Speaking of Johnnie’s sister, here is Rachel as beautiful as ever.

 
Whenever Kyle and Nicolai are seperated for more than a day or two they must reestablish their brotherhood with a westiling match. Johnny looks on with great amusement accustomed only to the loving greatings of a younger sister.

 
When my sister was delayed, Jeanine and I found a most unexpected treat while waiting. A Japanese inspried garden featuring several ponds, waterfalls, a water wheel driven mill building surrounded by beatiful flowers and trees everywhere.

 
On the way into town to rendevous with my sister we passed this beautiful field of wildflowers. We collected Maya and Kyle and also picked up one cousin, Johnny, whom we will return to Concord with.

 
This guy was so intoxicated by the nectar, he scarcely noticed me sneaking up to within inches of him. The emerging theme of this vacation seems to be getting very close to animals with sharp barbs.

 
Today was an overcast and rainy day. I decided to do a little macro photography to make the most of the situation.

 
After dinner, Jeanine and Nicolai settled down for a serious game of cards. I was unable to stay awake and could hear these two carrying on as I drifted into deep sleep.

 
I was drawn to the colors and texture of this fallen birch tree and decided the composition would make for a nice art shot. It is best viewed at full resolution by clicking on the photo.

 
After settling in, Jeanine and I went for a hike one of the forest trails. We both stopped frequently to photograph the terrific assortment of mushrooms, flowers, and salamaders. Jeanine took some very nice photos and is becoming quite proficient with her camera (to my great delight).

 
Once he was secure in his tree, I was able to obtain this portrait. Once it was clear to Jeanine that I had not been attacked by this ferocious critter, Nicolai was released to join me as we continued to observe this very docile creature for several minutes. Kyle and Maya took the bus to Albany earlier in the week and will not arrive until tomorrow.

 
As we pulled up to the lodge, I spotted this porcupine in the field. I was amazed at how close it allowed me to get before raising its quills into a defensive posture. Jeanine seemed to believe that they are able to launch their quills rendereing would be attackers incapacitated. I did not subscribe to this theory and continued at close distance as the porcupine, in no apparent hurry, retreated to its tree. I had no idea that they slept in trees.

 
We are members of the Appalachian Mountain Club and rented the left half of this lodge for the weekend. Despite the modern appearance, it has no running water or bathrooms. A cute outhouse is located about 50 feet off the back door.

 
We have decided to travel to the Berkshires for the long holiday weekend. Jeanine has signed Nico and I up for an all day kayaking clinic on Sunday and this will be the maiden voyage for the newly completed kayak. I was planning to use the roof rack from my old Mercedes SUV believing it to be a universal design. When I realized it would not fit on Jeanine’s van I was faced with the option of delaying our trip for sevral hours while I located and purchased a set of bars. Instead, I spent about twenty minutes in the shop and fashioned a temporary solution out of wood which had us on the road pretty close to our planned departure time.

 
Maya and her friend Lydia made use of my workshop to make this bird house. They had very little supervision from me and I think the result was quite good, if a little over built. I think it is safe to say that this sanctuary will stand up to a huricane. Maya has instructed me to drill a hole exactly as indicated. Rest assured I will be following her directions to the letter.

 
This evening we fired up the new grill for the first time. Jeanine thought it would be nice to have rotisserie chicken. We turned up all the burners and closed the top. This is what we found moments later. Needless to say, future chickens will be cooked on a lower setting. We decided to finish cooking the chicken on low heat and it turned out surprisingly well (once we chiseled away the skin). When Jeanine and I moved into our first home together, she planned to treat our moving crew (several of our strongest friends)to a turkey dinner. Most people would simply order a couple of pizzas; not my Jeanine. She covered the turkey in a cheese cloth which came into contact with the heating element and caught on fire. First hours in the house and we almost burned it down. I have come to regard these roasting disasters on new equipment as something of an initiation which is guaranteed to produce a subsequent lifetime of delicious food.

 
This afternoon my soccer team’s undefeated season came to an end in the Divisional finals. In the opening minute I beat my defender down the right side and lofted a 30 yard shot over the goalie who I caught too far out. The ball struck the upright and for the difference of a quarter of an inch bounced out instead of in. Nicolai photographed the game and took several nice photos including this one where I am intercepting a pass.

 
Kyle’s girlfriend, Chloe, joined us for dinner this evening. Despite her beauty, she is very camera shy and I have to sneak up on her for a photo.

 
The second bridge did not fare so well as they tried to match the weight. In addition to the fun had by all, I was very pleased with the work that was accomplished and feel we made excellent progress on a number of very challenging topics.

 
Not content to settle for a tie, both teams insisted on testing the bridges to detrmine a winner even though both withstood 8 pounds from yesterday. We added soda cans and water bottles to bring the total for this bridge to something like 18 pounds and still not failure.

 
Our twelve hour workday ended at Legal Seafood where we enjoyed a nice dinner and an opportunity to get to know eachother better.

 
In the afternoon we tackled the challenge of organizing over 150 suggestions from members of my staff into themes and then distilling from those the highest priority items we need to address.

 
Today was the first of a two day offsite (actually held onsite to save money) meeting for the leadership team in my organization. We started the day with a Building Bridges competition. Both bridges, constructed entirely from newspaper and tape, survived load testing with the weight I had brought to work. Tomorrow we will find more weights and determine which bridge is stronger.

 
I left the house extra early this morning so I could take Marie and the kids to the airport for their return flight to Minneapolis. Although it has only been a couple of months since we’ve seen Rose and Sophia they are both at that age where they are growing and changing so quickly it is hard to believe. Nephews Mario and Rory are on the French Riviera with Marie’s sister.

 
Jeanine has become quite attached to Togo, the duckling we are caring for. I must admit there is something very satsifying about having this little guy follow you around everywhere you walk. Whenever s/he (we don’t know) is out of the pen you must shuffle your feet for it is certain she will be underfoot and at risk of being squashed. Between baby Rose and the baby duck I thought Jeanine might warm up to the idea of another baby. Nothing doing, we are going to have to settle on three plus the idiot dog who is barking at deer in the backyard as I type.

 
Kyle interacting with his cousin Rose. Kyle has a wonderful way with babies and it did not take long for her to warm up to him.

 
It has been nice catching up with my dad. He is looking rather good considering some of the recent health scares. Here he describes his walk around the neighborhood this morning. Each day he has gotten stronger and been more aggressive with his pace.

 
Sophia and Uncle Carl have been enjoying numerous games over the last hour. Here she shows me how her toys go together.

 
This morning my soccer team played our semi-final play-off match and we came away with a 2-0 victory and a berth in the finals next weekend. My injured thigh had healed sufficiently to not incumber my play. Missing several practices while it got better did take its toll on my stamina. Never the less, I did assist on both goals and had a respectable game with most of my family looking on. One nice diving header towards the end even earned praise from Kyle and Nico (the ultimate reward). Pictured here is the squad. I handed off my camera for the shot and unfortuantely we did not get everyone in the photo. Our goalie was missing so we will have to take another next week, hopefully with a trophy in hand.

 
Today was a family work day. Everyone got their assignments from Jeanine. My list included repairing some broken shutters, adding two outdoor watering spigots, repairing the severed electric boundary wire for the invisible fence, completing the new gas grill assembly, and rebuilding a portion of our stone wall (and I got off easy). Later in the day my sister-in-law, Marie, and daughters Sophia and Rose arrived for a weekend visit. Baby Rose greets baby Togo.

 
Apparently we are duck sitting this weekend. Pictured here is Togo who was hatched from an abandoned egg and has imprinted on humans. S/he follows Maya around where ever she goes. I’ll be interested to see what Nala thinks of this whole situation by the end of the weekend.

 
I returned home this evening to find my mom and Jeanine busy at work in the various gardens around the yard.