How senators blow off steam
They cook, bake, go running, practice yoga and indulge in other pastimes to clear the head
When not working, they cook, bake, go running, practice yoga, shop for antique rugs and indulge in other pastimes to clear the head, fuel the soul and keep themselves healthy. Even the leaders have their distractions; the Senate majority leader, Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., loves to tailgate at University of Louisville football games, and to watch the Washington Nationals play baseball.
When he can fit it in, Sen. Chuck Schumer of New York, the Democratic leader, tools around on a bike. Here are several of the more interesting pastimes that senators enjoy.
Beekeeping: Patrick J. Toomey, R-Pa.
What got him started: Toomey began reading about beekeeping last year after a college buddy and established beekeeper piqued his interest. He became “fascinated with these creatures” and their complex social system.
When his son Patrick discovered a new beekeeping technology, he decided to go all in, with homegrown honey. He spent the spring landscaping for the arrival of his hive, including building a water source to keep bees out of his pool. Things are now buzzing along.
How it relates to his job on Capitol Hill: “When you’re in my line of work, you’re often dealing with abstractions. It’s fun to have something tangible, where you can see results.”
Certified Pilates instructor: Heidi Heitkamp, D-N.D.
What got her on the mat: Heitkamp took up Pilates at the suggestion of a friend after she lost the governor’s race in 2000.
She enjoyed it so much that the same friend said she ought to become certified to teach. She did, and went on to serve as a fill-in teacher at the local church.
How it relates to her job on Capitol Hill: The intensive breathing techniques are a boon in stressful legislative moments. “If I find myself getting anxious,” Heitkamp said, “I just focus on my core and breath.”
Random fact about Pilates: Yoga and Pilates have been used, Heitkamp said, as replacements for opioids to treat veterans.
Amateur photography: Angus King, I-Maine
What got him started: “I have been sort of an amateur photographer,” King said. “I remember having a Kodak as a kid, and I remember when I was about 10 years old I had a friend with a darkroom” who would “put the paper in the liquid and something magical would appear. Digital makes it so much easier.”
He has a minor fixation with his Instagram account, where he posts every two or three days.
How it relates to his job on Capitol Hill: King shoots views of Washington that people would not normally be able to see, like the Washington Monument from the office of Sen. Richard J. Durbin, D-Ill.
Ruck marching: Joni Ernst, R-Iowa
What got her started: Ernst, a member of the military since she was in college, was deployed to Kuwait during the Iraq War and is no stranger to long marches with heavy gear.
As a senator, she has turned that experience into a hobby, leading runs and walks around the Capitol, sometimes at the crack of dawn, with staff members, military liaison and really anyone who is willing to put on a rucksack and march at a brisk pace around the Mall in Washington, D.C. and beyond.
Random fact about ruck marching: In March Ernst participated in the Bataan Memorial Death March, a marathon-length march through the White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico, wearing a 46-pound rucksack.
Baking the perfect blueberry muffin: Susan Collins, R-Maine
What got her started: Collins learned to cook growing up in Caribou, Maine, at the arm of her mother, Pat Collins, who took copious notes while watching Julia Child on television.
She also loves to bake, and her specialty is all manner of muffins, particularly ones with Maine blueberries.
She keeps a fabulous nonstick muffin pan in her homes in Bangor and Washington, as well as in her rustic backwoods cabin at Cold Stream Pond in Maine, so it is basically nonstop muffin time.
Muffins in the life of a lawmaker? “I think given the nature of my job, cooking is just a good diversion for me,” she said. “You can’t be thinking as much about the weighty world issues or domestic problems. It’s a nice break.”
Further, unlike, say, health care legislation, “it’s very satisfying to see how all the ingredients come together like a science project.”