I woke up to the first proper snow of the winter. Overnight, we received four inches, adding to the two inches that fell earlier in the week. After clearing the driveway, I ventured out for a second day of photography. Second only to fall foliage, snowscapes are one of my favorite things to shoot.

Essentially by accident, I may have discovered a pleasing photographic perspective on downtown Concord. I managed to capture three churches, two cemetaries, the town flagpole and rotary, the post office, and several of the quaint shops and restaurants that make up the place.

Jeanine and Lauren got an early start on their drive to Burlington, VT, where they will spend the next couple of days visiting with their sister. Closer to home, we had a dusting of snow that was enough to get me out of the house for some photography. I managed a blurry shot of a Bald Eagle that was perched right in front of the house; he flew off before I could get my camera properly stabilized, and I took advantage of the nice reflections off the river to get a winter scene of the house with my drone.

In the evening, I attended a winter solstice party at our neighbors’ just up the street. It was originally scheduled for the celestially correct night last December, but had to be postponed due to the illness of one of the hosts. The evening included an outdoor fire lighting ceremony and sing-along. I retreated to the back of the circle, performing a thoughtful public service by ensuring my “singing” remained a strictly personal experience.

My recent auto-upgrade to the Tahoe operating system left my MacBook seriously compromised and me supremely irritated. I spent several hours backing up my nearly full 4TB disk, doing a full reset and clean install, followed by restoring all my files and applications. It is not the way I like to spend a Saturday afternoon.

Much more to my liking was a visit to Maya’s new apartment located close to Inman Square in Cambridge with her Aunt Lauren, Jeanine, and Kyle. Later, we walked to a nearby Portuguese restaurant where we enjoyed a delightful meal together.

To support our church, Jeanine donated her cookbook and dinner for six as an auction item. She partnered with one of our neighbors, who provided the wine and served as sommelier. The winning bid was for $1000, and after the auction ended, a matching bid was made for a second dinner. Jeanine teamed up with her sister, Lauren, to create a veritable feast.

• Apéritif and Appetizers
  • Brie Bites with Tart Cherry and Pistachio
  • Roasted Vegetables and Pesto Dip
  • Warmed Nuts and Olives
• First Course
  • Sizzling Rice Soup
• Second Course
  • Brisket & Mushroom Bourguignon
  • Roasted Crisp Potatoes
  • Broccolini
• Salad Course
  • Arugula, Beet, Orange, and Fennel
• Cheese & Fruit Course
  • Assorted Cheeses, Sliced Apples, Grapes, and French Bread
• Dessert
  • Swedish Almond Torte
  • Chocolates

I kept busy as a server, dishwasher, kitchen cleaner, and salad garnisher. These jobs kept me so occupied that I was unable to photograph all of the wonderful dishes, which is a shame because some of the presentations were just as exquisite as the food.

Today, I upgraded my MacBook to Tahoe, the latest Apple operating system. To say that it has been a disaster would be an understatement. It has left my computer in a near-unusable state. I spent the bulk of the day trying to debug the various issues. I have made some progress, but many apps are still working oddly or locking up intermittently, and opening certain files can take tens of minutes.

To downgrade to the previous operating system, I will need to completely erase my hard disk, which will require a full backup of my photos, videos, and data. Given how slow my computer is working, this could take days, if not weeks. I ordered a 4TB drive, which is expected to arrive on Saturday for this purpose.

During the past year, I’ve been volunteering for The Concord Bridge, our local newspaper, using my drone to capture aerial photographs on assignment. On my latest outing, I was approached by a security officer contracted to patrol the Massachusetts Correctional Institution at Concord — the state’s oldest men’s prison, which officially closed on June 30, 2024.

The officer politely inquired about my activities, and I politely explained that I was working on an assignment for the local paper. We enjoyed a brief and civil discussion about airspace, property lines, and who actually controls what. In the end, he requested that I leave the parking lot, and I complied, relocating to a nearby public area where I relaunched and completed my photos, careful to stay well outside the prison boundaries.

Afterward, it occurred to me that it might be wise to obtain some form of press credential to confirm the purpose of my flights. I made my request to the Editor-in-Chief, who promptly mailed me a bona fide press pass — which arrived today. I plan to wear it with pride and, hopefully, with just enough authority to spare me from further impromptu civics lessons in parking lots.

On the home front, Jeanine’s sister Lauren flew in from Indianapolis and will be visiting for the next several days. I picked her up at the airport and returned home just in time to meet up with Jeanine, who gave her the grand tour, including a stop at the exercise bar I recently installed for her.

For several days now, we have been visited by a flock of Common Merganser ducks. They often fly very close to the water, and watching them do a water landing is very entertaining, something I have yet to get a picture of. Also hanging out in the neighborhood was a very well-nourished beaver and a red-tailed hawk on the look out for lunch.

Warmer temperatures have caused the frozen Sudbury River in front of our house to begin thawing from the middle out. As the sun was setting this evening, it made for an interesting linear reflection strip. We are expected to enjoy a few more days of warm weather before the mercury is expected to plummet next week.

I took a break from working in my shop to book travel for my trip to Bolivia in March. I had been considering including an excursion to Guyana’s Kaieteur Falls on the adventure, but threats of further military action in nearby Venezuela have led me to drop it from the plan out of an abundance of caution. As it stands, I will be flying through Bogota, Colombia, which may be equally risky.

While Maya was visiting over the Christmas break, she knitted a pair of booties for a colleague who was expecting a child. That baby arrived on Christmas Eve, and today Maya shared this photo of the new arrival in his cozy footwear.

I made the initial version of the pictured pocket hole drilling jig 25 years ago. Ten years ago, I added significant upgrades. Today, I replaced a component that I created on a Markforged 3D printer with one printed on a Formlabs printer. It is the grey block, which is a bracket to support the pneumatic cylinder that clamps a workpiece into the jig when a foot pedal is pressed. Although the original bracket worked adequately, it flexed more than I liked. The new part, printed with a very rigid resin, doesn’t budge at all.

Having completed the two drawers for my new workbench earlier in the week, I spent the afternoon placing layout and measurement tools in the top one. Most of my time was spent organizing the tools to maximize space utilization and placing my most frequently used ones front and center. This photo represents only 2/3 of the drawer width, so I will have to give some thought to what will fill the remaining third. Each tool has a “nest”, so they will not move around

This morning, we had visits from both a red fox and a coyote, both likely on the prowl for a mate. Red foxes are generally monogamous, often forming long-term pairs, though males may seek extra mates once the primary female’s brief heat ends. Courtship starts in winter and includes hunting together, chasing, and playful interactions.​ The dominant male mates with the dominant vixen; pair bonds can last for life, but high mortality means many breeding pairs are newly formed each year.​ After mating, the vixen uses a den system; gestation is about 49–58 days, with typically one litter of 4–6 kits per year.​ Males often provision the female while she is confined to the den, then both parents may help feed and protect the young as they grow.​ In areas with abundant resources, one male may mate with multiple females, and subordinate females may share the territory and sometimes help rear kits.​

Coyotes are strongly monogamous, with alpha pairs usually staying together for life and forming the core of a territorial family group. Breeding occurs once per year, mainly mid‑January to mid‑February, because females are monestrous and fertile only during a short, roughly 10‑day estrus.​ Courtship includes play‑wrestling, chasing, grooming, and food sharing, which reinforce the pair‑bond before and during mating. Gestation lasts about 60–65 days, with pups born in spring; the pair chooses or excavates a den mainly for this season, otherwise living and resting above ground.​ The male commonly provisions the pregnant and nursing female, and later the pups; older offspring or pack members may also help rear the litter.​

Mild temperature and minimal wind made for good conditions to burn off our Christmas tree, which took all of ten minutes. Once I had the fire started, I added wood scraps from the shop and broken-down palettes to create a lovely spire.

I completed two drawers for my new workbench today. They are by far the largest I have ever built, easily four times larger than anything to date. This brings my drawer construction total for the house to 122. I have grown weary of building drawers, and I sincerely hope these are my last, although history suggests not. The drawers are shallow, and one will be primarily used for layout and marking tools while the other will contain scrapers, planes, and chisels. Frequently used tools will be placed at the front of the drawer, with less frequently used ones at the back. The heavy-duty, full-extension drawer slides are scheduled to arrive on Friday, and I plan to install them this weekend.

The vise for my new assembly table arrived today, and I made quick work of installing it. Designed for a 3-1/2″ benchtop, I had to glue and screw a 2″ spacer to my 1-1/2″ top to make up the difference. I also notched one of the table legs to create clearance for the vise’s sliding rails. Alternatively, I could have located the legs on this end of the table further from the edge, but I preferred this approach to minimize the tabletop overhang and to maximize the width of the drawers yet to be installed.