My cousin Vincent recently had his Dear Diary entry posted in the New York Times, Metropolitan Daily. He is a mechanical genius and man of many talents but I had no idea he was also such a good writer.

Dear Diary:

If I had a few bucks and the weather wasn’t terrible, I would bundle up and take the subway from Bay Ridge to Coney Island.

Truthfully, this was about all I could manage. I was 17, and my mother had just died. Soon, I would be on my own.

At some point along the way, the train exited the tunnel’s darkness into dazzling daylight. Then on to Coney Island and Stillwell Avenue, the end of the line.

Downstairs, Philip’s Candy was my source for chocolate licorice. The windows were darkened with dust from the station above.

Across the street was the Cyclone. According to a childhood legend: “Once kids were playing with the controls in the first car, and the coaster left the track and got chopped up in the Wonder Wheel!”

To the right was the original Nathan’s. They had crinkle cut French fries and hot dogs with snap. My mom once bought a crinkle cut potato slicer to make us fries like the ones at Nathan’s.

To the left was Eldorado Auto Skooter: bumper cars with disco lighting and a body-slamming sound system. Possibly the greatest invention of all time.

Further down was the carousel. Majestic and fast-moving, a menagerie of surging, vivid animals amid a harrumphing organ with castanets and cymbals. It was operated by the world’s saddest-looking man.

On the boardwalk, if the sun was shining, people of every stripe would be out and about. Some were ancient residents, their skin like leather from years baking in the sun.

Coney Island is best in winter, when it’s in quiet repose. It’s soulful and shabby and old. And timeless like those residents in their sun-blasted skin.

It was all there for me.

— Vincent Barkley

I spent several hours today putting the finishing touches on the interior of Maya’s tiny house. The work included installing two light fixtures, connecting the drain for the bathroom sink, completing the wiring for the induction cooktop, installing floor molding, and doing some additional caulking and painting. All that remains is to build and install a ladder for the loft and mount one additional light fixture. For the moment, the tiny house is ready to be shown to potential buyers. We are offering to sell it with the Road House or to an independent buyer and will actively start marketing it on Monday.

Maya shared this video of her visit to Katmai National Park. The park’s bear population is not only a crucial aspect of its ecosystem but also a significant draw for wildlife enthusiasts and photographers. Katmai’s management practices aim to minimize human-bear conflicts, allowing these magnificent creatures to thrive. Rangers educate visitors on maintaining safe distances and respecting the bears’ space, ensuring a balance between tourism and conservation. When Jeanine and I visited Alaska, we also joined a bear-watching excursion, which remains one of our vacation’s highlights. I am looking forward to hearing Maya’s first-hand account of their experience.

With all of the damage to the tiny house repaired, my attention today turned to completing some of the trim work that was never finished in the first place. The biggest challenge was building a “cap” to cover the end of the loft platform. The job was made more complicated when structural reinforcements were added to that area of the platform. I decided to use leftover bamboo plywood for the project. Not obvious from the photo is the fact that this end cap is roughly 8 feet long with 4 1/4″ wide sides that are only 1/8″ thick. Building this was quite challenging and although it was very fragile as pictured, it became very strong when glued over the solid wood end of the loft platform.

Maya and Owen shared these vacation photos from Alaska. I believe they were taken in Denali’s Polychrome Glacier Field where the intrepid couple did some backcountry camping and serious hiking. We are thrilled to see Maya looking so happy. She is clearly in her element and must be eating very well because she appears to have gone through a massive growth spurt. By the end of the week, I would not be surprised if she is taller than Owen.

Maya has been slowly repairing her tiny house which was damaged when a massive maple tree limb landed on it. She fixed all of the structural issues, replaced a section of compromised subflooring and topped it with cork, replaced all of the broken clapboards and painted them, replaced the damaged corner trim., and added two columns to fortify the previously cantilevered storage loft. When the Road House sells, the tiny house will need a new home and Maya has decided that the time has come to sell it. We have offered to bundle it with our sale which means that all repairs and finishing work need to be completed soon. With Maya in Alaska at the moment, I used the day to address several remaining issues, most notably the metal roof. Removing all the dents was impossible, but I got it back into the correct shape and looking somewhat respectable again. I also remounted the outdoor light fixture, painted the new support posts and trim, and built thresholds for the transitions from the new cork flooring to the existing bamboo flooring. I believe the remaining interior trim work will only take a few more days to finish.

Jeanine baked a pair of quiches today. One to take with her to the Cape where she will be spending the night with friends later this week. The other was for lunch today with a former colleague. Fortunately, I was allowed to share in the latter and as you might have guessed, it was delicious.

Having completely moved into the River House, the time has come to put the Road House up for sale. We will be selling it ourselves using Zillow as the listing platform starting later this week. Yesterday, we sent out a flyer to neighbors and friends to pass along to anyone they know who might be interested in the property. With Maya’s approval, buyers will have the option to purchase her tiny house as well. I spent the day doing some final touch-up work and getting drone photos for the listing. Staging is scheduled for Tuesday after which I will capture some interior views. I also identified and studied comparable homes for sale in Concord to determine our listing price. After conferring with Jeanine we have decided to list the house for $1.25M, a considerable discount from the current Zillow estimate of $1.38M with the hope it will move quickly. Should anyone who follows this blog know of a potential buyer, we would appreciate your passing along the information below.

47 Old Road to Nine Acre Corner

• Location: Convenient access to Route 2, commuter rail, and top-rated schools.
• Colonial Charm: This meticulously maintained home boasts a classic colonial facade, quaint screened-in porch, attached 2-car garage, ample storage with two attics, a full basement, and a shed.  
• Spacious Interior: With over 1974 square feet of living space, including 3 bedrooms, and 2.5 bathrooms, the family has plenty of room to spread out and relax.
• Modern Upgrades: Built in 1937, the interior has been thoughtfully updated to offer contemporary conveniences while preserving the home’s historic character. Highlights include a gourmet kitchen with stainless steel appliances, hardwood floors, and a cozy fireplace, first-floor office space with mudroom, upstairs laundry, and an en suite bathroom in the primary.The 2-car attached garage features an electric car charger.
• Outdoor Oasis: Step outside to your private retreat, .80 acres complete with lush landscaping, a sprawling backyard, and a screened-in porch for entertaining guests or simply enjoying your park-like setting. Available with or without a backyard tiny house on wheels.

Set on a lovely flat wooded lot, this updated colonial has it all! Recently renovated from top to bottom with an open concept kitchen/dining room, this is the house you have been waiting for! Amazing kitchen with white cabinetry, large island, quartz countertops, Wolf gas range, Bosch Dishwasher and Fisher & Paykel Refrigerator! Close to major routes and town center! Lovely living room with wood burning fireplace and custom built-ins. Hardwood floors throughout. Attached two car garage opens to an amazing mud room area with large closet and access to the back yard. Convenient first floor office / playroom space right off the kitchen. First floor is completed by a half bath and a wonderful screened in porch overlooking the large private back yard. Upstairs you will find laundry, three bedrooms and two full bathrooms including the master with en suite bathroom with double sinks and lots of closet space. Move right in and truly enjoy everything Concord has to offer.

A frequent visitor in our yard is the Pileated Woodpecker one of the largest woodpeckers found in North America with an average length of 16 to 19 inches and a wingspan of about 26 to 30 inches. Pictured above is a male, distinguished by a red stripe on his cheek (females have a black stripe) that I caught prospecting for snacks. I recently learned about their importance to the forest ecology. By creating large cavities in trees while excavating for food, they provide critical habitats for other species, such as smaller birds, mammals, and even insects. I also discovered that the sound they make while pecking is a form of communication used to establish territory and attract mates.

Last weekend we moved the last of our belongings from the Road House to the River House garage. Jeanine and I spent a good portion of the day relocating various items to their final destination in the house while organizing those that remained in the garage.

With the River House now completed, we have been doing a lot more entertaining. Our guests this evening included the woman who did our native species planting plan, her husband, and the CEO of our local newspaper. Pictured above is what happens when you put the flash on your camera, set it to bounce off the ceiling, and then forget to turn it on for the photo.

With the addition of two babies, our resident groundhog family is now four in number. While extremely cute, they have voracious appetites and are starting to make a significant dent in our landscape plantings. The clover we use as a ground cover appears to be their favorite early morning, mid-morning, late morning, early afternoon, and later afternoon snack. Suffice it to say, something must be done to address the free buffet overindulgence.

Jeanine and I met up with Maya this evening so that we could give her an early birthday present. She and Owen will be leaving for a ten-day vacation in Alaska on Friday. Jeanine thought a pair of binoculars would be the perfect gift and I went into research mode to buy the optimal pair. When we arrived at Maya’s apartment, she proudly displayed her camping gear and packing list items laid out on her bed. The binoculars proved to be the perfect addition to her kit.

Later, we stepped out for pizza and enjoyed hearing about Maya’s latest exploits at work. Afterward, we decided to take a short walk to visit the original Markforged office/machine shop where Maya had her first internship and I did my first 3D printing gig. The signature red door was still there and the machine shop was abuzz with activity in what appeared to be some sort of maker space. Also still present but updated was the psychedelic building mural that I used to pass on my way to lunch.

Several weeks ago, a massive tree limb fell on top of and destroyed our neighbor’s sunroom. This happened during the same windstorm that took down several of our trees. Today, their new sunroom was flown into place, literally. I decided to capture the event with my drone and got a pretty decent result until I flew it into a tree. As determined by laser measurement, the drone was stranded 44 feet above the ground on top of a large limb. Retrieving it occupied the better part of my afternoon. I fashioned a harpoon from a steel tube I had lying around. To this, I added a cheap ($19) fishing reel and a 3-foot length of surgical tubing. I used a 24-inch long dowel rod as a harpoon with fishing line taped to one end. Recovering the drone was a three-phase operation. Phase 1: Send the harpoon over a dead branch and pull it down for a clear shot at the limb on which the drone is stranded. Phase 2: Send the harpoon over the branch holding the drone. Use the fishing line to pull a light-weight cord over the limb. Use that cord to pull a large rope up and over. Phase 3: Rhythmically pull on the rope to get the branch swaying until the drone becomes dislodged. It took about 5 attempts on each branch to get the needed harpoon trajectory. Retrieving the harpoon on failed attempts was time consuming because I was firing from the edge of a steep bank. When I finally liberated the drone, it landed just two feet from the river on its muddy bank. This proved to be quite fortunate from an impact perspective but I had to crawl on my belly through the underbrush to reach it. Neither the snake or snapping turtle that I imagined would bite me ever showed up. After cleaning off the mud, the drone checked out fine and I will be more mindful in the future when flying close to trees.

When I tell people that I have passed hundreds of kidney stones, I suspect they rarely believe me. Pictured above is a collection that represents about a quarter of the stones that have passed through my body. Capturing them is inconvenient. Think pee bottle and coffee filter, not something you tend to carry around with you. The pain associated with each stone is a function of size and surface texture. The smallest stones are more like grains of sand but they often come in large numbers which can be just as painful as the larger stones. About 10% of older men can expect to have a kidney stone at some point. The best preventative is to drink lots of water, something I struggle with because I have a nearly absent thirst reflex. I wish I was not plagued with these stones but I have been blessed in so many other ways that I consider it a fair price to pay.