Maya is sharing a house in Medford with several Olin students. Many of them graduated today and they were joined by their parents for a party at the house afterward. Everyone has been vaccinated and this is the first event where we all felt safe not wearing masks. Maya will graduate next year and has accepted a summer internship with electric truck maker, Rivian. Jeanine did the heavy lifting on food preparation for the event which included chicken and vegetarian enchiladas. I was on guac and photography duty but had to leave the celebration early to complete our income tax filings which were complicated by the sale of our home last year. Earlier in the day, I returned to action on the pitch and played a good 50 minutes. I kept my sprints to 90% speed just to make sure I did not reinjure my calf muscle. We dropped a goal in the first 2 minutes but fought back to secure a 3-1 win.

This morning Jeanine joined me for an early excursion to visit the owls and we were treated to our first glimpse of an owlet (locals report that two have been sighted in the nest). Sadly, it may be our last. About 30 minutes after this picture was taken, the mother was observed eating a large meal. It is possible that she had some food stashed away, perhaps another mouse like the one she caught yesterday. However, if so, why would she have waited so long to start eating it and why would she not share it with her babies. Based on our observations, it is very possible that she was eating one of the owlets. Owls have been known to do this when there is an inadequate food supply or if an offspring is not thriving for some reason. Below is the photograph that led us to this conclusion. The feathers in her beak seem very consistent with those of the owlet. I hope our suspicions are proved wrong and plan to visit the nest several more times to see how the story plays out.

I arrived at our favorite owl’s nest at the crack of dawn and only had to wait for half an hour before mom showed up with breakfast. She posed on the perch for a few seconds before going inside to feed her owlet(s). As soon as I got the shot, it was back to the house for a 9 am rendezvous with the team that is preparing our stormwater management plan. A large excavator was used to dig ten-foot deep test holes to determine the viability and location of dry wells that will capture rainwater and release it slowly (after filtering through the ground) back to the river. After two such holes, it became apparent the soil would not support proper drainage in either location. The alternative we are now considering is called a rain garden, a large depression (bowl) in the ground that can hold water temporarily on the surface. Having rented the excavator for half a day and only spent an hour digging holes, I had the operator remove three large stumps to give us a head start on the garden.

It has been over three years since I last photographed this temple and I decided to revisit it from a different angle. It is called the Boston Massachusetts Temple and serves the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. Located just a few minutes off my normal commute route, it took less than five minutes to complete a fly-over including a close-up of the figure atop the spire.

Maya (center) is pictured here with her robotics class teammates and their class project winning “Mars Rover” robot. Other teams used sonar and a wall following algorithm for navigation between target stations. Maya’s team opted to use down-facing computer vision (analyzing the herringbone brick pattern), which proved to be a more robust and efficient approach. Because she is living off-campus, this was the first time that she was able to meet with her team in person due to the Olin Covid safety protocol. For this reason, Maya was responsible for the robot’s software.

Generally, my noontime walks near work are photographically uninspiring. Not so today. Last night’s rain left a standing puddle in which freshly fallen petals had collected. The wind drove them to one side where they amassed in near a most pleasing arrangement.

Meet Devinne, one of the most promising engineers I have ever worked with. I have little doubt that she will one day be running her own engineering department or more likely, her own company. Today, I began providing headshots for employees who wanted one. I like to shoot half-body portraits which can be used as-is or cropped down to just head and shoulders if needed. Our Apollo 3 printer provides the background and I shot with an 85mm prime lens.

In celebration of Mother’s Day, the kids joined us for brunch consisting of quiche, kale salad, and fresh berries with whipped cream provided by Maya. Afterward, we visited the Concord Museum, where Jeanine was featured in an exhibit on the Women of Concord & The Quest for Equality which opened on Friday. It was the perfect setting to honor Jeanine for all she has done for our family and our community.

Our cause for celebration also included news that Nicolai had satisfied all the requirements of his Master’s Degree program. He will officially graduate in June at which time you can expect a post covering the family celebration.

Although my calf injury from last week prevented me from playing soccer this morning, I did enjoy watching my teammates soundly defeat Medfield 2-0. This is the same team that beat us last week ending our 51 game undefeated streak.

Jeanine and I were up at the crack of dawn to visit our favorite owl’s nest. There we found a female who we believe is sitting on eggs. She only popped her head up a few times and we were unable to locate her mate anywhere. As we were leaving, we ran into a gentleman who told us about another nest on the opposite side of the park. It was something of a treasure hunt to locate the second nest based on the clues he gave us but we managed to do it. Unfortunately, the nest does not appear to be occupied this season. We will no doubt check it again several more times before standing on that conclusion. Afterward, we enjoyed breakfast at the Blackbird Cafe, something we have not done since the start of the pandemic. We had to order takeout and eat in the car but it was still a treat.

Effective today, I am, in theory, immune from Covid 19. Jeanine, Nicolai, and Maya have already reached this milestone with Kyle just two weeks behind me. The feeling of liberation is wonderful and I feel as free as the various birds flitting about in our backyard.

This afternoon, I enjoyed my (healthy) lunch at Horn Pond which is just a few miles from work. After eating my chickpea fritter pita sandwich, I put my drone up for an ariel view of the pond and surroundings.

One of the perks of living in the Conantum community is that we share several common spaces. One of those is a community garden. Jeanine is pictured here tending to our section of the garden which she plans to use primarily for herbs. The garden is a short walk from our house and is also an excellent birding destination.

The hawk pictured here was perched on the opposite side of the river when I returned from an evening stroll with Jeanine. It was considerate enough to remain there until I could get my telephoto lens and camera set up. No sooner than I captured the regal pose above, it took off down the river. Unexpectedly, a swallow entered the frame as I was following the hawk in flight. Neither appeared to be chasing the other, just sharing the air space.

Today my soccer team lost 2-1, ending a 51 match undefeated streak in our Over-55 league. We picked up a first-half lead with a beautiful long-distance rocket of a goal but were unable to keep Medfield from scoring twice in the second half. It would be easy to blame our injury-impaired roster, which now includes me, but the fact is our opponent played a better match and deserved the win. I pulled my left calf muscle just below the knee early in the second half and had to watch our unfolding defeat from the sidelines. From prior experience, it will take several weeks for this type of injury to heal and may represent the end of the season for me. It is said that all good things must come to an end and now that is true of the Concord United Veterans 51 game undefeated streak. The sting of the loss is lessened by the knowledge that this league record will probably stand forever.