From Pilates to Piano — Tracking the Secret Lives of Senators
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Version 0 of 1. One sleepy day last fall, when most of the Senate had cleared out of Washington to campaign back home, I was invited by an aide of Senator Chris Coons, Democrat of Delaware, to stop by and chat with the senator about his moonlighting gig as a wedding chaplain. Always a sucker for the secret lives of senators, I happily obliged. Mr. Coons and I spent the better part of an hour tucked into a pair of comfy living room chairs discussing his commitments to the couples he marries, including the time he blew off a meeting with President Obama to get back to Delaware for a wedding. Then the election rolled around in November, and I squirreled away my notes to face the incoming flood of news. A few months later, a colleague and I had a meeting with Senator Pat Toomey, Republican of Pennsylvania, ostensibly to discuss tax reform, during which Mr. Toomey mentioned that he was about to embark on beekeeping. While my colleague patiently pressed on with questions concerning the marginal rate, Mr. Toomey and I digressed to hive innovations, the behavior of queens and the merits of home-produced honey. Once his hive arrived this summer, he invited me for a look-see. It then occurred to me that many senators likely have interesting hobbies. If I could get a few more to walk me through their leisure pursuits, we would have a fun story to tell — a welcome diversion from health care policy, intraparty fighting and presidential tweets. My editors and I decided that a photo essay was the most inviting format. We wanted a good number of lawmakers but not too many; a mix of party affiliations and compelling interests: no runners! Over the next few months, I gathered my own coalition of the willing, snooping around to find out who liked to do what and asking senators’ staff for time to watch them doing it. Happily, nearly everyone I asked was delighted to oblige. On a trip to Maine for a health care story, I visited Senator Susan Collins, a Republican, at her home in Bangor to talk community ratings ... and muffin baking. Most of the time, however, I had to do my reporting at the beginning of a long legislative day — ruck marching around the National Mall with Senator Joni Ernst, Republican of Iowa, for example, at dawn — or as the sun set behind the dome. There were some snags. The day I drove three hours each way to Mr. Toomey’s house was unseasonably cold, so his bees largely hid in the hive; our photographer had to return on a warmer day to reshoot them. When a Times-assigned photographer was suddenly unable to make a planned Pilates lesson with Senator Heidi Heitkamp, Democrat of North Dakota, I suggested that Senator Angus King, an Independent of Maine whose hobby is photography, come shoot us in action. He was pleased to comply, until I was sternly warned that it was against company policy to hire a United States senator as a freelance photographer for The Times. My bad! But mostly it was all gravy, readers. I ate the muffins baked by Ms. Collins warm from the oven and sprinkled with baking sugar. I listened to Senator Debbie Stabenow, a pianist, belt out Carole King. I learned a few things about Pilates — let us all tip our mats to Ms. Heitkamp, who arranged to be a tad late to a subcommittee hearing just to help me work my core — and won a challenge coin from Ms. Ernst for my early-morning marching efforts, even though I wore no rucksack. My only disappointment was a senator who declined to practice yoga with me, perhaps because I suggested we do the interview while inverted in tripod headstands. |