Yesterday, I learned that my soccer game scheduled for this morning had been canceled. Our opponents forfeited due to an injury-decimated roster, a not uncommon issue in our age bracket at this stage of the season. With the unexpected free weekend day, I decided to rent a U-Haul truck and move the remaining contents of our River House to the Road House. I enlisted Kyle’s help and we managed the task in just over 5 hours. During his return home, Kyle captured this rare image of a complete double rainbow. Later in the evening, he returned with his new housemate Min (he is renting out his spare bedroom), joining, Nicolai, Jeanine, and me for a Halloween fire pit celebration.

Our moving POD was picked up this morning. It is the first time I was present to see how the unit is transferred from the ground to the truck. Podzilla is a completely independent hydraulic lifting system that is carried on the transport truck. Once its wheels are lowered it is a totally independent machine that can be driven over the POD. Chains are then connected to lift points and the POD is raised high enough so that the truck can be backed underneath it. Although the operation is efficient, it is anything but graceful and the POD gets jostled around rather aggressively. Had I known this in advance, I would have packed a few items differently. In the end, we had damage to three items; a marble tabletop, a fish tank, and a dog crate, all of which were the result of poor packing (by me).

Today we closed on a second house. We will live here while our River House is being demolished and then rebuilt. Then, we will probably make it available as a rental property. The POD we used to store the majority of our belongings from our first move was delivered this morning. I received keys to the house by 2:30 and had the contents offloaded into the garages by 4:30. The empty POD is scheduled for pickup tomorrow. I also set up internet access which we have learned is an absolute precursor to moving. In the near future, I will rent a truck and move the remaining contents of the River House to what we are now calling the Road House.

Fall color has been later and perhaps a little more muted than in years past. Even so, our river view was quite beautiful this evening. When we moved in last year, we had just missed peak color so it has been a real treat to watch the progression this year. We are all set to close on our second house, hereinafter referred to as the “road house,” tomorrow. We will live there while our current home, now called the “river house,” is demolished and rebuilt. I suspect this will take from 18-24 months. My day was spent wiring funds in advance of the closing, setting up insurance, internet service, and transferring utilities.

Until our new house is built, I will not have a permanent shop for some time. With another move on the immediate horizon and the renovation work I am helping Kyle with, I decided to invest in portable storage for my collection of cordless and hand tools. This stackable, rolling system by DeWalt is just what the doctor ordered. I found it on sale on picked up the full kit this afternoon.

Despite very inhospitable weather conditions, I spotted this pair of swans bobbing for breakfast in front of our house this morning. We are getting hit with the front end of a Nor’easter which is expected to deliver an onslaught of rain in combination with very high winds over the next 72 hours. Fortunately, temperatures are still high enough that the threat of snow is not a concern.

I happened across this tiny structure while running errands today. It appears to be a detached office or guest quarters for a nearby home. For all its simplicity, I think it is very beautiful and would love to discover the story behind it. On the home front, I interviewed our ninth potential builder and feel like we finally have the right match. It has been challenging trying to find a company that has the right mix of experience building high-performance homes, a culture of building right the first time, and an openness to allowing me to participate in aspects of the construction work. Assuming their contract terms are reasonable, I think we have found the right partner.

I spent the morning in Haverhill where my soccer team faced the local club. We won handily bringing our record to 7-0-0. I notched my second goal of the season when I found the ball on my foot during a scrum in the box and punched it in with my right. Our team has scored 25 goals this season and only conceded 1. After the match, we enjoyed an Irish breakfast at the Peddler’s Daughter (an Irish pub and restaurant) where I also found this dramatic mural in the adjacent parking lot.

I followed the flight of this Monarch butterfly into the high branches of a pine tree where I was able to photograph it. Had I thought to take one, I would have liked to post a picture of Kyle, Maya, and the demolition project we are working on in his basement. While the kids moved lumber and removed drywall and ceiling tiles, I installed a heat pump water heater to replace the gas-fired unit there now. It is more efficient than either a gas or electric water heater and will be easier to relocate later when Kyle has a new HVAC system installed.

This rare breed of dog can only be observed in the week before Halloween. Scary enough at other times of the year, this is one canine that you do not want to mess with.

Maya produced these photographs for a design class she is taking at Olin. The prompt was to create a poster of a recipe for something that you’ve made. This week her coffee club decided to make pumpkin spice latte so she used that for her subject. She was up at 5 AM to prep the ingredients and take advantage of morning light. If she ever gets tired of a career in engineering, I think she could easily make a living as a photographer.

Occasionally, we see some pretty unusual things in the river. Today’s entry features what appears to be a two-person kayak fitted with an outrigger, gas-powered engine, and battery-powered motor. Other features include two dashboard-like consoles with storage, a windshield, a map holder, and an over-land wheeled cart. I apologize for the blurry photo but this thing was moving along pretty quickly and I had to run for my camera.

Born in San Francisco, Reuben Lucius Goldberg (1883-1970) graduated from the University of California Berkeley with a degree in engineering. He later entered journalism and moved to New York, where he became a syndicated cartoonist.

His whimsical and overly complex machines designed to solve the travails of modern life endeared him to generations of engineers, scientists, and everyone else who encounters the wonders and headaches of modern technology.

Some road-side business signs stand out more than others.

The Jaffrey Mills is a historic mill complex in the central business district of Jaffrey, New Hampshire. It consists of a connected series of primarily brick buildings flanking the Contoocook River. Its oldest buildings, the original mill and office building, are on the west side of the river (left). They were built in 1868, and feature mansard roofs and banded dentil brick cornices. In 1872 the building on the east side was built, and the two sides were joined by timber-frame bridges in 1897.  The mills have since been converted to residences. This afternoon, after a morning of planning HVAC ducting for the new house, I ventured out to enjoy the fine fall day only to have the clouds roll in as I reached my original destination of Mount Monadnock.

My sister Alissa and my mother both performed ballroom dance exhibitions at the Mall of America in Minneapolis today. My mother, 93, partnered with her former teacher from New York in an Argentine Tango. My sister reprieved a performance she recently did at the Crossgates Mall in Albany. Both were in fine form. The same cannot be said for my performance on the soccer pitch today. With many of my teammates sidelined with injuries, I played far more minutes than I am accustomed to and my lack of conditioning showed. Even so, I managed a couple of decent attempts on goal and we came away with a 3-0 win.

Nobody looks as good in a hat as Jeanine. This afternoon we attended the Conantum (name of our neighborhood) harvest gathering where she was wearing my favorite one. Held at our communal gardens, members of the neighborhood enjoyed an opportunity to get to know each other better. I arrived towards the end of the gathering because I was waiting for Nicolai and his friends to arrive at the house. They borrowed our kayaks and our neighbor’s canoe for an extended outing on the river. The sky was cloudy and the winds quite strong but still a great day to be out on the water.

Without a doubt, the stinkhorn mushroom pictured here is the strangest-looking fungus I have ever seen. I found a trio growing in the yard while doing some fall clean-up. This was a quick “grab shot” taken with my phone and I hope to post a better version taken with my “real” camera.

I was in Cambridge this afternoon meeting with a potential new client. I arrived early to avoid being late due to traffic and had a chance to walk around a bit. Pictured here is the Area 4 Story mural by artist David Fichter. It illustrates the rich history of Area 4, which is known for its social reformers like Margaret Fuller, Clement Morgan, and William Lloyd Garrison as well as its technology and inventors like Elias Howe who invented the sewing machine. Area 4, now called the Port, is a high-density residential neighborhood located near Central Square in Cambridge.

While returning home from the Boston Marathon on Monday, I came across this very nice scene in Ashland, MA. Unfortunately, the grey skies that day did little to make the photo pop. Today’s cloudless skies gave me reason to return for the shot above. Earlier in the day, I wrapped up the Purchase and Sale Agreement on our next house. We are on track to close before the end of the month.

I narrowly avoided stepping on this wooly bear as I was headed out to my car this morning. One of the most familiar caterpillars, wooly bears are renowned wanderers. They hatch from eggs in the fall, overwinter in woodpiles, and molt into Isabella tiger moths in the spring. Seeing it reminded me of a photo I took of Maya when she was 5 years old.

The Boston Marathon is normally held on Patriots Day. This year, it was postponed until today due to Covid. When attending in the past, I have positioned myself closer to the end of the race. This year, I decided to try a location closer to the start (1.75 miles). Here I enjoyed generally unobstructed views of the participants and managed to capture images of the winners in the men’s and women’s elite and wheelchair divisions.

The celebration of my 63rd birthday was postponed until we could do it as an entire family. The kids treated me to an amazing Italian diner at Olivia’s Bistro in Waltham. As good as the food was, it was surpassed by the conversation which reminded me how much I admire the adults that our kids have become. Earlier in the day, I was on the soccer pitch in what turned out to be our most challenging match of the season. We emerged with a narrow 1-0 win against a tough Brazillian team. The victory all but secured a first-place finish in our division and a berth in the post-season playoffs.

Today, Jeanine and I celebrated our 31st wedding anniversary, originally planned for earlier this week (October 6th), we had to postpone when Jeanine’s return flight from Indianapolis was delayed by several hours. Jeanine put me in charge of planning this year and I decided on a lighthouse-themed getaway based on her fondness for them. Our first stop was the Eastern Point Lighthouse in Gloucester Harbor.

While driving through Gloucester we paused to enjoy the magnificent gardens which grace the Stage Fort Park promenade. They are as spectacular as any I have ever seen and an unplanned anniversary bonus. From there, I flew my drone out to Babson Ledge for a closer peek at the Ten Pound Island Lighthouse, built of cast iron and brick in 1881 to guide boats into the town’s inner harbor. The final image is of the Gloucester City Hall, a very lovely building that exudes New England charm. Our final destination was Marblehead where we enjoyed a truly wonderful meal at the Landing.

Gloucester City Hall

Each year, there is about a one-week window when fall color is at its peak in any given area. When that period lines up with great weather it is time to get outside. Today, I drove up to Franconia Notch, one of my favorite places for autumn photography. My first stop was the Squam River bridge, in my opinion, one of the prettiest in all of New Hampshire. Built in 1990, this covered bridge replaces a steel and concrete bridge that was condemned. The state proposed a two-lane steel bridge for this site, but the citizens of Ashland voted for a one-lane wood bridge constructed in the traditional style of covered bridges. Mirror Lake was my next stop and then it was on to the town of Lincoln. By the time I started heading for home, the northbound weekend tourist traffic was backed up for several miles and I was very happy to be going in the opposite direction.

When demolition begins on our new home, we are going to need someplace to live for the year plus it will take to build the new one. Last night, Jeanine and I decided it would make more sense to buy a second home rather than waste money on rent. When the new construction is completed and we move back, we will use the second house as a rental property. This morning we found a 3-bedroom, 2000 sqft home that is less than a mile and a half away that ticked all the boxes. After touring the home, I did a quick but thorough inspection and presented an offer on the spot. It was accepted a few hours later and we are scheduled to close before the end of the month.

Today, I happen on this interview that Nicolai did back in January. Unsurprisingly, he did not mention it to anyone in the family. Fortunately, YouTube has a search function which I use from time to time, to discover what Nico has been up to recently.

Maya is currently touring the California coast with a new friend she met while interning at Rivian over the summer. Judging by the pictures she is sending back, they are having an excellent time. On their recent stop at Morrow Bay, they came upon a group of four sea otters basking on their backs in the calm waters of the bay, each with a baby on its chest. Maya’s spirit animal is the otter and I am certain that this encounter will register as a peak life experience for her.

Jeanine’s nephew, Luke, is among other things a stand-up comic. It was no surprise then that his wedding to Shellie was officiated by a fellow stand-up comic. I laughed so hard that it was difficult to steady my camera. The “ceremony” was more of a roast but as is the case with all good comedy, it exposes the truth. In this case, the love they share for each other. A complete set of the photos I took can be found here.

Because of Covid, some family members had to attend via Zoom. I set up a tripod with a phone holder on it and Jeanine’s sister, Susan, escorted it about the ceremony and reception. Below, Kyle and Jeanine visit with her niece, Erica.

One of my favorite non-wedding pictures of the evening was this portrait of Jeanine’s other nephew, Gabriel, with his son and girlfriend.

I moved to Indianapolis in 1980 to join Bell Labs. It was there that I met fellow engineer Rob Till, with whom I also played league soccer and volleyball. We became and have remained close friends ever since. He is pictured here with his wife Ann and their three Great Danes. Jeanine and I spent several hours visiting with them, reminiscing about old times and catching up on children and extended family. If Maya had joined us on this trip, the Till’s would find themselves short one dog. Thor took a particular liking to Jeanine.

Even though I lived in Indianapolis for twenty some odd years, I don’t think I have been back more than once or twice in the last 18 years. This morning, Jeanine and I flew there for the wedding of her nephew, Luke, to be held on Sunday evening. On approach, we flew past the famed Indianapolis Motor Speedway, and judging from the number of trucks on the infield, there must be an upcoming race this weekend. After gathering our rental car, we visited with Jeanine’s sister Lauren and helped with the preparation of a massive mezze plater under her expert supervision.

We all took time to visit with her dog, Gandalf. Despite his age and a deformed leg, he is absolutely adorble and took an immediate shine to Jeanine.