One of the things that differentiate Concord United, my soccer club, from other teams, is that we get together to socialize after most games. We call these gatherings an après. I volunteered to host today in combination with my beer duty assessment from last weeks’ match for roughing up the opposing goalie, a matter of some considerable disagreement. Given that most of our furniture is in storage, I had to ask folks to bring their own chairs. I provided a crockpot full of Tenessee Whisky infused pulled pork, sesame seed buns, a fruit salad, and chips with salsa in addition to the beer. Teammates added a freshly baked loaf of bread and guacamole for a spread that Jeanine might even consider respectable. The mood was great having just defeated arch-rivals, Juventus, by a score of 2-0. I managed to strip their star midfielder of the ball which set up our first goal making the game very satisfying for me on a personal level as well.

Nicolai is rock climbing in Kentucky’s Red River Gorge with high school buddies Oliver and Raz. Did he send us this photo? No. We got a hold of it through Oliver’s mom.

After a few weeks of spring-like weather, it felt odd to have snow again. In Concord, we received about two inches but it was here and gone within 2 days.

It has been over a year since my last kidney stone. Earlier this week, I began passing another. I have tolerated the pain for almost five days but this evening it reached a peak and even double doses of Ibuprofen would not do the trick. I headed for the emergency room at about 11 PM and several hours later learned by way of a CAT scan that I was simultaneously passing two stones, 3mm on the left and 2-3mm on the right side. Armed with this knowledge and a shot of Toradol, high dose Ibuprofen administered by injection, I returned home in the early hours of the morning to continue the waiting game. The doctor also informed me that the radiologist had identified more than a dozen stones currently rattling around in my kidneys that will each one day try to make the great escape. Not the best news after 5 days of relentless pain. On a less depressing note, let me know if you can spot a Harry Potter character in my CAT scan.

Meet Gary, our resident groundhog. I think he must be a juvenile because he seems smaller than the groundhog who lived with us on Mattison Drive. I am concerned that his dietary interests may include our newly planted blueberry bushes and plan to install some mesh fencing to protect them this weekend. Jeanine noticed him early in the day and I encountered him after work suggesting we will be seeing a lot of him.

I can only imagine that these ants are having some kind of food orgy. Every day, this intense concentration of ants can be found swarming around a different part of our walkway. You could take out the entire population with a single misplaced footstep. As long as they stay away from the house this is going to be a live and let live relationship. Click on the image for a closer view.

I think it is safe to say that spring has arrived in Massachusetts. This scene is across from the entrance to Heath’s Bridge Road where our house is located. The magnolia tree is in full bloom as are the daffodils that line the fence.

Jeanine’s sister and brother-in-law joined the family for an outdoor celebration of Jeanine’s birthday this evening. Lauren and Bob were in New Jersey for a wedding and are returning to Indiana by way of Massachusetts and Vermont to visit with family. We had a delightful time spent mostly outdoors by the fire. Lauren and Bob are both fully vacinated and our family has all had their first shots. Earlier in the day, I was on the soccer pitch for my second match of the season, scoring my first goal of the year to help with an easy victory over our opponents from Arlington.

Jeanine and I went to Great Meadows for a nice late afternoon walk. The great weather made up for the lack of good photo opportunities. On the way home, Jeanine spotted a bunch of deer in a field near our old house. I stopped to pull out my camera and then Jeanine spotted a couple of distant turkeys. I set off on what turned out to be a half-mile hike to track down this tom. I am glad I did.

When Jeanine called my attention to this spider in our bedroom, she became very unhappy with me when my initial response was photographically motivated. She promptly took matters into her own hands and executed a catch and release before I could set up some decent lighting.

Each day for the last week, an army of ants have been working their way down our walkway towards the driveway. For some reason, they stay grouped very closely, never occupying more than a square foot at a time.

Killdeer get their name from the shrill, wailing kill-deer call they give so often. Eighteenth-century naturalists also noticed how noisy Killdeer are, giving them names such as the Chattering Plover and the Noisy Plover. This one was quite quiet as he waded in the Concord River in search of dinner.

Jeanine and I were invited on an eagle amble this evening by neighbors who share our interest in nature and photography. They guided us to a local nest which is less than a mile from our house. I made many attempts to get a clear line of sight but was unable to find a less obscured view than the one above.

It has been almost half a year (173 days, but who is counting) since we were scheduled to close on the purchase of our new home. Today, at long last, the excruciating wait has come to an end. Jeanine and I signed documents in the office of our real estate attorney this morning to finalize the transfer. Most of the delay was related to settling the seller’s estate in probate court and having a 45-year-old lien on the title removed. We are now at liberty to file for the necessary permitting to begin our reconstruction project.