Some road-side business signs stand out more than others.

The Jaffrey Mills is a historic mill complex in the central business district of Jaffrey, New Hampshire. It consists of a connected series of primarily brick buildings flanking the Contoocook River. Its oldest buildings, the original mill and office building, are on the west side of the river (left). They were built in 1868, and feature mansard roofs and banded dentil brick cornices. In 1872 the building on the east side was built, and the two sides were joined by timber-frame bridges in 1897.  The mills have since been converted to residences. This afternoon, after a morning of planning HVAC ducting for the new house, I ventured out to enjoy the fine fall day only to have the clouds roll in as I reached my original destination of Mount Monadnock.

My sister Alissa and my mother both performed ballroom dance exhibitions at the Mall of America in Minneapolis today. My mother, 93, partnered with her former teacher from New York in an Argentine Tango. My sister reprieved a performance she recently did at the Crossgates Mall in Albany. Both were in fine form. The same cannot be said for my performance on the soccer pitch today. With many of my teammates sidelined with injuries, I played far more minutes than I am accustomed to and my lack of conditioning showed. Even so, I managed a couple of decent attempts on goal and we came away with a 3-0 win.

Nobody looks as good in a hat as Jeanine. This afternoon we attended the Conantum (name of our neighborhood) harvest gathering where she was wearing my favorite one. Held at our communal gardens, members of the neighborhood enjoyed an opportunity to get to know each other better. I arrived towards the end of the gathering because I was waiting for Nicolai and his friends to arrive at the house. They borrowed our kayaks and our neighbor’s canoe for an extended outing on the river. The sky was cloudy and the winds quite strong but still a great day to be out on the water.

Without a doubt, the stinkhorn mushroom pictured here is the strangest-looking fungus I have ever seen. I found a trio growing in the yard while doing some fall clean-up. This was a quick “grab shot” taken with my phone and I hope to post a better version taken with my “real” camera.

I was in Cambridge this afternoon meeting with a potential new client. I arrived early to avoid being late due to traffic and had a chance to walk around a bit. Pictured here is the Area 4 Story mural by artist David Fichter. It illustrates the rich history of Area 4, which is known for its social reformers like Margaret Fuller, Clement Morgan, and William Lloyd Garrison as well as its technology and inventors like Elias Howe who invented the sewing machine. Area 4, now called the Port, is a high-density residential neighborhood located near Central Square in Cambridge.

While returning home from the Boston Marathon on Monday, I came across this very nice scene in Ashland, MA. Unfortunately, the grey skies that day did little to make the photo pop. Today’s cloudless skies gave me reason to return for the shot above. Earlier in the day, I wrapped up the Purchase and Sale Agreement on our next house. We are on track to close before the end of the month.

I narrowly avoided stepping on this wooly bear as I was headed out to my car this morning. One of the most familiar caterpillars, wooly bears are renowned wanderers. They hatch from eggs in the fall, overwinter in woodpiles, and molt into Isabella tiger moths in the spring. Seeing it reminded me of a photo I took of Maya when she was 5 years old.

The Boston Marathon is normally held on Patriots Day. This year, it was postponed until today due to Covid. When attending in the past, I have positioned myself closer to the end of the race. This year, I decided to try a location closer to the start (1.75 miles). Here I enjoyed generally unobstructed views of the participants and managed to capture images of the winners in the men’s and women’s elite and wheelchair divisions.

The celebration of my 63rd birthday was postponed until we could do it as an entire family. The kids treated me to an amazing Italian diner at Olivia’s Bistro in Waltham. As good as the food was, it was surpassed by the conversation which reminded me how much I admire the adults that our kids have become. Earlier in the day, I was on the soccer pitch in what turned out to be our most challenging match of the season. We emerged with a narrow 1-0 win against a tough Brazillian team. The victory all but secured a first-place finish in our division and a berth in the post-season playoffs.

Today, Jeanine and I celebrated our 31st wedding anniversary, originally planned for earlier this week (October 6th), we had to postpone when Jeanine’s return flight from Indianapolis was delayed by several hours. Jeanine put me in charge of planning this year and I decided on a lighthouse-themed getaway based on her fondness for them. Our first stop was the Eastern Point Lighthouse in Gloucester Harbor.

While driving through Gloucester we paused to enjoy the magnificent gardens which grace the Stage Fort Park promenade. They are as spectacular as any I have ever seen and an unplanned anniversary bonus. From there, I flew my drone out to Babson Ledge for a closer peek at the Ten Pound Island Lighthouse, built of cast iron and brick in 1881 to guide boats into the town’s inner harbor. The final image is of the Gloucester City Hall, a very lovely building that exudes New England charm. Our final destination was Marblehead where we enjoyed a truly wonderful meal at the Landing.

Gloucester City Hall

Each year, there is about a one-week window when fall color is at its peak in any given area. When that period lines up with great weather it is time to get outside. Today, I drove up to Franconia Notch, one of my favorite places for autumn photography. My first stop was the Squam River bridge, in my opinion, one of the prettiest in all of New Hampshire. Built in 1990, this covered bridge replaces a steel and concrete bridge that was condemned. The state proposed a two-lane steel bridge for this site, but the citizens of Ashland voted for a one-lane wood bridge constructed in the traditional style of covered bridges. Mirror Lake was my next stop and then it was on to the town of Lincoln. By the time I started heading for home, the northbound weekend tourist traffic was backed up for several miles and I was very happy to be going in the opposite direction.

When demolition begins on our new home, we are going to need someplace to live for the year plus it will take to build the new one. Last night, Jeanine and I decided it would make more sense to buy a second home rather than waste money on rent. When the new construction is completed and we move back, we will use the second house as a rental property. This morning we found a 3-bedroom, 2000 sqft home that is less than a mile and a half away that ticked all the boxes. After touring the home, I did a quick but thorough inspection and presented an offer on the spot. It was accepted a few hours later and we are scheduled to close before the end of the month.

Today, I happen on this interview that Nicolai did back in January. Unsurprisingly, he did not mention it to anyone in the family. Fortunately, YouTube has a search function which I use from time to time, to discover what Nico has been up to recently.