We are having our upstairs hardwood floors sanded and refinished starting tomorrow. In preparation, Jeanine and I spent the better part of the afternoon moving furniture and contents out of the three rooms that will be worked on into the two that will not. During this process I found a wooden excavator and flat bed truck with trailer which I made for Kyle and Nicolai respectively when they were wee toddlers. I have built large pieces of furniture which took less time to build than these toys. The excavator has a fully articulating boom and bucket, rotating “house”, and operational tracks, all fabricated from wood. The flat bed truck has rotating wheels and I have witnessed more than one child using it with the trailer attached as a skate board. Both toys have held up remarkably well and it is my sincere wish that they be handed down to my grandchildren one day.

In soccer action this morning my team left Concord at 6:30 am to reach Taunton in time for warmups and an 8 am kick-off. We trailed by a single goal from the early minutes of the game until the last second of the match. In that last second, we scored an equalizer which felt more like the winning goal. As soon as the ball hit the back of the net the referee blew his whistle signaling the end of the game. The tie was good enough to place us atop the league standings.