The home we are in the process of purchasing was built in 1952. Based on the blueprints we obtained today, a major addition was added in 1963 to accommodate the family’s rapidly expanding family (five children in total). Regrettably, we have not been able to obtain the plans for the original home thus far. The information they provide is extremely helpful as we plan out the renovation. Because the paper on which they were reproduced is so fragile now, l took the time to carefully photograph them for future preservation. The one drawing that is from the original house is the landscaping plan shown below.

Progress continues on our master bedroom walk-in closet project which involves connecting the previous closet to an adjacent room to make for a very spacious walk-in. Among the challenges, the original closet has a textured ceiling that will not blend very well with the smooth finish of the adjacent room. It is easier to give the textured areas a skim coat of drywall mud than it is to try and remove the texture. I am using a spackling compound that goes on pink and turns white when dry. I have been trying to put in one hour a day on the project and it is now getting closer to the end than the beginning.

Today, Jeanine and I had an opportunity to check out the Conantum community garden. Residents of our new neighborhood are welcomed to put their green thumbs to work here. I have little doubt that we will be spending time here in the years to come. In the background on the left is a baseball diamond although I suspect it is rarely used for that purpose. On the right, a meadow of wildflowers which I believe was planted to attract butterflies. Behind the meadow to the right is the entrance to a woodland trail that exits on the other end of the neighborhood close to where our new home is located. Other amenities of the neighborhood include three tennis courts and a boat launch where residents can keep their canoes and kayaks. We continue to temper our excitement about moving due to the year-long effort we are expecting for renovation.

Now that we have made good on our objective to purchase an appropriately sized home for our retirement years, we are getting more serious about selling furniture that is either too large or of the wrong style for our new residence. This will include some of the wonderful antiques we acquired when living in Indianapolis. I spent a few hours this morning working on our updated walk-in closet project and a few more in the afternoon photographing our collection of antiques which included these two pieces among many others.

Maya and her boyfriend, Bryce, drove back from Wisconsin where she spent the last week on vacation there with his family. They returned with 3-year old, Maisey, the family’s magnificent husky who will live with them for the next several months at the home they are renting with four other Olin students in Medford. Maisey and I had fun in the backyard playing fetch with a corn husk which she found extremely entertaining. Jeanine tried to curry favor by feeding her leftover salmon. It is pretty clear, that Jeanine and I will be adding a dog to our family once we have both retired.

Located 1/2 mile from our new home (situated but not visible in the lower right-hand corner of the photo above) is Fairhaven Bay. I anticipate that it will be a frequent destination for kayak outings once we have settled in. Massachusetts has 8,229 miles of river, of which less than 2% are designated as wild and scenic including 10 miles in either direction of our new house.

“A more lovely stream than this, for a mile above its junction with the Concord, has never flowed on earth.”
– Nathaniel Hawthorne

Because it is on the way to work, I have taken to stopping in at our new house every morning to see what there is to see. Today, I found a cormorant perched on the same submerged branch as the imaginary bird from yesterday’s visit for an upgrade to the composition.

I swung by the new house on the way to my early morning soccer practice to see what kind of wildlife I might find. I encountered two blue herons, the regular assortment of turkeys, and for a moment I thought I spotted a bird perched on a partially submerged tree branch in the river. The silhouette was deceptively similar, but closer inspection revealed a non-avian composition. With the mirror-like reflection in the still water, it made for a nice photo none the less. Jeanine learned from a new neighbor that a bald eagle is often seen in our section of the river. We are both very much looking forward to our first encounter, should we be so lucky.

The full moon of September was known as the Corn Moon by some Native American cultures because it arrives at harvest time for those essential crops. It will be interesting to see if the farmer who manages the cornfield behind our house subscribes to this schedule. Because it is corn destined for animal feed, Jeanine says it will not be harvested for quite some time. There is no doubting a woman from Lebanon, Indiana in matters related to corn. Apparently the corn kernels need to dry on the cob. I plan to obey the moon and will harvest a cob tomorrow and see what it tastes like.

My team continues to make steady progress at work. We printed this part on our 3D metal printer in H13 tool steel. It is 70 layers tall, our highest in this material to date. Each week we continue to achieve larger and larger prints and hope to be printing our first commercial parts very soon. We have a backlog of orders and will start filling them as soon as we possibly can.

This morning my soccer team traveled to Nashua, NH for a pre-season scrimmage. Masks were mandatory off the field and optional on the pitch. I chose to wear an N95 mask at all times out of an abundance of caution. I did not feel as bad as I thought I would, given how out of shape I am right now. We used a 3 man rotation for the two wing-midfield positions which meant I could rest for 1/3 of the match. Our opponents scored in the first minute which did not exactly get things started on the right foot. We did not panic and methodically scored four unanswered goals of our own for the win. I had one shot on goal, a rocket from 25 yards to the upper left corner. Their diving goalie managed to get a few fingertips on it, enough to deflect it into the crossbar. Despite wearing a mask and all the modified rules meant to increase player separation, it felt great to be on the field playing again.

With the remnants of hurricane Sarah producing a very rainy day, I spent most of it indoors working on our walk-in closet project. The first order of business was moving much of the shelving and cabinets into the master bedroom so we can continue to have access to our clothing for the remainder of the project. I then moved on to wallpaper removal, a job which I have little passion for. Progress has been slow but steady and as long as I tackle it in small increments it has not been too bad. Next up will be adding drywall to the areas previously occupied by the wall separating these two spaces.

Maya continues to intern at Formlabs, where her team enjoyed a company-sponsored whale watching outing yesterday. Despite bad weather, the excursion was a great success and many whales were spotted including, Shuffleboard, Silla, and Salt (mother of 14 calves. )

Today, I learned that the photo above of my visiting cousin Vinny played a role in his second marriage. I took it in 2014 during a family reunion in Wisconsin. It turns out that he used this photo for his online dating profile and it caught the attention of the woman to whom he is now married. Despite the fact that she lived in Arizona at the time while he in California, she showed the picture to a friend and said this was the kind of man she could see herself marrying. This makes for the second marriage, I have helped to facilitate. Perhaps I should start a little Yenta work as a side gig..