimentary UC Irvine Medical Scientists Training Program beach blanket, were all included.
Last time we came, the lake was completely socked in and it was cold enough to see your breath. This year, it was practically balmy, so we took the East Lake loop trail along the lake and admired all the mansions and elaborate docks.  The receptionist at the UCLA Lake Arrowhead Conference Center, where we are staying, informed us that most of the homes in the area are vacation homes.  All that square footage remains sadly unoccupied throughout much of the year.

The North Shore Tavern, circa 1932, before it became UCLA's Lake Arrowhead Conference Center

Lake Arrowhead, nestled in the San Bernardino Mountains, was a getaway for L.A. celebrities in the 1920s through the 1950s.  You took a boat across the water from Lake Arrowhead Village to the North Shore Tavern (pictured above) for some R&R.  In a fit of philanthropy, the tavern and surrounding acreage was offered gratis to the University of California in 1957.  UC accepted.  The tavern is now the main lodge where conference goers can listen to lectures on topics like "accurate diagnosis of sepsis" while catching a glimpse of the lake.  At night, you can snuggle up in one of the 42 "condolets" which come with sleeping lofts and a fireplace.  Cut wood is conveniently provided just outside your door.  WiFi (photo below) and electric vehicle charging stations round out the amenities.

Steven ignores nature and tends to his smartphone.

Chesslers try HelloFresh

Our first HelloFresh box arrives. 

At the Chessler household, we have been regularly receiving coupons to try "meal kit delivery services" like Hello Fresh and Blue Apron.  You probably have too.  After some Internet research, and a little recent bad publicity for Blue Apron, we decided we'd give Hello Fresh a chance (plus the $50 off two weeks' worth of meals was a good nudge).  Consumer Reports ranks Hello Fresh as "excellent" and Blue Apron as just "very good."  The price for Hello Fresh is a little higher, but they say you get what you pay for.  

One box per meal. 

So our refrigerated box arrived Monday evening and it felt a bit like opening a present.  We ordered three meals so we got three boxes containing ingredients for those three meals.  Beneath the boxes, and underneath two big bricks of ice, was our meat.  (If you're concerned your produce and meat will warm up while it's sitting on your porch, I wouldn't worry.  I unpacked our box and left the empty box (with icepacks) sitting in the living room overnight and it was still cold the next day.)

Ingredients and recipe for coffee-rubbed tacos.  (Steak is in the fridge).

Except for oil and salt and pepper, all your ingredients are provided, along with a very nice recipe booklet.  There is a certain zen quality to having everything you need assembled in its own box. And the produce was exceptionally fresh. Having said that, you still have to chop up that produce. It's not like zapping some frozen food from Trader Joe's in the microwave.  On the other hand, there is no improvisation of ingredients (I have, I confess, improvised a little too freely with my recipes in the past, as family members will tell you).  And if you follow the well written directions, you will be rewarded with a good meal that passes muster with the teenage son. 

Produce chopped; ready to cook the steak. 

 Our experiment with a meal kit delivery service continues.  Our first two meals were quite delicious, in my opinion.  Does such a service save money?  Maybe, if you cut down on grocery trips.  Definitely, if  you cut back on eating out.  I think it's not completely about the money. Hello Fresh touts their service as "more than food." They're selling food adventure.

Have Suit. Will Debate.

Samuel models official debate uniform. 

It's a Saturday in October and I'm at a high school for the big event of the day.  No, it's not football or lacrosse or track or soccer.   It's Speech and Debate.  Many moons ago I myself was a debater and now my son Samuel is continuing the tradition.  The consumption of junk food and bonding over "evidence" and "cards" continues, but now the uniform of choice is the suit, preferably black.

Samuel started his day at 6 a.m., donning his suit and trying to remember how to knot his tie.  He grabbed his printed speeches, and he and his bleary-eyed parents drove up to Mission Vista High School in Oceanside.  Steven and I are both serving as judges (no experience necessary), so it's now officially a family activity.

After observing several types of debating events, Samuel settled on Congress. In Congress, high school students become senators debating bills.  Each kid gets three minutes on the floor to debate their position on the bill, with one minute of cross-examination.  Samuel prepared speeches on four bills and I heard them all last night.  I can say unequivocally that they were all brilliant.  Of course, I am his mother.  What other judges (read, other kids' parents) think of his performance may vary.

p.s. After a rousing beginning judging two Lincoln Douglas debates, I sat around for many hours waiting to be called to judge again. Thank goodness for my Kindle!  After an unfortunate delay due to tabulation software problems, I was called again to judge, this time the novice Congress finals.  This of course meant that my son and his spectacular speeches had *not* made it to finals.  (Granted, this was his very first tournament ever.)  Having never judged this new fangled event "Congress," (they didn't have that back in my day), I was a little nervous. But it was the absolute last event of the evening, and everyone was desperate to get home. I accepted the challenge, which involved ranking all participants, all fourteen of them, and writing out evaluations for each one.  Using a seating chart, I scribbled notes for 45 minutes during the event, which centered on a bill applying Sarbane Oxley requirements to nonprofits, then scribbled notes on ballots for another twenty.  I was on fire! (Also, the A/C had been shut off by then.)  Many of the participants, teens in suits, shook my hand and thanked me for judging, and that made it all worthwhile.  I drove home in the dark, exhausted from all the mental fatigue, but ready to do it again.