Normally, it is rather difficult to photograph insects, especially if they can fly. I found this moth resting on the outside of a house window and was able to capture this image by placing my camera with a macro lens directly on the other side of the glass. It is not a particularly interesting photograph, but I was otherwise occupied doing yard work for much of the day.
For the first time since moving to the River House, I was able to capture a photo of our River Otters. Jeanine spotted them heading down to Fairhaven Bay. By the time I got my camera, they were out of range. Two hours later, they passed by in the other direction, and I got my first decent shots. Although the second one is blurry, if you look closely, you will see that this otter has a fish in his mouth. The kids and Owen were all here to watch soccer and trim the Christmas tree. They all got to see them for the first time as well.
I am a proponent of the artificial Christmas tree. Jeanine is not. I do not like the idea of cutting down live trees year after year only to dispose of them a month later. Also, I like the fact that they can be pre-wired and set up quickly with little mess. Jeanine likes the beauty and fragrance of a real tree. This year, I acquiesced to her wishes. Consistent with our smaller house, we found a smaller tree, which may be a good compromise for us. It was easy to find, transport, and set up with little fuss. It took less resources to grow and will produce a smaller amount of waste. We are hoping the kids will join us tomorrow to begin decorating it.
Jeanine, Susan, and Jean visited the Concord Museum this morning before traveling to Medford to visit Kyle and see his new house. Upon their return, they launched into a serious dominos tournament. I took advantage of Black Friday sales to do some needed shopping. Of most significance, and after extensive research, I ordered a sectional couch to replace our one-year-old sofa. The latter did not meet with the kids’ approval because it was too formal and not conducive to sprawling out. Jeanine was not a fan either, as it did not provide adequate seating for larger gatherings. The new couch is a custom order and is expected to arrive in early April.
We celebrated our first Thanksgiving in the new house with much to be thankful for. We were joined by the kids, Aunt Susan and Jean, Maya’s boyfriend, Owen, and Kyle’s flatmate, Heloisa. Maya and Owen caught a quick nap after competing in a 5K turkey trot this morning.
Nico had a visit from Robin, a close friend from Colorado College while Maya invited her high school friends Grace, Claire, and Zoe over for coffee after the race.
We also received wonderful news that my nephew, Mario, will be getting married on July 20th in Ireland. We are already starting to plan for the nuptial and family reunion.
Jeanine baked a pumpkin cheesecake for our Thanksgiving meal tomorrow. She used one of the steam modes available on our oven for the first time for this recipe. Based on appearance alone the results were excellent. The proof will be in the pudding.
Nicolai informed us that he will perform as part of a movement installation at the Harvard Art Museum next week.
“The work invites performers and audience members alike to consider societal “norms” about disability and celebrates difference as an affirmation of our humanity. Performers– a mix of Harvard students, staff, and community members– will create sculptural compositions of their own making which will slowly evolve in real time over the course of the hour.”
We are so accustomed to hearing about his athletic exploits that this came as a surprise, a delightful one. We are both planning to attend.
My soccer team, the Concord United Dragons, secured our over-62 division state title this afternoon. I had hoped to play, but a few warm-up sprints convinced me that my hamstring injury from two weeks ago had not yet healed sufficiently. It was a very competitive match, which remained scoreless through the first half. Early in the second, we picked up a beautiful goal that felt like it could be the winner, but Everett, our opponent, responded with an equalizer 15 minutes later. With less than three minutes remaining and both teams playing flat out for the win, we found the back of the net, earning us the championship and trophy. After the match, we gathered at a local pub and enjoyed a rather raucous celebration.
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Jeanine’s office has been the repository for all the boxes containing books we kept during our recent moves. She has recently started sorting them and selecting ones to keep and donate. I have been enlisted to move the keepers into the basement until such time that I have completed building the bookshelves for her office. Some of the boxes contain old photos, including the one above featuring me and my Alpha Romeo Spider, perhaps my favorite cars of all time. This car accompanied me on my journeys, first from Schenectady, NY, to Indianapolis, IN, and then on to Stanford, CA. It was with me during some of the most transformative times of my young life and is a reminder of some of my fondest memories. Hard to imagine it has been 45 years since this photo was taken. It seems like only yesterday if I look past the full head of hair and fit body.
Kyle has initiated a plan to purchase a triple-unit home somewhere in the Boston area. The idea is that each sibling would own one of the units. The concept is still in its infancy, but Nicolai and Maya seem interested in exploring the possibilities, and Kyle has already started identifying possible candidates. Jeanine and I like the idea and will be very interested to see what develops.
Pictured above is the Cambridge Reservoir. It is almost entirely devoid of water. We have been experiencing drought conditions in Massachusetts for the last several weeks. This has led to the highest level of wildfire warnings we have ever seen since moving here some twenty years ago. Thankfully, we received rain today, and more is forecast for tomorrow.
For large parts of the year, the wetlands in the foreground of the photo above are underwater. We have had very little rain for the last three months, allowing the area to dry out. Surprisingly, this has introduced a lovely palette of colors. Fortunately, there is rain in the forecast for this evening which we badly need.
All the leaves are brown
And the sky is gray
I’ve been for a walk
On a winter’s day
These California Dreaming lyrics came to mind as I took an extended walk today as part of my hamstring rehab routine. While the leaves may have lost all their color, not so for this Purple Japanese Barberry shrub, which I encountered on my excursion. At the time of my injury, I thought my season was over. Now, I feel like there is a 50/50 chance I will have healed enough to play in the finals this Sunday. Time will tell if this is just a dream.
I spent most of the day narrowing down options for a new sofa to replace the old one (less than a year old), which the kids have declared unacceptable. Jeanine has approved the final candidate, although we still have to settle on fabric and color. I verified that it fits in our living area when configured with our two swivel chairs, and the only downside is that it will not arrive until March if we order now.
While on our recent road trip in Jeanine’s 2016 BMW X1, we crossed the 100,000-mile threshold. It remains in excellent working order, and it just got a set of four new tires. Even so, we decided it was time for Jeanine to get a new car. It is also an opportunity to divest ourselves of the last remaining carbon-emitting thing in our lives, hence the decision to get an all-electric vehicle. Car shopping is not Jeanine’s thing so I narrowed the set of choices. She has been happy with the mid-size SUV format of the X1 so I down selected for that configuration. The cars I recommended; Volvo EX30, Audi Q4 Etron, VW ID4, Tesla Model Y, Kia EV6. The Volvo was her first pick but will not be available until later next year. The VW is on a sales hold while a door handle defect is corrected (no telling when). Our mutual feelings about Elon Musk precluded the Tesla from consideration as well as my prior issues with the Model X I briefly owned. The Kia was rejected for questionable styling attributes. That left us with the Audi Q4 Etron the baby brother of my Etron. Jeanine insisted I check for a used car before looking at new ones, something I felt would be a waste of time given that the Q4 was just introduced last year. She did not want the pressure of having to worry about being ultra careful with a new car. Low and behold, we found exactly one used car in the color she wanted at a dealer in Connecticut. I made the 100 mile trip to East Windsor, inspected the car for damage, and did a test drive. If not for the 10,000 miles on the odometer, the car was indistinguishable from new and was the fully loaded Prestige 50 Quattro all-wheel drive version with a range of 236 miles. After some price negotiation, I purchased the car and it will be delivered to us in Concord in about two weeks.
Now that we have been living in our new house for some time, we have mostly settled on what should go in each of the 44 drawers in the kitchen. Today, I worked on building partitions to keep the contents organized. It is somewhat time-consuming but also very satisfying once everything has its place. With only five completed so far, I will have plenty to keep me busy over the winter when I most enjoy spending time in the shop.
Maya has been dating Owen for a little over 2 years now. He is Canadian and grew up in Waterloo, where he attended university before moving to Boston for a job with Formlabs as a mechanical engineer. His parents still maintain a home there but temporarily live in Dallas, where his father is Group Vice President for the Quality Division of Toyota Motor, North America. His mother is a retired CPA. Jeanine and I met them for the first time this evening when we hosted them and the kids for dinner. We had a wonderful evening, and we will be reminded of it every day for the next week as we ration out the beautiful chocolates we received as a gift.
Ever since purchasing a new sofa for the River House, there has been nothing but complaints from Jeanine and the kids. When Jeanine and I made the selection last year, it met all of the requirements we had established at the time: part of an arrangement to seat five, organic shape, low profile, and sized to fit our space. We forgot to consider sprawl, however. Our kids grew up with a Thayer Coggin couch on which all three could lay down and nap simultaneously. Even though that sectional was still in good condition, it was too large to fit in the new house and we were fortunate to sell it with our last house. Today, I acquiesced to the relentless pressure and began the search for a new sectional sofa. I am doing the leg work while Jeanine is busy with her volunteer work. She and the kids will all be required to sign an acceptance agreement before we buy the replacement. For the record, the new couch will allow for the sprawl of only two adults. A third adult can sprawl on the sofa in the adjacent home theater.
Pictured above are my brother (right) and I attempting to remove a log from the Mohawk River near Cohoes Falls. I was reminded of this image by my cousin Vincent, who shared a remembrance of my father’s best friend, a musician named Alex Rymanowski. We used to go to the river and wade out through the shallow water to an uninhabited island. Vincent came across an article in Modern Machine Shop about a Dennis Rymanowski, the son or nephew of Alex (Al) who with Dennis continued the Rymanowski Band long after Alex passed away and his brother John retired. What a blast from the past. Vincent also shared a story of meeting a guy in Maryland on their first day of work only to discover that he was driving the Corvette previously owned by the Vice Principal of the high school I attended in Schenectady, NY. Hard to imagine the probability of either of these connections and Vincent’s ability to connect the dots.
There are currently six Wienermobiles in existence, all of which are actively used for promotional purposes across the United States. Today, while driving to lunch with Jeanine, we encountered one in the wild. These iconic hot dog-shaped vehicles are part of a marketing campaign by Oscar Mayer and are driven by a select group of college graduates known as “Hotdoggers”. The Wienermobile fleet has a rich history, with the first model introduced in 1936. Since then, the fleet has seen various iterations and upgrades, but the current lineup consists of six vehicles that tour the country year-round, often appearing at events and parades.
The boys joined us this evening to watch the finals of the inaugural Women’s Amputee Soccer World Cup. Kyle arrived with dinner in hand, a godsend since Jeanine was otherwise occupied, and told me I was on my own for food. The finals were between the USA and the host nation, Columbia. The match ended in a 1:1 tie and was decided by a one-goal difference in the penalty kick shootout, with Columbia the victor. Although it was a disappointing result for the Americans, the tournament represents a major milestone in the sport of Amputee Soccer.
My own soccer career may have come to an end this morning. During our final match of the season before the playoffs, I suffered a fairly severe hamstring injury. For some time now, I have been wondering how many more seasons I have in me (or rather, how many more miles I can put on my decrepit knees), and today’s injury may be the signal that it is time to hang up my cleats. Time will tell.
Postscript: We won our match 2:0, and I played 70 minutes as a striker. My injury happened after I intercepted a clearance and had a good opportunity to score.
Jeanine and I enjoyed a plant-shopping outing today. We purchased four small troughs that fit neatly on the window sill over the kitchen sink. I filled one with succulents, and Jeanine filled the other three with herbs and lovely little plants. It was a small effort with a massive joy dividend.
One of my soccer teammates is a season ticket holder for the New England Revolution. He made me aware of a recent article in the organization’s “From The Pitch” newsletter that features Nicolai and amputee soccer. I look forward to the day when Nico makes me aware of such media coverage rather than having to learn about it from friends after the fact.
Conantum, our neighborhood, includes common land shared by all residents. It includes our community gardens, a ball field, and a pollinator garden. It is pictured above in the late afternoon sun. I was on my way to the post office when I stopped for this photo. Something about the play of light, color, and composition appealed to me.
Jeanine and I visited a bonsai nursery today. Few things bring me a greater sense of peace and serenity than looking at these living works of art. I am increasingly tempted to acquire one of these trees, but I need to learn more about their care and maintenance before forking over between $2,000 – $4,000 for one that I really like. As a placeholder, I purchased this Gold Mop Threadleaf Cypress from the discount table of our local nursery for $12. I gave it an initial trimming of branches and roots and installed it in a pot we had lying around. I am not sure it will survive but I found the stress leaving my body as I completed the project.
The kids and Jeanine all voted today. I voted early 2 weeks ago. I am pleased that the entire family did their civic duty. Nothing to do now but sit back and wait nervously. To distract myself, I completed the waterproofing around the base of my shop door, something I discovered that our builder failed to do. I used seven lifts of epoxy topped with an outdoor caulk. The epoxy is thin enough to penetrate deep into crevices but is time-consuming to mix and apply; each layer took about 20 minutes and kept me busy for most of the morning. Rather than stressing over the election results, I spent the remainder of the day listening to music. I discovered several new artist that appealed to me including this pair of beat boxers.
Concord 250 celebration to be held on April 19, 2025, commemorates the semiquincentennial, or 250th anniversary of the American Revolution, which began here in Concord and Lexington. Jeanine has volunteered to help with the planning and is working with a team to bring food trucks to the event. This morning, she asked me to take an aerial photo of the downtown parking lot, which will be transformed into a food court with food trucks (orange), food trailers (green), food tents (pink), portable toilets (cyan), and large tents over centrally located picnic tables. I added the graphics per her guidance, and she will use the image for an upcoming presentation. The plan will likely go through several iterations before a final layout is selected.
Jeanine is in charge of food truck selection for the upcoming Concord 250th Celebration. Today, she drove with a fellow committee member to Princeton, MA for the Fall Food Truck Fest to conduct research. She returned with many new connections and a better sense of the logistics involved. She also informed me that she would not be having dinner tonight due to the extent of her research.
This morning, my soccer team was out for revenge against Lexington, the only team that has handed us a loss in the last two years. We emerged victorious 1:0 after they gave up an own goal towards the end of the game, making us the Division Champions for the 13th season in a row. I played in a three-man rotation at the right-wing midfield position. That translates to 30 minutes of playing time in a 90-minute match. Under other circumstances, I would have been disappointed, but today, I was happy for the limited action. Let’s just say that I didn’t get a lot of exercise on our recent southern road trip while being fed almost constantly by each family member we visited. Even so, I managed a powerful shot on goal from the top of the 18 yard box that would have slipped under the bar except for a valiant hand deflection by the goalie. It was possibly the best shot on frame for our team.
When we returned from our road trip last night, it was already dark, and it was challenging to navigate the driveway because it was entirely covered in leaves. While it was wonderful to be back home, it was depressing to see that almost all the leaves are down now. After clearing the driveway, Jeanine helped me install snow sticks so that we are ready for winter. I am sad that autumn is coming to an end, but I am thankful for what has probably been the most spectacular fall ever.
As much as we enjoyed our road trip, Jeanine and I were ready to sleep in our own bed. We decided to complete our ~3,000-mile journey with a 14-hour push for home. We stopped for breakfast and a short hike at the Big Meadows Lodge in the Shenandoah National Park but otherwise just kept heading north. Although the foliage was past peak, even the muted colors created a lovely natural quilt to cover the rolling mountains.
