Over the weekend, the entire family toured the building pictured above. We are thinking about purchasing it as a group in 4 equal shares (Kyle:Nico:Maya:Parents). Today, Kyle and I revisited it to do a closer building inspection. We discovered undisclosed fire damage, a non-functional furnace for the top apartment, and a floor that slopes 8 inches over 25 feet. None of these are deal breakers but need to be considered should we decide to make an offer. I returned later in the day with my drone to survey the roof. We have decided to get an HVAC contractor to estimate the furnace replacement cost and to get a sense of the permitting requirements before making our decision about an offer.

Last week, I encountered a tower while walking through the woods. Today, I passed the same tower and went off the path to investigate. A peek into the dilapidated hut at its base revealed an abandoned well. The tower was for a windmill used to pump water for irrigation. A follower of this blog suspected as much and can take credit for solving the puzzle. As a prize for that bit of sleuthing, I am offering a new challenge based on an object I found later on the same walk. I know this mystery will be of special interest because this individual is a subject matter expert on gears.

Jeanine and I met up with Kyle, Nico, and Maya in Somerville to look at a mixed-use building in Somerville. The ground level houses two businesses with a three-bedroom apartment on each of the the second and third floors.

Kyle has been orchestrating the search for an investment property and Maya and Nico are interested in building equity rather than paying rent. The three are planning to pool their resources to buy the building. Nico and Maya would each take a floor and rent out their extra bedrooms. After the tour, we had lunch together and it looks like everyone wants to move forward with an offer. There are still a lot of variables to consider and hurdles to overcome but we all left feeling excited about the possibilities.

On the home front, I persuaded/coerced “glue girl” to help me assemble four drawers that will eventually be installed in my office to house camera gear.

While meeting with a former colleague at the house, he spotted a red-tailed hawk land on a nearby tree. I briefly paused our conversation to get a photo of this handsome fellow. He has been a frequent visitor, but thus far, I have never had time to wait and watch as he hunts. We have an abundance of squirrels that would make for a nice meal, and at some point in the future, I hope to capture that action.

I finally got around to designing our Holiday Card and placing the order. It will feature a photo of the family from our visit to the Lakes District in England and another of Jeanine and me during our southern road trip on the beaches of Pawley Island, South Carolina.

It has been almost a year since I built drawer boxes for the cabinetry in the River House. Today, I started another batch of four that will be used inside one of the cabinets in my office to store camera lenses and tripods. Assembly will require Jeanine’s assistance in her role as “Glue Girl.” The lock miter joint I am using requires that all eight corner surfaces have glue applied simultaneously. Working alone, I would have to do them all sequentially and this would take long enough for the glue to start curing. Working with Jeanine, we can cut that time in half. It was nice to be in the shop again but it is hard to get excited about building more drawer boxes. I think this batch will put me over 130.

Jeanine’s Audi Q4 eTron arrived today, which made for much excitement on an otherwise dreary day. It rained heavily from dawn to dusk. This did not stop Jeanine from taking it out for a run after I reviewed the controls with her. The Q4 is the baby sister of my eTron, so I am very well-versed in the extremely similar user interface. Jeanine was delighted each time we encountered a feature that was not available on my now 5-year-old car. It has a self-parking feature that she will be sure to enjoy.

We are giving Jeanine’s 8-year-old BMW X1 to Nicolai. Maya still has my old Audi Q5, and Kyle has long since sold the minivan we gave him. We call this trickle-down autonomics. With the new arrival, our house, cars, and tools are now 100% electric. We no longer own a single thing that runs on carbon-based fuel. Since our power company uses 100% renewable sources, we have substantially lowered our carbon footprint.

UPDATE: I forgot about our outdoor grill, which runs on propane. We use it rarely, but I do not see us parting ways with it any time soon.

Even on a grey and foggy day, I revel in the beauty of our river. I got out for a nice 3-mile walk and can finally declare my injured hamstring fully healed. Jeanine signed me up to play pickleball starting in a few weeks, so the timing worked well. I watched a few YouTube videos to familiarize myself with the rules, techniques, and strategies. I played on my high school tennis team and am not a half-bad ping pong player, so I think I should be able to hold my own against folks my age.

While walking in nearby woods on a path I had not taken before, I came across the pictured tower and small hut. It appeared to be some sort of radio antenna, but with no electrical service this deep in the forest, that seems an unlikely guess. I will have to consult some of our older neighbors to see if they can shed some light on this mystery.

This evening, Jeanine and I hosted a holiday gathering for members of the Conantum community where we live. Every year, about ten families volunteer to host a potluck dinner to which the remainder of the neighborhood is invited. We had 16 people join us, and they arrived with a delicious array of food that we set out on our island, where Jeanine had two pots of vegetarian soup on simmer. We turned the counter in the pantry into a staging area for the desserts, which worked out perfectly. Jeanine prepared a traditional Swedish glögg, a punch made with spiced wine and served hot, which was a hit with the group.

In a change from our tradition, our Christmas tree will not be topped with an angel this year. In honor of our new home, we have opted for a very adorable woodland gnome. Absent also are the shiny balls and tinsel, replaced by woodland creature-themed ornaments. The kids were here last weekend to help trim the tree and I finally got around to photographing it today.

Our friends, Alex and Lou Ann spent the night. More importantly, they said yes when Jeanine offered to make pancakes. Naturally, I had to partake as well because I am a most hospitable host.

A close inspection of this photo will reveal a very lumpy reflection of the sunrise in the waters of the Sudbury River. Temperatures for the last week have dipped well below freezing for much of the day and all of the night. The surface of the river has been freezing and thawing in patches, resulting in large plates of textured ice.

This evening, we hosted a gathering of friends who are the parents of Maya’s high school soccer teammates. We are fortunate to have found such lasting relationships and enjoyed hearing updates on all the girls.

Earlier in the day, I visited an urgent care center. After using a Q-tip to clean my ear, I noticed that the tip had become separated from the stick. I attempted to remove the cotton swab with tweezers and then with a tool I fashioned from double sticky tape. I decided to seek professional attention after several unsuccessful attempts. When I arrived for treatment, I became irritated when a nurse came in to measure my blood pressure, blood oxygen saturation, pulse rate, and temperature. I could not see how this had any bearing on a bit of cotton stuck in my ear. A half-hour later, I saw the doctor. He used an otoscope to look in my ear, only to discover that it was clear. I have yet to figure out this mystery but will no doubt be reminded of my irritation when I see the bill.

Now that we are settled into the new house, I finally had time today to start organizing my photography gear. I started with my tripods. I currently have five full-height versions which is two more than anyone could reasonably need. I have decided to scale that number back to three; one ultra-lightweight compact unit for hiking and air travel, one mid-weight unit for everyday use and car travel, and one heavy-duty unit to support of my large telephoto lenses. During the course of this downsizing effort, I concluded that I should dedicate one tripod to our spotting scope so that it is always deployed and ready for use. I then realized it would be nice to have a tripod dedicated to my shop where I use it in conjunction with my laser level. Before the day ended, I managed to purchase two more tripods. So much for downsizing my collection. In all fairness, I still plan to sell two leaving me with five. In a more productive exercise, I also listed one of my drones for sale.

Jeanine volunteered me to help make photo boards for the Concord 250th Celebration. These are the painted backdrops with head hole cutouts. Others will be doing the artwork, and I will be responsible for building the stands and making the cutouts. I spent a few minutes making a quick and dirty prototype this afternoon. The height of the plywood support and the spread of the legs will be adjusted to ensure that the completed assembly can handle the wind loading.

Nicolai participated in a performance art piece presented at the Harvard Art Museum today commemorating the International Day of Persons with Disabilities. Imperceptibly slow movements created an ever-changing tableau that observers were encouraged to explore.