Nala keeps watch over her domain. Heaven help the wayward deer that ventures within the boundaries of her invisible fence. This week Nala caught a squirrel on one of her patrols necessitating the creation of a small cemetary in the woods at the back of our property.

 
Yesterday we measured Maya and she has grown 1 inch in the last three months. My little girl is slowly dissapearing and a very nice young lady is taking her place. All my efforts to delay this transformation have been in vain.

 
Next week I leave on a solo coming of age adventure. I will turn 50 on the 29th and have decided to spend the last 4 days of my first half century camping in the back woods of Yellowstone National Park. This evening I practiced setting up my tent, shown here without the rain fly, in our bedroom. The first time it took me five minutes, the second was down to four minutes. With a little more practice I think I can hit three minutes (valuable if you are pitching in driving rain or snow).

 
I finally got some time today to build a storage system for the kayaks. I fashioned a harness and set of pulleys for each kayak allowing me to store them near the ceiling of the garage and lower them onto the car when ready to transport. It is a rather elegant solution and I am pleased with the results. Earlier in the day I was in action on the soccer pitch. After playing the entire first half I had to pull myself out when my previously injured groin muscle began to give out. After building up a 2-0 advantage it was very difficult to watch from the sidelines as we gave up two goals and had to settle for a tie.

 
Next I took Nico to his game. His team fought to a 0-0 tie. Nico played the entire match at center-mid. Almost every significant scoring opportunity for Concord came off a distribution pass from Nico. He was a beast on the field and is seen here unleashing a rocket. His combination of strength and grace is a joy to watch.

 
Later in the day Jeanine and I watched Maya’s soccer game. Her team lost to a much stronger opponent but Maya had a tremendous game. She played sweeper and center-mid doing a great job at both positions. Her brothers would have been very proud to see how good she has become.

 
Jeanine asked me to sharpen about a dozen of her cooking knives this morning. Maya offered to help and I taught her how to use the wet grinder. She sharpened two of the smaller knives entirely by herself and assisted with the final honing on all the knives. She did an outstanding job and continues to amaze me with her ability to tackle work requiring such finesse.

 
Kyle’s high school soccer team was in action this evening. They played Arlington High School which is very close to my office and I was able to drive over after work to see the match. Unfortunately I did not have a long lens with me so I settled for this art shot of two parents. The boys played very well and came away with a 1-0 victory.

 
I never know what I am going to see out of my office window. Today the ten story building across the street got a new air conditioning unit. Something very enjoyable about watching a crane in operation. Probably a little overkill but I couldn’t help thinking it would be handy to have my own for putting the kayaks on top of the van.

 
The boys have decided to sell their Foosball table which they received as a Christmas gift when they were younger. With Maya’s help they cleaned off all the dust and polished the wood. I helped with the photography and it is now listed on Craig’s List.

 
For Family Night we went geocaching (treasure hunting using GPS latitude and longitude coordinates). Our first geocache was appropriately titled Witch Tree (N 42° 25.785 W 071° 19.153)located near Flint Pond. Chloe joined us for the adventure. Caches are generally filled with little toys and nick knacks which you can trade for items you bring with you. Kyle exchanged a Japanese banner for a superball. We did a second geocache in the Hapgood Woods.

 
Kyle and Chloe let me take a rare portrait. I am rather pleased with the results and hope they like it as well.

 
Nicolai at the Willard Ice Cream social with his friends.

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Nico scored with a header in the second half but his team was unable to pull out the win. We wonder each season whether Nico will be able to cope with the challenges of playing competitive soccer with one leg. Opening the season with such a pretty goal suggests he can still hold his own.

 
Nico’s soccer team opened their fall season today playing on the new turf fields at CCHS. I was only able to shoot for a few minutes before torrential rains began, the remnants of hurricane Hanna.

 
Nico greets Nala this morning before leaving for school. He is now in 8th grade at the Peabody Middle School. He has taken a keen interest in volleyball and continues with his passion for soccer. Nala is not attending school but seems to have learned not to eat all my stuff.

 
Kyle is now a sophmore at Concord Carlisle High School (CCHS). It is hard for me to find even the slightest trace of the little boy he once was but I am very proud of the young man he has become. He made good use of his summer, working and saving money, and seems poised to have a great academic school year.

 
When Maya returns to school later this week she will be entering the 4th grade. She decided she wanted to make her own backpack and is seen here sewing a pocket flap on.

 
Jeanine spent the bulk of the day working in the yard as did Kyle. When I couldn’t easily find a sheet of paper for my printer, I decided to organize the printer closet, which led me to organize my camera closet, which led me to organize the mudroom, which led me to organize the library. Eight hours later I returned with my damn piece of paper. I also spent about an hour coaching Kyle as he practiced driving. I am pleased to report he is taking his newly won responsibility very seriously. Nicolai invited a bunch of his friends over this evening and proceeded to cook mountains of pasta for dinner. I overheard significant debate over the correct definition of al dente. Sampling the meager left overs after their second batch I can testify to the correctness of their pasta cooking time.

 
Looking out the window from where we are seated we watch as a pilot fuels his aircraft. Apparently this is the self serve pump.

 
This morning Jeanine and I slipped away for an early breakfast at Nancy’s Air Field Cafe. This is one of our favorite breakfast spots and overlooks the airfield in Stow. The garden which greats patrons feature herbs that are used in the preparation of meals and a couple of these baby airplane wind vanes.

 
Kyle sporting a haircut that I gave him on Friday night. I think he is much more handsome when you can actually see his face.

 
The view from their front lawn looking north. We brought the kayaks with us and I did a nice five mile paddle to Thatcher Island. It is the one with two lighthouses in the distance. The weather was perfect if a bit hot but the wind coupled with the 2 foot swells made for a nerve wracking experience when I was in open water. For this reason I hugged the coast line and made one quick sprint across the half mile channel. Nico headed south with some of his friends and landed on Salt Island where he did a little cliff climbing.

 
This morning I played soccer for the first time since injuring my hamstring. Although my game was less than 100% the rest has allowed me to heal. My conditioning needs some real work and the season starts nest weekend. This afternoon the whole famile traveled to Rockport to attend a party at the summer home of one of our neighbors. They have a delightful place that overlooks the ocean.

Explanation of the prior photo (remember this blog is posted in reverse chronological order): Nico and Rory seated in the window of the lodge (the photo is rotated 90 degrees) looking out on the black bear pictured here. The light was low and he was moving quickly after Stephen threw a rock at the bear proof refuse bin he was raiding.

 
I am adding this rather funny photo taken last weekend. See if you can figure out what was going on.

 
The kids indulged my desire for a family photo. While I am happy to have it, it does not rise to Christmas card quality and I will need to coerce them into another attempt later this year.

 
This morning we squeeze in one more easy climb to the Coliseum Falls.

 
Heather, the family historian, made a gift to me of the passenger manifest recording the voyage of my grandfather and grandmother (they came on separate ships) from Italy to America via Ellis Island. I intend to frame this along with a photo of the ship for display in my library. Click the photo for a larger view and see if you can find the entry for Ernesto Calabria.

 
We enjoyed a final gathering of the family after the sun set. Heather and my father showed old family photos and quizzed the youngsters on their knowledge of our ancestors.

 
Immediately after diner I gathered everyone for a family photo. The mosquitoes were out in droves and could not have been more annoying. The group suffered through the attack long enough for me to get two photos of everyone and I am pleased with the result.