For the second time in as many days, Nico was in front of a large audience. On this occasion, it was our congregation. Graduating seniors are invited to reflect on their growth within the church as they prepare to enter college. Nico spoke last and was the only senior to speak contemporaneously which added to the sincerity of his reflections. My favorite sound bite from his remarks when referring to the church …. “we turn out good people.” Jeanine and I were very proud of him and I might go as far as to say that we turned out a good child. Fortunately, my soccer match this morning was at 8 AM on our home field allowing me to arrive in time for the service. I managed two goals and an assist which set a very positive tone for the remainder of the day. Pictured below is the entire group of First Parish graduating seniors.

While cleaning and organizing our tool shed, a project that occupied the better part of my day, I encountered this amphibious resident. Conveniently, he jumped right into the dust bin I was using making it easy to take him indoors to show Maya and to subsequently release him into a more natural habitat. My initial posting identified this fellow as a frog. Not even close, as I learned from our neighbor. Subsequent internet research has allowed me to make the correct identification. For those interested in learning more about the American Toad I refer you to this link which I found quite informative. Maya, still recovering from a slight cold, made use of the afternoon to prepare a cake for Nico’s graduation party to be held next Saturday. It is a work of art and I cannot wait to sample the masterpiece (not fully completed as pictured here).