I found myself in Pembroke, MA this afternoon visiting a showroom for windows and doors. After completing my business, I decided to head over to the ocean, given how close I was. I visited the very quaint Scituate Lighthouse which was built in 1811. It was here, during the war of 1812, that Rebecca (21) and Abby (15) Bates, daughters of the lighthouse keeper, observed a British ship making directly for the harbor. With their father away, the girls dispatched their brother to run for help. As the British ship drew near and began offloading sailors onto barges, the two struck up their fife and drum. Hidden from sight, the two girls sounded for all the world like an approaching army force. The British sailors retreated and the ship sailed away. The sisters became known the world over as “The Army of Two.”

Today, I celebrated my 63rd birthday. I still find it hard to fathom that I am a Sexagenarian (if not for the fact that I still really enjoy sex). It seems like only yesterday that I was beginning my career and starting a family. The time has passed in the blink of an eye. I have been married to a delightful, intelligent, and beautiful woman for almost half my life, have raised three children of whom I am so proud, and enjoyed a fulfilling and impactful career. I am a lucky man by any measure and feel even more compelled to make the most of every day that lies ahead. This brings us to the topic of ice cream which is how my day of celebration ended after Jeanine and I enjoyed lunch with my high school friend Tom and his lovely wife Karen, who also has a birthday today.

Temperatures are starting to drop and the feel of fall is in the air. This view of the Sudbury River has long been a favorite of mine since we moved to the area some 18 years ago. It is now even more meaningful as our new home lies just around the bend.

Pictured left is JD, the son of my cousin Vinny and his wife Michelle who are visiting from Manhattan Beach, CA. They treated us to a lovely brunch at the Farmstead Table in Newton Centre along with Nicolai and Maya. JD is a sophomore at Boston College where he is majoring in political science and communications. We had a delightful time catching up on family and comparing notes on parental matchmaking (apparently Vinny and I are equally interested in our children’s dating status and choices), house renovation (Michelle is a lawyer by day and avid interior designer by night), travel, and sports.

Earlier in the day, my soccer team cruised to a 4-0 win over Lexington which puts us at the top of the chart in our over-55 soccer league.

Founded by her two sons, the Lois Wells Memorial Kicks for Cancer soccer tournament is an annual event designed to raise money for ovarian cancer research. The day-long tournament features matches between local teams with all gate receipts and food and merchandise profits going to the very worthy cause. Players wear custom jerseys that carry the name of a loved one who was lost to or is battling cancer. Nicolai is coaching the CCHS men’s junior varsity team which faced arch-rival, Lincoln Sudbury. A close and hard-fought match ultimately concluded with CCHS winning 2-0. I was there for the match and photographed the action. A full set of photos can be found here.

Jeanine has decided that the groundhog is her spirit animal. She sees our resident pair, Greg and Grace, almost every day when she has her morning coffee in the living room which overlooks our side yard. There they can be observed doing all the things that groundhogs like to do (eating; they favor our local mushrooms, cavorting about the yard, sunbathing side by side). They are an extremely cute couple and we will try to ensure that our new home construction project does not disturb their den.

Today, I received several photos taken by others at my recent 45th-anniversary high school reunion. As much as I enjoy taking photos, sometimes it is nice to be featured on the other side of the lens. I am pictured above with class beauties, Christine Dieshner and MaryAnn Lake and with my high school wrestling partner and life-long friend, Tom Metzold below.

My mother is now 93 years old and still enjoys ballroom dancing (primarily Tango and Milonga) twice a week. My sister Alissa, 4 years my junior, has followed in her footsteps and fallen in love with ballroom dancing. She can be seen here performing to Swan Lake during a USA Dance demonstration at a shopping mall in Albany, NY. Something of a swan herself, this was a very fitting performance for her and my favorite to date.

Modeled after the traditional meyhanes of Turkey, the modern Mediterranean / middle eastern menu at Sarma is a large selection of small plates ( meze ). We had planned to dine here with my cousin Vinny (no, not Joe Pesci) and his wife who are visiting the area. A work commitment got in the way but we decided to keep the reservation and dined with the kids. We had a lovely evening, filled with the kind of joy a parent can only feel when all their babies are happy, healthy, and living life well. The significance of the octopus painted on the wall of their parking lot converted to outdoor dining never became apparent to me but made for a nice photo.

In addition to teaching history at the Concord Middle School, Nicolai is the head coach of the Concord Carlisle High School Men’s JV Soccer Team. Their nascent season is off to a good start with an undefeated record of 3-0-1. Nico asked me to take a team photo and I was happy to oblige. He suggested we use a concrete wall as a background and I rather like that choice over the more common sea of green or soccer netting that is more often seen in such portraits.

In soccer, there is the concept of a 50/50 ball. It means that you and your opponent have an equal chance to gain control of a ball that lies halfway between you. Coaches implore players to win 50/50 balls. In my soccer game this morning, I chased down a less than perfect defensive pass to the keeper running at full throttle and threw myself into the path of his clearance kick. The ball hit me in the right hip at point-blank range and looped back over the goalie and into the net for our first goal in a very tight match. Our team manager described it as winning a 20/80 ball (an all but lost cause) and it was a nice way to notch my first goal of the season. During my next shift, I nearly scored on a header but a head-to-head collision with my defender left me with a minor concussion. In a departure from past behavior, I decided to sit out the rest of the game based on all I now understand of concussion protocol. We did not score again until the closing minutes for a 2-0 win. After a long recovery nap, I joined Jeanine and another couple for outdoor dining at the Revolution Hall in Lexington followed by ice cream at Bedford Farms.

This evening, I attended the Mont Pleasant High School 45th anniversary reunion in Schenectady, NY. I drove out for the day with my high school wrestling partner and great friend, Tom Metzold. We left early enough to ensure we would arrive before closing at Civitello’s Spumoni Shop located in the Little Italy section of town. They make the best lemon ice I have ever had anywhere in the world and a visit to Schenectady in the summer is not complete without a visit to this lovely shop now celebrating 100 years in business. Our reunion was wonderful and I enjoyed seeing old friends again and learning more about classmates I did not know as well at the time. The only disappointing part of the evening was how poorly this group portrait turned out. I used an on-camera flash but must have had it adjusted incorrectly which led to this very grainy and under-exposed result. Even so, I am glad to have taken it so that it might become part of the historical record. Another such record was a school newspaper article written by Tom that someone brought to the reunion. It highlights our senior year wrestling season and reminded me of my long since forgotten undefeated 22-0 record.

While growing up in Schenectady, NY, I attended Mont Pleasant High School. Uniquely, it offered a technical program sponsored by General Electric, the major employer in the area at the time. This track was designed to prepare students for careers in engineering and is the reason my parents enrolled me here. The school opened in 1931 as one of Schenectady’s two high schools. In 1992, the other high school, Linton High, merged with Mont Pleasant with Linton becoming Schenectady High and Mont Pleasant a middle school. My brother Mark, sister Alissa, and I attended Mont Pleasant while my sister Mayela, attended cross-town rival, Linton. Tomorrow, I am looking forward to a reunion of the Class of 1976.

Normally, I charge my electric car at home overnight. When I travel beyond its 200-mile range, I rely on a network of high-speed (150KW) chargers that are becoming increasingly available. Using such a charger, I can replenish 160 miles in 30 minutes. Still far less convenient for long-distance travel than a fossil-fuel-powered car, it is by no means a barrier to longer journeys.

With a number of Zoom meetings coming up later this week and next, I decided it was time to update the virtual background that I have been using. While very nice as photographs go, my favorite landscape images with my talking head superimposed over them present an incongruous scene. I decided it was time to start using an indoor scene, ideally an office setting. I searched my photo archive and found this image I took of my home office when we lived in Indianapolis. Indeed, it presents a much more logical background and I think I will test it out for the next few weeks. Below are some of my other favorite backgrounds from my photo archive.

I made a short visit to the Olin campus today to bring Maya some screws for her roommate. Yes, you read that correctly. Apparently, they are needed to assemble a bookshelf. Why they were left at our house, I do not know. The real point here is that it does not take much to motivate me to visit Maya. After learning as much as she could share about her senior project (it is subject to a non-disclosure agreement with the outside company sponsor) and getting an update on the various companies trying to recruit her, I decided to return home by way of a shortcut through Babson College. Olin and Babson share a campus. On the way out, I came upon the recently restored Babson World Globe which has been relocated to a new setting in Kerry Murphy Healey Park. College founder Roger Babson dreamed up the idea of building the Globe in 1947 as a way to promote interest in world affairs. At 25 tons and 28 feet wide it was completed in 1955 and was the world’s largest rotating earth-ball of its day. It was covered with porcelain-baked steel tiles that recreated the continents and oceans. They fell off in 1984 and for the next nine years, the World looked like a big, rusted ball. A restored version was dedicated in 1993 and it lasted for a quarter of a century before it was once again in need of rejuvenation. This latest version once again rotates and I think the new setting is quite fitting.

I was back in the lineup for my soccer team this morning and we managed a strong 6-0 victory over a new team to the league from Danvers. The score was 1-0 at the break but we wore them down in the second half even though they had more subs. Later in the day, I ventured out to enjoy the spectacular weather and found some early fall color in the field behind our last home.

After many days of rainy weather, Jeanine and I took advantage of a perfect September day to visit Carson Beach, just south of Boston. We enjoyed a leisurely stroll and eventually made our way north to Pleasure Bay where we walked out to Head Island. Kiteboarding and windsurfing are popular here due to the consistent wind and protected bay. It has been a good 40 years since I learned to windsurf while getting my master’s degree in California. If not for the cold water temperature, I might be tempted to see if I am still up to the challenge. More my speed these days is beach volleyball but even that seemed like a risky proposition given I am back on the roster for a soccer game tomorrow morning.

As fall approaches, I find myself increasingly drawn to the outdoors. Autumn has always been my favorite season and I am looking forward to it even more than usual this year. First because of the impact the pandemic has had and second because my semi-retired schedule gives me more flexibility to enjoy it. Flowers like the black-eyed Susan come into their own at this time of year and I really liked this grouping with a little purple in the background.

Rain has been relentless for the last few days and the Sudbury River is well outside its banks as seen in the photo. I have kept close track of how high it is relative to the basement of our house. We still have a 5-foot margin but we also know that the house has flooded twice in seven decades and are trying to factor that into our design.

Today, I constructed a physical model of our new house design from foam core and cardboard. I placed it on top of an extended tripod so I could look at it from a ground-level perspective without bending over and easily rotate it to any angle. Having taken things this far, I decided to create a GIF. There are still some minor details that do not match the current plan and many of what appear to be windows are actually solid panels. Still, the model provides a good overall understanding of the structure provided you can visualize the grading.

Jeanine finished writing and editing her memoir cookbook some time ago but the process of layout and formatting has been fraught with delays. By my count, she is working with her third designer, each prior one having failed to complete the project for one reason or another. I am the in-house food photographer and was happy to create what I expect will be the last image for the book. With most of my photography studio in storage, I did the best I could with available light and an on-camera flash. Not my best work, but the client seemed happy. Fittingly, Jeanine prepared the pictured rainbow salad for her writer’s group farewell luncheon. She joined the “chapter” (my name for a group of writers) shortly after we moved to Concord and they have been a source of shared passion, support, candid feedback, and professional guidance.

Jeanine took the kayak that Maya built out for a quick paddle down to Fairhaven Bay this morning. Our neighbors have a nicely sloped area from which to launch and have kindly given us permission to use it. Our river frontage is on a fairly steep incline which does not really lend itself to a graceful put-in point. The Conantum community in which we live has a shared dock and kayak storage area that is a very short walk from the house. Once we have settled in, I suspect we will take advantage of this option because it offers a totally dry entry and exit.

Now that plans for the overall house are essentially done, I have turned my attention to a more detailed model of the kitchen. Jeanine and I both like natural bamboo for the cabinetry and have settled on basic appliance sizes; 42″ refrigerator freezer, 30″ double oven (steam over convection), 36″ induction cooktop with downdraft vent. Countertop color, lighting fixtures, and hardware are still open, as is the style of the sink. Not shown is the walk-in pantry to the left of the refrigerator. In addition to the CAD model, I have created a spreadsheet detailing the contents of each drawer, cabinet, and shelf to ensure we do not overlook anything in the design. The kitchen area is ~230 sqft. and the pantry is 55 sqft. Smaller in comparison to our previous kitchens, it feels perfectly scaled for our retirement years.

For the past week, this cormorant has been sharing a branch with Herman, the blue heron who fishes from it almost every morning. It is nice to see two different species coexisting peacefully. This is in sharp contrast to the hummingbirds which visit our feeder. They invariably compete to the bitter end until one is driven off even though the feeder can accommodate several diners. Regular visitors to our home get names. The cormorant will be called Cory.

Just for fun, see if you can correctly guess the outcome of this leaf top encounter. The answer will be at the bottom of this entry and will require some decoding.

• Spider and ant peacefully share the leaf
• Spider attacks and eats ant
• Ant is the first soldier of a trailing army that engulfs the spider

.tcerroc si rewsna tsrif ehT

It has been over a month since we received approval from the Concord Natural Resource Commission to proceed with our new home building project. Per requirements, I mailed the Order of Conditions we received to the Middlesex Registry of Deeds for recording. In addition to the filing fee, I included a self-addressed, postage pre-paid envelope for them to return a certified copy. Having yet to receive it, I spent several hours tracking down the problem and driving into Cambridge to obtain a copy. Nothing I enjoy more than dealing with Massachusetts state bureaucracy. While I was at it, I contacted Concord Municipal Light Plant to see if they would come and retrieve a utility pole that has been lying next to our driveway since we moved in. Prior dealings with the CMLP have always been great so I am optimistic that this will get resolved quickly.

Design for our new home is approaching completion. We incorporated a few minor changes based on the homes we visited last weekend. Windows, 63 of them, feature prominently allowing us to enjoy views of the lovely Sudbury River. The above grade finished space will be 3,000 sqft and the basement will add another 1,900 sqft. We will have an open floor plan living area, dining area, and kitchen with walk-in pantry and media enclave, two offices, three dedicated bedrooms, three and a half bathrooms, an aviary, exercise room, laundry, woodshop, and photo studio. Next on the schedule, our architect will complete construction drawings while we line up a builder. We are still probably a year away from completion, but it is exciting to have reached this milestone.