Kyle has moved into a Seaport District apartment where he will spend the next 6 weeks cat-sitting and generally looking after the place. Meanwhile, he has rented out both floors of his house in Medford. That kid does not miss a trick.

I spent the day installing wood filler panels under all countertops throughout the house where a drawer is located directly underneath, twenty in total. Without these panels, it would be possible for an item in an overstuffed drawer to get caught on the front lip of the countertop, preventing the drawer from opening. In such an event, the only remedy would be to cut the bottom of the drawer out from below, allowing the jam to release. Admittedly, this is a low probability occurance but the consequence is dire enough to warrant the full day project and $200 materials cost.

Hopefully, a day will come when I photograph one of our local Bald Eagles at the exact moment they pluck a fish from the river. Until then, the photo above, taken yesterday, will be my favorite of a local raptor. I was working at my computer when I saw him/her flying down the river out of the corner of my eye. I immediately grabbed my camera and headed outside just as it banked to reverse course. The lighting was perfect, and I nailed focus. I managed a few more decent shots in the sequence and feel so grateful to live in a place where we can witness such majestic beauty.

Ever since we completed the River House, Jeanine and I have struggled to select artwork that we can both agree on. Today, Jeanine suggested we get out of the house for an adventure, and I reluctantly agreed to visit several local art galleries. When we entered the Three Stones Gallery in downtown Concord, we were both immediately drawn to the works of local artist Joan Kocak. Kocak creates her art using encaustic photography, a process in which layers of beeswax and resin are fused onto a photographic image with a blowtorch, creating both texture and a durable seal. The scenes in the collection we purchased are from the Great Brook State Park, located one town over in Carlisle. Before mounting them in our kitchen, I used cardboard stand-ins to refine placement and spacing.

In the past, either Jeanine or I would compromise on joint art decisions, invariably leaving one of us dissatisfied down the road. Based on that history, we resolved not to acquire anything new unless we both loved it without reservation. Thank you, Joan Kocak.

A normal child lets his family know when he has been featured on a television newscast. Today, I stumbled across a year-old piece that was broadcast by our Boston CBS affiliate, identifying Nico as a Change Maker. The segment is very well done and covers Nico’s involvement with the US Amputee Soccer team, his work with the Bionic Project, and his efforts to promote amputee soccer locally.

Would you buy a homeowner’s or car insurance policy if you knew that the person selling it to you was keeping 85% of the premium as a commission on the sale? Only if you were an idiot, I would venture to assert! And yet, when it comes to title insurance, this is the typical commission earned by the lawyer or real estate agent whom you are paying to represent your interests in the closing. In Iowa, the state has banned private title insurance and offers homeowners the same coverage for $175. The lawyer I was about to hire to close our recent real estate purchase provided an engagement letter in which we would agree to pay them $975 for the closing work and an additional $8,550 for mandatory title insurance, of which they would get a kick-back of $7,268. Fortunately, we are doing an all-cash deal and are therefore not required to purchase title insurance. If ever there was a totally legal scam, this is it. Buyer beware!

After my journey through the fine print of the engagement letter, I let the attorney know we would be choosing to work with someone else to close the sale, and I am reviewing quotes from three new lawyers who do not require clients to purchase title insurance through them.

Although I consider myself officially retired, I continue to do limited consulting for select companies. One of my clients is Formlabs, where I help members of the engineering and manufacturing teams with career counseling, executive coaching, conflict resolution, and generally provide advice based on 35 years of experience as an engineering leader. I do this on-site once a month. I typically meet individually with 9 or 10 employees for 30 minutes, separated by a 15-minute break to record my notes, which I review at the end of the day with senior staff. When she is not tied up in meetings, I have lunch with Maya, who is a Technical Program Manager at the company. With my commute, it makes for an eleven-hour marathon, and while it leaves me fully spent, I find the work very rewarding.

This morning, I left extra early so that I could pick up some Baltic birch plywood for a project I have been putting off for some time. It was still dark with a dense fog hovering over the ground, producing an otherworldly glow from the driveway border lighting.

Kyle and his running buddies have moved on from Ocho Rios to Negril for the second half of their Jamaican vacation. Judging from the phone in his hand, I suspect Kyle took this photo with his drone. It was not all beach lounging and sun for Kyle today. He had to initiate a large wire transfer of the binding deposit to accompany the Purchase and Sale Agreement for the Somer House, which the kids are buying jointly. All signatures have been secured, and the deal is set to close on April 15th.

For months now, the Sudbury River has been frozen, making many new activities possible for both humans and critters. We have observed snowshoers, cross-country skiers, dog walkers, and bicyclists (you read that correctly) wending their way up and down, over and back. The depth of the snow covering prevented the one activity you would expect on a frozen river: ice skating. We have also sighted deer, coyotes, and foxes crossing the frozen expanse to explore new territories on the opposite bank.

Today, as the temperature reached 75°F, the ice has started to melt in a pattern that maps out the natural springs below. If the weather forecast holds, the river will have fully thawed by the end of the week and, absent a cold snap, will remain that way until next winter.

Kyle and his running buddies look to be enjoying their vacation in Ocho Rios, Jamaica. I believe they plan to move on to Negril later in the week. I find myself wondering if they are actually doing any running or if this is more of a lounging on the beach type of holiday.

Jeanine and I did our own little run this evening, to Logan Airport. This was at Kyle’s request to search for a set of keys that apparently fell out of an unzipped pocket of his backpack. Fortunately, they are on a fob with an AirTag, so he was able to share the location with us. Regretably, we were unable to retrieve them despite assistance from a very helpful TSA agent who searched for them beyond the security perimeter. Although it appears that the keys are outside the building, the map has not been updated to reflect the new boundaries of the recently renovated Terminal E, which now includes the tagged location. Hopefully, the keys will be located by airport cleaners and will be waiting for Kyle in the Lost & Found when he returns.

Last night, Jeanine and I attended the inaugural “Brighter Together” parade and community celebration in downtown Concord. Over three hundred town residents turned up to participate. Brighter Together aims to create an annual winter tradition that lifts spirits, strengthens community bonds, and celebrates people of all ages, local businesses, and cultural organizations. Photographing by lantern light was a bit of a challenge, but enjoyable nonetheless.

For Christmas, Maya gifted Jeanine an all-day metalworking class where students learned to shape metal into art using anticlastic forming, which involves manipulating the metal to create saddle-like, ruffled and organic forms. The mother-daughter activity produced several earrings, in both copper and silver, as well as components for a wind chime.

Kyle departed Boston this morning, destined for a week in Jamaica. He is traveling there with three friends from his running club to soak up the sun and enjoy a bit of snorkeling. It has become his routine to vacation in the tropics to break up our frigid New England winters.

Jeanine joined her good friend Stefanie for high tea at the Lexington Vintage Tea and Cake Company. The smile on her face tells the whole story. It should be noted that none of the leftovers made their way back to our home. Admittedly, I do not know what half these things are, but I am damn sure I would have discovered a tasty morsel or two in the lot.

UPDATE: After reading my post, Jeanine informs me that there was nothing left to bring home. Still, I believe a search of typical hiding spots in the kitchen is warranted.

The water pipes at Kyle’s house have been prone to freezing during severe cold spells, of which we had a fair share this winter. To combat the problem, we opened up the wall behind the pictured kitchen cabinet so that the pipes could be heated from the living space side. Today, Kyle added a vented valence to the top of the cabinet, which allows warm air from the kitchen to circulate past the pipes. Air enters from an opening in the wall behind the base cabinets and flows up and out of the openings in the new valence. Phase two of our plan includes adding insulation on the outside of the foundation wall but this work will have to wait for more temperate weather.

This morning, while Jeanine and Kyle were enjoying coffee in the great room, they were treated to a brief visit by an American Mink or River Otter (there is an ongoing debate within the family) who peered in the window at them. I was in my office and missed the encounter, but later pulled up video from one of our security cameras and caught some of the action. The furry creature can be seen entering the frame in the lower left corner (make sure that your viewing window does not crop the bottom of the video). Sixteen seconds later, it makes its way along the picture window on the lower right side of the frame, looks inside to check things out, and then turns around and departs. Please reach out to us if you have a strong opinion as to the identity of our visitor.

In addition to our critter sighting, the scene outside was just magical this morning. Last night’s snowfall left the tree branches frosted, and the bright morning sun quickly turned it into rain.