Fall color is now moving through our neck of the woods. Pictured above is an aerial view of the section of the Sudbury River adjacent to our home, the roof of which can be seen on the left bank. Also visible in this photo, if you look carefully, is a kayaker and a Great Blue Heron.

Yesterday, I woke up almost completely unable to walk with severe pain in my left hip joint. Apparently, all the driving I did on Friday (10 hours in the car) did not sit well with my hip, pun intended. A combination of Ibuprofen, icing, walking (4 miles), and a massage from Jeanine made it possible for me to play soccer this morning, a seemingly miraculous recovery. Not only was I able to play, but I also scored my first goal of the season, and a beauty at that. I intercepted a pass at midfield and made a Nico-class juke to evade my defender. I then passed to a teammate who attacked the goal. His shot was rejected and fell to their sweeper, who I stripped and then beat a second defender to face the goalie one-on-one from the 18-yard line. He charged to cut down the angle as I fired a left-footed rocket which bounced off the inside of the far post for the goal.

I should note that this is the first game I played with a new set of cleats that I purchased to replace the pair I blew out last month, making them forever lucky.