First thoughts....
This undertaking was suggested to me by a good friend who maintained his own blog chronicling his year as an Army officer in Iraq. I wouldn't have had the audacity to describe this as a "deployment blog," except that it was Grant's idea.
Yes, it's true -- we are heading to Fargo, North Dakota, in August 2006 for a year so I can take a judicial clerkship. When I started applying to judges across the country this past summer, for some reason I had set Fargo as my point of most distant reference -- Would we be willing to move to, say, Fargo, for this?
I mentioned this to a law-firm colleague I worked with over the summer, who replied, "I loved Fargo!" She'd clerked for the judge I'm to clerk for (though her next step -- clerking for Chief Justice Rehnquist -- is not in the cards for me). She assured me that as long as one learns to bowl, one will make it through a Fargo winter just fine. Mentioning her name in my cover letter to the judge was apparently enough to score an interview with him and an offer once I met with him.
The kids have taken the news of the move pretty well. It helps that it's months and months away. Katie did figure out right off the bat that she won't be getting any days off from school for snow. Apparently, that's not quite true, though -- they do close the schools in instances of extreme cold. Exactly how extreme it has to be is unknown. The record low was -39 degrees in 1996.
We need to find a place to live there, whittle down our pile of stuff for the long move West, and find a renter for the house here. It's that second step I'm most worried about at the moment, though that could change.
Hardly anyone asks me about what clerking actually entails, or what I thought of the judge, or anything else. Fargo's winters have fully captured their imaginations. The thought of the five of us moving to Fargo has so immensely amused our friends and family that we really should have moved there years ago -- this announcement has measurably improved some people's months.
For those of you who are going to ask constantly, I have provided up-to-date Fargo weather in the right-hand column. Click here to see Fargo's monthly average temperatures as compared to Rockville's.
Thanks to everyone who made sure to let us know that Fargo had its first freeze -- and two feet of snow* -- last week.
* Editor's note: Apparently, the reports we received on this storm were imprecise; other areas of North Dakota received two feet of snow and had the National Guard called out, but Fargo didn't get its first snowfall until Nov. 15.
Yes, it's true -- we are heading to Fargo, North Dakota, in August 2006 for a year so I can take a judicial clerkship. When I started applying to judges across the country this past summer, for some reason I had set Fargo as my point of most distant reference -- Would we be willing to move to, say, Fargo, for this?
I mentioned this to a law-firm colleague I worked with over the summer, who replied, "I loved Fargo!" She'd clerked for the judge I'm to clerk for (though her next step -- clerking for Chief Justice Rehnquist -- is not in the cards for me). She assured me that as long as one learns to bowl, one will make it through a Fargo winter just fine. Mentioning her name in my cover letter to the judge was apparently enough to score an interview with him and an offer once I met with him.
The kids have taken the news of the move pretty well. It helps that it's months and months away. Katie did figure out right off the bat that she won't be getting any days off from school for snow. Apparently, that's not quite true, though -- they do close the schools in instances of extreme cold. Exactly how extreme it has to be is unknown. The record low was -39 degrees in 1996.
We need to find a place to live there, whittle down our pile of stuff for the long move West, and find a renter for the house here. It's that second step I'm most worried about at the moment, though that could change.
Hardly anyone asks me about what clerking actually entails, or what I thought of the judge, or anything else. Fargo's winters have fully captured their imaginations. The thought of the five of us moving to Fargo has so immensely amused our friends and family that we really should have moved there years ago -- this announcement has measurably improved some people's months.
For those of you who are going to ask constantly, I have provided up-to-date Fargo weather in the right-hand column. Click here to see Fargo's monthly average temperatures as compared to Rockville's.
Thanks to everyone who made sure to let us know that Fargo had its first freeze -- and two feet of snow* -- last week.
* Editor's note: Apparently, the reports we received on this storm were imprecise; other areas of North Dakota received two feet of snow and had the National Guard called out, but Fargo didn't get its first snowfall until Nov. 15.
posted by Tom at 11:16 PM
5 Comments:
Two feet of snow! Obviously the Miata ought to move south for the winter!
I can understand why people don't care to ask about clerking ("like, in a video store?"), but surely winter can't be the only thing that comes to people's minds when you tell them where you're moving to? I mean, you must also get plenty of comments about wood chippers and about Fargo North, Decoder. Have I missed any other relevant cultural references? (No, I thought not . . . .)
OK OK --
I'm quite sure I can frighten the whole fam damily in a few short sentences.
First, for the youngins, I'll quote--and this is a real-deal, straight-up, honest -to-goodness quote--from the principal in a North Fargo elementary school newsletter addressed in January, 1994 to we the parents:
"The return to school was also marked by a return to the normal frigid temperatures that we experience in January. [...] It was very concerning to see girls enter the school bare legged and many children
not wearing their boots, mats, or mittens.
"A wind chill factor of 20 below zero is the guideline that the elementary schools in our district generally follow to determine whether or not students go outside for recess after their lunch period
[...]"
*********
And now, for mom and dad:
Once upon a time there was a student at a prominent law school in Washington DC. That student had a family with a few children. That student was born just outside a major US city on the east coast. That student accepted a one-year clerkship in Fargo, ND. That person spent some time working with a Fargo law clerk who was scheduled subsequently to clerk for Renquist.
Sit down for this part. That person, who is married to me, is still in Fargo 13 years later....
fargomike
Gee, thanks, Mike. Your few short sentences, coupled with the -18F (-44 windchill) temperature Fargo is enduring this morning, are indeed pretty frightening. My little children will, I'm sure, be terrified when I pass it along to them.
People keep telling us that we'll love Fargo so much we'll never leave. I'm not sure whether to fear that prospect or embrace it -- I mean, it's a good thing to choose to be in a place you want to be in, right? Right?
Hi Tom -- I know that guy "fargomike." The wife actually was lucky to get the clerkship with your wonderful judge after that crazy "fargomike" accepted a tenure track position at NDSU. All that being said, the three kids they brought with them are grown and gone -- all graduates of Fargo North. Fargomike and his wife remain and really love the town and all of their friends.
It is pretty cold now though. Going to Puerto Rico soon. Thank goodness for those ABA meetings. Adele
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