Since Tuesday, we have been enjoying a visit from Kris Earle, Jeanine’s best friend from childhood. The three of us were in the mood for an outing and decided to head to Essex where we had lunch at Periwinkles Restaurant, famous for their New England clam chowder and seafood. Our next stop was the Peabody Essex Museum to see their newest exhibit, “Audacious: The Fine Art of Wood.” As both a woodworker and engineer, I was blown away by the collection. I found myself unable to comprehend how some of the pieces were fabricated. My appreciation for their aesthetic beauty was equally matched by an awareness of how difficult they were to create. We ended the day with a brief tour of historic Derby Wharf in Salem.

It was my turn in the carpool to drive Maya and three of her friends to crew practice at CRI. While the girls were working out, I took a nice 5 mile stroll along the Charles River. I kept looking for Maya on the water but later learned her crew was practicing indoors. Aside from pausing for the occasional photo I had plenty of time to formulate the perfect April Fools day prank. With the help of her team’s assistant coach, I hid behind the main counter of the facility when the girls came down from their workout. When Maya called to inquire about my ETA, I answered from my concealed position on the other side of the counter telling her I had gone to do photography in the Mount Auburn Cemetery and had become lost (Jeanine had taken the power cord from the Garmin and I had to rely on her friend Maddie for driving instructions to CRI so this was a very plausible scenario). I asked Maya to put Maddie on the phone to try and give me directions. Naturally I ensured this was a fruitless conversation and the phone was passed back to Maya. I told her that it would take me 40 minutes to get there with traffic. As she expressed her considerable exasperation, I stood up from behind the counter while still talking to her on the phone. It took her more than several seconds to realize it was me since her mental frame of reference placed me in my car very far away. As a bonus, I roped Jeanine into the prank when she texted to remind me of my pickup obligations (knowing I am prone to forget these sort of things). I played on her guilt for removing the Garmin power cord (reason I was lost) as well as her knowledge of my absent mindedness when emerged in photography. Her final text to me before calling all the other parents to inform them of my tardiness was, and I quote, “You suck at carpooling.” The joke was appreciated by all in the car but probably less so by their parents who had called to inform the girls of the non-existent delay.