On something of a whim, Jeanine and I decided to visit Cuba later this month. I booked airfare, applied for tourist cards (visas), reserved a casa particulares (Cuban homestay in Havana), and purchased a guidebook at our local bookstore. We both have been looking forward to a couple’s getaway and respite from the winter’s cold. With the recent easing of sanctions, it is now possible to book a commercial flight directly from the US and to travel independently provided we engage in “people-to-people education” which will be the focus of our visit. We thought it wise to go now before the new administration seeks to undo the progress of the former. We are counting the days until our March 20th departure.

Yesterday I netted just over $1000 from items I sold on Craig’s List. Today I listed several more items which should bring in double that. Downsizing is far easier when you can do it on a leisurely schedule. Exhausted and nearly frozen from my soccer practice this morning (13F air temp, wind chill well below zero), I was quite content to spend a few hours thawing in my photo studio.

Jeanine found time while not working to bake a lovely pudding cake which will not likely last the evening.

The John Greenleaf Whittier Bridge was built in 1951 connecting Newburyport and Amesbury over the Merrimack River. It is currently under reconstruction with a completion date late this summer. Jeanine and I visited the area today, me in hopes of photographing a bald eagle and Jeanine with a case of cabin fever and a desire for exercise. It was about 16F for most of the afternoon but the wind chill was easily sub-zero. We took a total of three short walks; one in Moseley Woods, one on the seashore of Plum Island, and the other from the Plum Island Refuge to the Spencer-Pierce-Little Farm where Jeanine had to make friends with all the animals. We saw no eagles or many birds at all but did manage to locate a nice little bistro, the Wild Garlic, for lunch.

Lee v. Weisman was a United States Supreme Court decision regarding school prayer. It was the first major school prayer case decided by the Rehnquist Court. It ruled that schools may not sponsor clerics to conduct even non-denominational prayer. Today Maya and her partner argued the case on behalf of Lee in moot court. She was assigned the losing side of the case but will be judged based on the quality of her team’s arguments and responses to questions from the judges. She put in over 30 hours of preparation and even dressed in her most lawyerly outfit.

UPDATE: Maya and her partner won their case and will advance to the next round.

My bride is just as beautiful as the day I met her. She attended the Jericho Road Spring Gala “Bridges to Change” at the Nashawtuc Country Club this evening. The Jericho Road project seeks to pair volunteer professionals with nonprofit organizations in need of their expertise.

Jeanine has offered me a nice reward if I can sell the ottoman pictured above. It has been on Craig’s List for some time and I have had many nibbles but no buyer so far.  It is listed for $80 and I am offering a $20 commission to anyone who brings me a buyer. I have had great success selling photo gear, computers, tools and even cars but my track record with furniture is not so good.  I am mightily motivated to eradicate this blemish on my otherwise sterling track record.

I took Jeanine on a date this afternoon. We enjoyed a nice walk through the Rolling Meadows part of Boxborough Conservation Land followed by lunch at Twin Seafood in Acton. I had planned to watch Maya compete in the Nordic Skiing State Meet being held at Prospect Mountain in Vermont today. Failure to coordinate with Jeanine left me with only the BMW i3 this morning. Its 81-mile range was no match for the 234-mile roundtrip.

I spent the bulk of the day shopping for and installing a new microwave oven. Ours bit the dust last night after a less-than-impressive service life of ten years. I quickly abandoned my attempt to repair it when I discovered thermal damage to several major internal components. Unable to locate a similar size unit to mount underneath a corner kitchen cabinet, I had to settle for a slightly larger countertop unit. I built a small pedestal to position the microwave in its original position. With this distraction out of the way, I prepared another piece of shop equipment for sale. This bad boy sold in one day and took three of us to move out of my shop.
 

I decided it was time for this site to get a new look. I am still working through some technical issues but I hope followers will enjoy the larger images and cleaner design.

While Maya was participating in her team project evaluation and interview, I had a few hours of free time. I decided to walk over to the Wellesley College campus where Olin students are encouraged to take liberal arts electives. They also have access to the full curriculum at Babson and Brandeis. The grounds and buildings are quite beautiful and the 6 mile round trip would have been ideal if not for a couple of brief but intense rain showers.

Candidate’s weekend ended with an awards dinner followed by an entertaining performance by the school’s fire arts club.

The admission process to the Olin College of Engineering is unlike any other, as is their approach to teaching.  First they screen their total pool of applicants down to 225 finalists which they invite to one of three Candidate’s Weekends. During the 2 day event, they expose potential students to “the Olin Way” and evaluate them during a fun but rigorous team project-based assessment and individual interview. Although candidates are vying for one of only 81 available spots, the atmosphere is light and highly collegial. Having worked with a number of Olin graduates, I know the quality of engineers produced by the program.  It was fascinating to learn about their revolutionary approach to teaching engineering and I will say without reservation that it is the best (by far) that I have ever seen at any school.

I photographed these swans from a prone position for close to half an hour before getting the symmetrical shot with reflection I was hoping for.  These birds really are magnificently graceful and it was relaxing to watch them as they swam about in search of food. Most of Great Meadows remains frozen so the pair were restricted to a small area near the shore that has opened up. 

Jeanine and I took advantage of delightful weather to enjoy a 3.5-mile walk starting at French’s Meadow near downtown Concord. We have been exploring new neighborhoods in search of potential land or homes for sale that meet our downsizing criteria.  No luck so far.  We did come across a cute little pump house owned by Concord Water Works, however

When she is not at one of the Open Table facilities, meeting with potential donors, or attending operations meetings, Jeanine works from our dining room which serves as her home office.  Do not assume that the smile on her face meant that she was happy to see me. Milliseconds after I snapped this image she ordered me to leave the room and chastised me for interrupting her work.  I returned to my office where I spent a good portion of the day booking travel and lodging for a father-daughter trip I will take with Maya immediately after she graduates in June.  Originally we had planned to go to New Zealand but June is really not the best month for visiting the southern hemisphere.  Instead we will be spending 20 days in Ecuador, 8 on board a small catamaran touring the Galapagos Islands.