This photo, taken by Kyle, features a rare albino squirrel. From a camouflage and heat absorption perspective, it seems that this guy is going to be in for a tough winter.

Maya shared this photo, taken with her friends, during a north country winter hike. Between work, the new house, and Covid concerns, Jeanine and I have had little time or interest in traveling far from home. We are both suffering from cabin fever and it may be time to take inspiration from our intrepid daughter to venture out.

Even though the kids now acknowledge that I was an early trendsetter for the bomber style hat fashion trend, they refuse to believe that my new high ear variation will go anywhere. It is most dramatic with both ears up. The one ear presentation is edgier. Only time will tell if I am once again at the leading edge of hat fashion.

Mild temperatures and a break from the rain made it the perfect day to do some yard clean up. I spent most of my time cutting a large stump closer to the ground. This is the stump on which we stranded the truck we used to move the tiny house to our new address. The task was unusually difficult because another tree was growing out from under the stump creating an obstacle for my chainsaw. Jeanine gathered fallen limbs that were littering the property and we used our makeshift fire pit to reduce everything to ash while enjoying a nice fire.

On a day that featured almost continuous rain, it started with a brief period of calm and a lovely mist moving down the river. Jeanine and I spent a good bit of time starting to build a “scrap book” of design ideas for the new house. Our architect has taken the as-built measurements of the house and will be ready for our first kick-off meeting in a week or two. One big decision that we will sit with for a while before committing to is a change from our current roof structure to mono-slope low pitch roof. We both realized that everytime we identified a house that we liked, it had this type of roof.

More often than not, when I see a swan, I see a pair and they are usually sticking their heads underwater in search of food. This guy was cruising solo up the river towards Fairhaven Bay and seemed interested in little else than reaching his destination. Kind of like me on my commute to work.

Jeanine found this vole wandering around in our basement and summoned me to relocate it outdoors. It was very easy to catch and was kind enough to stick around for a photo after I released him. A relative of the hampster, these creatures only live for 6 to 12 months but produce 100 offspring during that time. Something tells me, these guys are going to be frequent visitors. When time permits, I will have to figure out how he gained entry to the basement. The floor is poured concrete and the walls are cement blocks. There is, however, one area, under the base of the stairs, that goes down to the dirt. It is currently under a raised platform that constitutes the last step and I will have to remove it to validate my suspicion.

This evening, Jeanine offered me chocolate from this assortment explaining that we would each enjoy one per evening until they run out. Who am I to argue with this plan. Constant work on the new house has left me 15 pounds lighter and in a position to enjoy these treats guilt-free.

Work at Digital Alloys remains the source of great personal enjoyment for me. Our team continues to make excellent progress as we begin our series “C” fundraising in earnest. When I joined the company, I laid out a straight forward plan to get us to market. First, demonstrate that our printed parts were of the same quality as ones machined from the same metal. We accomplished this late last summer. Second, demonstrate that we could print parts at speeds that would result in an economically attractive business model. We achieved this milestone last month with a 30x improvement from our baseline. The final objective is to demonstrate that we can print parts of arbitrary geometry and I am feeling fairly confident that we can do this over the course of a few more months. Pictured above is a new fixture we have designed to hold the cylindrical block on which we print parts. It will be completed later this week when the final component (a pneumatic cylinder) arrives in house.

It has now been just over nine years since I joined the Board of Directors of the American Amputee Soccer Association. In that time, the organization has grown from one that could barely field a full squad to represent the United States in international competition and then only if the players could pay for their own travel to one that is now starting to build out regional teams and has modest funding. One of the most important missions of the organization is to help amputees reach their full potential and to create an opportunity to enjoy competitive soccer. Hayes, pictured above, recently lost his leg. He was thrilled when a member of the US National Amputee Soccer Team reached out and sent him a team jersey and backpack along with an offer to join the sport when he is old enough. I hope to still be with the organization when that day comes.

Although I have been to Italy three times, I have yet to see Rome or the region of Calabria. My most recent visit was with Jeanine when we had just started dating some 36 years ago. Last October, we celebrated our 30 year wedding anniversary. We had been planning a trip to Europe to include Italy and Greece but those plans never even got off the ground when the pandemic hit. With any luck, we will have been vaccinated in time to make the same trip next October. I hope those who follow this blog will forgive my week -long indulgence in imaginary travel. I needed something to inspire continued social isolation during these challenging times.

Of all the places I have ever trekked, Nepal is near the top of my favorites list. Seven years ago, I hiked the Annapurna circuit. The 150-mile trail covers some of the most magnificent scenery you can imagine. I feel lucky to have done it when I did as new roads are diminishing the trail every year. I would very much like to return to Nepal and climb to the Mount Everest base camp, which at 17,598 feet is not quite as high as the Thorung La Pass on the Annapurna circuit at 17,769 feet.

Although I am 50% Ecuadorian, I was nearly 60 years old before I visited for the first time. Maya and I spent 3 weeks there, equally split between the Galapagos, the Andes, and the Amazon. I would love to return again with Jeanine and combine it with a visit to Peru.

Had it not been for the Covid pandemic, I would have made my third visit to Africa last March. I took this photo 16 years ago in South Africa while lying on the roof of a mini-van, which was rapidly backing up when this herd of elephants entered the road we were parked on and asserted their right of way. It was a thrilling encounter and I cannot wait to make a return trip to the African continent for more of the same.