This evening, the wetlands scientist and civil engineer we hired to presented our Notice of Intent did so in front of the Concord Natural Resource Commission which must approve all development plans for work being done in close proximity to rivers or wetlands. Our plans call for the demolition and reconstruction of our current home on the existing footprint with the addition of an attached garage which will necessitate the relocation of our septic tank and pump chamber. Fortunately, only minor issues were identified and we are optimistic that we will receive final approval for our plan at the next meeting on July 7. The house design has also been shaping up and we are very close to a final concept which now includes integration of the east and west wing basements into a single unified walk-out basement.

Kyle starts his new job with Hims & Hers on Monday and was in need of a new headshot. I was happy to take one for him and I think he will be pleased with the result. I spent the entire afternoon at his house helping him to square away a number of items in need of attention and shopping for essential new homeowner tools (tape measure, utility knife, level, and ladder).

One of the traditions of the soccer team I play for is to celebrate after each match with an après. Hosted on a rotating basis by members of the team, we get together to enjoy a few drinks and whatever’s on the grill. Although always welcome, hosting spouses and kids generally make themselves scarce due to the amount of profanity and off-color conversation that generally occurs. Yesterday was an exception. Per and his lovely wife and daughter served up a wonderful meal that featured much healthier food than our normal fare of chips and burgers. Today, members of the team received this photo memorializing the gathering. I have played soccer with some of these guys for 18 years now and I am really going to miss them as much as the game when it comes time to hang up my cleats, something I hope to postpone for as long as my knees permit.

Two months ago I began passing a pair of kidney stones (one from each kidney). It took about a week for them to make the excruciating journey from my kidneys to my bladder. This morning, I passed one of the stones out of my bladder. It measured 3mm, which corresponds with what was observed on my CAT scan. That scan also revealed more than a dozen stones still remaining in my kidneys. Jeanine has me on an improved diet and drinking a ton of water to minimize future stone production. The inauspicious start to my day left plenty of room for more interesting developments. My soccer team won our final match of the season by a margin of 4-0. I played in the striker position for the first time this year but other than making a few good passes did little to distinguish myself in the new role. Having won our division, we will enter two more weeks of playoffs to determine the overall league champion for our age group.

Later in the day, Jeanine and I joined Kyle for move-in day at his new house. Jeanine prepared a lovely dinner and helped with unpacking. I helped Kyle set up his bedroom furniture, install a pair of air conditioners and a dehumidifier in the basement.

UPDATE: Two days after this posting, I passed the second stone in the pair. This one was larger (3.5mm) and sharper. I realize these kidney stone posts may be off-putting to some but my blog does double duty as a medical journal and it is a very convenient way for me to thoroughly document these episodes.

Jeanine spent the day helping Kyle pack for the move into his new home. I fixed a leaking sink, attended a local talk on invasive species and planting for pollinators, and continued to refine our house plans. We decided to dine out in the outdoors, not because of Covid restrictions but just because it was a beautiful evening. When taking this photograph I wanted to feature the umbrellas being illuminated by the setting sun. I should have got up and walked into a position where I could have made that the foreground. Instead, it is the midground and the family at an adjacent table became the foreground. I did not realize it at the time, but I was saddened upon review to see that everyone at the table seemed to be focused on a phone or tablet. Is this the new family night out?

While walking in the Twin Pond Conservation Land with Jeanine a few weeks ago, we came across a home that has many of the design elements we are planning for our home, a standing seam metal roof, stone foundation, and lots of floor to ceiling windows. Jeanine asked me to return for a photograph so that we could examine it for design inspiration and share it with our architect. The home sits high on a bluff overlooking one of the ponds so I opted for an aerial photo to reveal more of the house.

My soccer team practices under the lights on one of two turf fields at our local high school on Thursday evenings. Today, one of the fields was covered in plywood squares and rectangles in a very distinctive pattern. I decided it was worth putting my drone up for an aerial perspective. The wood is there to protect the turf from the chairs that will be placed upon them. My guess that these are being set up for Concord’s annual town meeting which is to be held on Sunday.

I almost posted this photo of my nephew Mario in this weekend’s post about his hurling match. I choose not to because he had just missed catching the ball he was leaping for. Today, I decided I had to post it because of the sheer athleticism of the jump. It reminded me of a photo that Nico took of me during a soccer match some 16 years ago proving that we have good jumping genes in the Calabria family. Photography Tip: Nico took this photo of me from a prone position with the lens a few inches off the grass which really creates a dramatic separation of the subject from the ground. The horizon line appears well below me. I took the photo of Mario from a standing position which diminishes the separation by placing the horizon line through his midsection. Had I taken his photo from a lower angle, Mario would have appeared to have left lower Earth orbit.

On March 12, I ordered a birthday present for Jeanine’s April 12th birthday based on an estimated 3 week delivery lead time. Nearly three months later, the 10-piece set of Demeyere Atlantis cookware arrived today. In a year during which so many businesses have been impacted by Covid, it seemed like being patient was a better course of action than canceling the order. I am only venturing a guess, but I think Jeanine is very happy with the gift and that it was worth the wait. These pots and pans just exude quality workmanship and style. Not five minutes after the first saucepan was unpacked, it was put into service for the preparation of this evening’s dinner.

As of today, I am beginning my second attempt at early retirement. Digital Alloys wrapped up operations on Friday, unable to secure “C” round financing or a company interested in purchasing the going concern. I am disappointed that we did not achieve a better business outcome and was very sad to miss the last day in the office and the opportunity to thank and say goodbye to folks in person. At the same time, I am extremely proud of my team and the work that we completed over the last 18 months. It has been one of my most satisfying jobs in recent history, having had an opportunity to wade neck-deep in design and engineering. I will continue my consulting role at Formlabs for now and will remain open to other consulting or advisory roles but I am quite satisfied to call this an end to a full-time work schedule. With our permitting process well underway, I plan to throw myself fully into our new home planning and construction, and with Covid restrictions lifting, to picking up where I left off on my travel plans.

My first act as a semi-retired individual was to finally program my electric car for nighttime only charging, entitling us to a nice discount on our energy bill. A simple task that I never seemed to find time for when I was so focused on work.

Our day began with an early visit to the Minnetonka Landscape Arboreutm with Mark and Marie. There we were greeted with the above pictured “YouBetcha” Stick Sculpture by Patrick Dougherty. Made of tree saplings woven together, the installation is just as fun to wander through as it is to look at. Later we met Brook, Mario’s girlfriend, at a hurling tournament in which he was competing.

Hurling is an outdoor team game of ancient Gaelic Irish origin. The objective of the game is for players to use a wooden stick called a hurley to hit a small ball between the opponents’ goalposts either over the crossbar for one point, or under the crossbar into a net guarded by a goalkeeper for three points. The ball can be caught in the hand and carried for not more than four steps, struck in the air, or struck on the ground with the hurley. It can be kicked, or slapped with an open hand (the hand pass) for short-range passing. A player who wants to carry the ball for more than four steps has to bounce or balance the ball on the end of the stick, and the ball can only be handled twice while in the player’s possession.

Next, it was on to watch my other nephew, Rory, compete in a soccer match on the other side of town. Like his uncle, he plays the wing midfield position. Unlike his uncle, he runs like the wind and never seems to tire.

Most 92-year-olds consider watching TV until 9 PM to be an exciting Saturday evening. My mother’s idea of fun is heading out at 9 PM for an evening of ballroom dancing and staying out past midnight. It was my pleasure to accompany her to a Tango Night where she danced with four different partners for a total of ten dances. She is as graceful as ever and puts women one third her age to shame. I enjoyed watching and photographing her as well as meeting her many friends from the local dance community.

Jeanine and I flew to Minneapolis today to visit my mother, brother, and his family. It was so wonderful to be able to hug them all again and visit in person. Angela is looking radiant and has returned to full health. She has returned to the dance floor and we are looking forward to seeing her in action tomorrow night (stay tuned for photos). We visited her at the assisted living center where she resides and received the grand tour. She has a wonderful apartment filled with her artwork, all the amenities of a modern facility, and an outdoor nature area which she is stealthfully turning into a bonsai garden. We proceeded to take care of some technology issues she was having and to do a little hat and shoe shopping before arriving at my brother Mark’s house. Then it was off to collect my niece, Rose, from her soccer practice before returning to a feast prepared by my sister-in-law Marie where we were joined by my other niece, Sophia, and nephews Rory and Mario. A more perfect reunion, I cannot imagine.

Once a month I do consulting work for my former employer, Formlabs. For more than a year now, I have been doing so remotely via Zoom. Today, I was able to return to in-person meetings at the Somerville headquarters and also got to tour all of the facility improvements that have happened over the last year. I left hours in advance of my first meeting and stopped in Arlington for some birding. It made for a very relaxing start to my day.