Mothers and daughters I am coming to understand share many seemingly insignificant rituals which form a very deep and altogether different bond than fathers and daughters. The pinning up of hair is one such enterprise. Using an antique clip, mother assists child with hair bun “winding”, clip placement and bobby pinning. This by way of contrast to my bonding activities with Maya. After months of asking for her own camping/hunting knife, I escorted her as she picked out a very serious looking knife with a 4″ blade and a single handed open and close design. I remember the feeling I had when I received my first knife and I saw the same look in her eyes. Priceless.

Note to future boyfriends. Maya has harvested (nice word for cutting the heads off) two chickens and is now armed with her own a seriously sharp weapon. Keep all your digits and appendages in their proper place and do not act like a chicken.

Each year Jeanine helps to organize a block party for the Mattison Drive community. The weather was questionable right up until the late afternoon start but the event proved to be rain free. Attendance was down somewhat from last year but those who attended had a great time. My soccer match this morning was in Dover where we secured a 5-1 win and I scored a very pretty goal beating three defenders before slotting a very strong shot past the keeper into the left hand side netting. I also picked up a rather nasty looking bruise on my upper chest just below my neck when I caught an errant cleat at some point during the game. I did not notice that I had been tagged until I emerged from my post game shower.

The fifth annual Kicks for Cancer soccer fundraiser was held this evening at the high school. Jeanine, Nico and I all attended in support of the very worthy cause. Players from all teams wear special jerseys with the name of a loved one who lost a battle with cancer in place of their own. Two years ago I photographed the event and did a Concord team photo with all the players facing backwards. It remains one of my most poignant photos. This year I captured both teams during the opening ceremony and I feel it is equally powerful. At full resolution the names of each person can be read reminding us of how many people have lost family and friends to this dreadful disease. This year the event raised more than $20,000.

Earlier in the day I completed testing of our new standby generator and the system is now fully operational. The unit will exercise itself once a week for 12 minutes to ensure it is ready should it ever be called into service.