Today, we continued south on our road trip through Pennsylvania stopping throughout the day whenever the spirit moved us. I suspect we are among a very small group of people who have ever stopped to see the Pioneer Woman Granny Statue in Altamont, PA relegated to a back alley way.
We also chose to detour slightly to stop in Hershey. The Hershey Story museum chronicles the community’s creation as a model town for the workers at Milton Hershey’s chocolate factory. Hersheypark opened in 1907 as a modest green space but grew to include rides and attractions, including a zoo. We decided to spend our time at Hershey Gardens which also features a butterfly house (with a few frogs).
Our final destination was Frederick, Maryland where we are visiting my cousin Vincent and his wife Carol. After a lovely walking tour of the city, we sat down for a delicious feast followed by a screening of short holiday movies created by Vincent and family members. They will not be up for any Emmy awards but will remain an enduring tribute to our crazy and hillarious family.
For the second week in a row, my soccer team played short-handed (footed) but still managed to pull out a 2:1 victory against a skilled Russian team. Once again, I did little to distinguish myself on the pitch but played my position well and made no mistakes, carefully conserving my energy for an hour of playing time.
After the match and a brief stop at the aprés, Jeanine and I packed up her car and took off on the first leg of a 2-week road trip to visit with family. I plotted a course designed to follow the fall color. We traveled west across Massachusetts through the Berkshires to Albany and then south to Binghampton, skirting the Catskills. Our desire to arrive before nightfall did not permit stopping for photos, but the entire journey was a feast for the eyeballs. It was without a doubt the most dramatic fall drive I have ever taken with peak color along the entire path.
Pictured above is the St John’s Ukrainian Orthodox Church located a stone’s throw from our hotel. Binghampton has a large Ukrainian community, many first generation who came to the US under refugee programs offered to Christians leaving the soviet bloc during the Reagan and Bush senior terms.
Maya and Fiona were our guests at the River House last night. This morning, they took the kayaks out to enjoy a perfect fall day on the water. They took off like bats out of hell, perhaps unaware that the Head of the Charles is being contested on a different nearby river this weekend. I took advantage of early voting and completed my civic duty for this election cycle. It will be one less thing to worry about when we return from our upcoming road trip to visit with family.
Fall color has arrived in Concord, a worthwhile reason to spend the morning capturing it. Pictured above is Warner’s Pond. Below is our stretch of the Sudbury River. If you look very closely, you can just see the roof of our house on the left side of the photo. Later in the day, I traveled to Kyle’s house in Medford. Together we installed a frosted glass door in the basement apartment to partition the laundry area from the kitchen. I returned to Concord just in time to for dinner. We were joined by Maya and her friend Fiona who are spending the weekend with us. Guests also include our good friends Irene and Eric and their new and very cute dog Ginger.
Our family dentist owns a portable sawmill and enjoys milling logs as a hobby. For the second time, he gifted us the fruits of his labor. This time, in the form of several slabs of spalted beech, which are destined to become a desk for Jeanine’s office. Spalted wood refers to wood which has been exposed to certain fungi and bacteria over a period of time. This process causes discoloration and produces dark lines or streaks in the grain of the wood. It is highly coveted among woodworkers. Before the raw slabs can be used, they must first be surfaced to make them flat and of uniform thickness. I have been gradually working through all of the material and have now completed the first pass. Once the boards have had a chance to air dry for a couple more months, they will be ready for final machining. Although the work is tedious, it is a little like opening a Christmas present. You never know what grain/spalting pattern you will discover until that first pass over the planer.
The damage assessment is in for Nicolai’s shoulder. He has a grade 3 AC joint separation. He reports that it will not require surgery but no word yet on how long it will take to recuperate. The good news is that crutching will aid in his recovery, as it will push the bones back into their normal orientation. He has already set his sights on competing in Costa Rica in January.
During the last few days, I have passed two of my largest kidney stones ever. The first was on Friday, measuring 5.5mm x 4.5mm. The second was after my soccer game on Sunday, a record of 6.5mm x 4.5mm. For all the blood, sweat, and tears required to produce these, it seems only just that they be more valuable than gold. Perhaps if I add more carbon to my diet, I will be able to produce diamonds, which might make the whole ordeal more worthwhile.
In his first match of the day, after scoring two goals, Nico sustained a serious AC sprain of his right shoulder. The extent of the injury could not be determined with the x-ray taken at the hospital and will require an MRI, which he will have later in the week. He returned to the field, arm in a sling, to watch his New England Revolution team manage a 2:2 tie against the New York Metro Football Club, which was good enough to secure a second-place finish in the tournament.
In case it is not apparent, a shoulder injury for someone who uses their arms to walk is a major inconvenience. Until he recovers, Nico will need to get around on one crutch. Given the level of pain he was in after the injury, I suspect it will take weeks, if not months to fully recover.
Although still suffering from a virus, I joined my short-handed soccer team on the pitch this morning and had an assist to help us secure a 2:1 win.
Five regional teams are competing this weekend for the US Amputee Soccer Cup. Nico plays for the New England Revolution Amputee Soccer Team and had two matches today. The first was against the team from Miami, which is essentially the same as the Haitian national team. Nico had one goal in the 2:2 tie: a good result against the favored Haitians. The second match against Chicago was a one-sided affair, with Nico scoring 4 goals. I spent the day photographing all five teams in action and the album can be found here.
On the drive home from the tournament, I heard an interview with Nico on Nation Public Radio. He spoke eloquently about his efforts to grow the sport of amputee soccer in the US. Talk about a driveway moment! Later, I heard from friends that they had seen him interviewed on TV as well. I hope to track down that video if it is available.
Here is a link to another interview with Nico from earlier this year. Spoiler alert: Nico is wearing a suit jacket.
Jeanine and I are still feeling quite ill with whatever virus we have contracted (not COVID). Rather than mope about the house all day, we jumped in the car and drove to Vermont for some leaf-peeping. What better way to distract ourselves on what turned out to be a perfect fall day? Our first stop was Brattleboro where Jeanine lived while getting her Master’s degree. From there we drove as far north as Quechee using backroads stopping whenever we were moved to do so.
Jeanine is still feeling under the weather, and I am now starting to show the same symptoms. Nevertheless, we both felt the need to get out of the house. We went to Idylwilde Farms for lunch, then to Kimbal Farms for the last ice cream of the season (they close tomorrow), and on to the Groton area for a little photography. Every time I drive past the pictured barn, I feel compelled to stop for a photo. There is something about the setting and composition that speaks to me. Despite having attempted several times, I feel I have yet to capture the optimal perspective.
Jeanine has come down with a nasty cold, and I am not feeling 100% either, so we decided to spend the day indoors. Even so, we still enjoyed the beautiful fall day from our living room. I made a chicken soup run and we curled up in front of the TV to watch the season finales of “Slow Horses” and “Bad Monkey,” two of our favorite series.
After doing some morning landscape work, I drove to western Massachusetts to enjoy a perfect fall afternoon. I traveled as far as the Connecticut River, where I paused to photograph the French King Bridge. The foliage is only beginning to change and it would be nice to return to the area in about a week with Jeanine.
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