While listening to NPR, I learned of a flamboyance of pink flamingos that appeared overnight in the Seaport district. While returning from Dorchester yesterday, Jeanine and I made a short detour to investigate the unusual migration which included some 2000 birds.
I drove Jeanine to Dorchester this afternoon for her first shot of the Pfizer vaccine. She became eligible by virtue of her role in a food relief organization. I also now qualify given my age and have scheduled my first shot for this Saturday. We both felt a powerful sense of relief after she received the painless injection. While waiting her turn, I stepped outside to photograph the former Congregation Adath Jeshurun synagogue.
Nicolai recently competed in his first road race, the Bionic 5K. He is planning to do so again on April 25th and has invited the entire family to join his team, New England Amputee Soccer, for the virtual race. All proceeds from the race will benefit the Bionic Project Inc, a Cambridge-based 501c3 non-profit whose mission is to promote active lifestyles, athletics, and inclusive environments for those who have to overcome physical challenges. Click on the image below to read an athlete profile on Nico and please consider joining his team as well.
My spring soccer season starts on Easter Sunday. Today we had our first preseason tune-up match. We played a Division 1 over-48 team which put their average age about ten years below ours (and a good 14 below mine). We held our own for 80 minutes with the score tied at 0-0. By the end of the game, however, their younger legs made the difference and they produced a pair of goals before the final whistle. Our side actually played very well leaving us satisfied with the outcome. Next week we play another over-48 squad and then it is on to the official season where we will compete with teams our own age.
After the match, the kids all came over for our regular Sunday get-together. Normally, it is a time to relax and catch up on the latest happenings. Today, our gathering took the form of a work party during which we gathered down limbs from all over the yard and burned them in a very large bonfire. In a matter of a few hours, we cleared the property of years worth of deadwood.
This morning, I heard some rustling outside the front door. A peek out the window revealed a trio of dear munching away on something in the yard. By the time I retrieved my camera, they had moved off to the neighbor’s lot and I had to settle for this somewhat obscured photo. The remainder of my day was spent cutting down tree limbs that threaten our overhead power lines. It was a substantial workout and was happy to put my feet up at the end of the day.
The sun was just starting to rise when Jeanine noticed a female wood duck on a branch above the river. Her partner was wading around in the water below. Low light and shooting through glass did nothing to help this photo.
The first flowers of the year emerged in the yard today. These tiny snowdrops are about half an inch in length. They start the day with their petals tightly closed but open up as the temperature rises throughout the day. I will try to get a photograph of them when they are fully opened.
If not for the fact that Iceland is closed to anyone outside the country who has not been vaccinated or previously infected, I would be on a plane this instant to photograph the erupting Fagradalsfjall volcano. On a previous visit, I was less than three miles from the exact location pictured in the amazing drone footage shown here. One of the items on my bucket list is to photograph an erupting volcano and as luck would have it, I cannot travel to this very nearby one of incredible beauty due to Covid.
Nicolai is actively working to develop an amputee soccer team for the Northeast region. He has been visiting local prosthetic clinics to get the word out and identify potential candidates. Little did he know that “A Step Ahead” is located less than two minutes from my office.
Today I had the distinct pleasure of meeting a neighbor, introduced by a mutual friend, who shares a passion for photography, nature, fine homebuilding, and travel. I joined him for a tour of Great Meadows viewed through the eyes of a naturalist and volunteer who helps to maintain the sanctuary. It was a most enjoyable 2-hour amble that netted the female downy woodpecker above and juvenile bald eagle below. Jeanine had a prior engagement and was not able to join us but is looking forward, as am I, to doing so on a future outing.
I joined Jeanine and her friend Maria on a lovely hike to nearby Fairhaven Bay. The trail passes by our house on the other side of the river and ends at the former summer home of the Robinson family. The 240 acres through which the trail passes were donated by Helen Robinson Wright to the Concord Land Conservation Trust. She was the granddaughter of Miles Pratt, founder of the Walker and Pratt Company, manufacturer of stoves, furnaces, and heaters who prospered during the Civil War, supplying the Union Army with ammunition and gun carriage castings. All that remains of the summer home is a terrace overlooking the bay and the stone boathouse far below at the water’s edge.
The Concord Journal featured a nice article about a recent grant received by Open Table. The pandemic has not only increased the need for food assistance but has also changed the logistics for gaining access to it. Open Table has had to discontinue the community dining aspect of their program in favor of food delivery. Not many organizations of its size could pivot so quickly to an entirely different operating model without skipping a beat.
I have to admit that geese are some of my least favorite birds. Even so, I am thankful for them every time I don a coat containing their down feathers. One of only a few birds that can be found in every US state at some time during the year, their numbers are on the rise worldwide.
The Covid-19 pandemic has all but shutdown amputee soccer for the last year. The US national team has not had a single match or in-person practice since the outbreak began. It has not, however, stood in the way of recruiting for the sport. Nicolai and a local teammate have made a big push to develop a regional team. They currently have six field players and are constantly working to build out the roster. Nico asked me to take headshots and a team photo at their practice this afternoon which I was more than happy to do.
