With Maya as her coach, Lily made her first kayak excursion this evening. Within a few minutes, she looked like a duck in water. Earlier in the day, Lily and her mom were the guests of our neighbor Dave who gave them a floating tour of Fairhaven Bay aboard his small electric-powered boat. Unfortunately, the battery died and he had to row back to shore. Despite the setback, the group got to see two bald eagles during their outing.

At the request of a neighbor, I have joined a project to map the location of water chestnuts along our stretch of the river. Water chestnuts are an invasive species that grows among the water lilies that line the river banks. The originator of the project hopes to use AI to analyze aerial photos to delineate where the water chestnuts are. I offered to provide the aerial photographs. Pictured below is a low-resolution panorama of a partial segment of the river that I stitched together from several images. The map below identifies the path of my drone flight and the location where the images were captured. It remains to be seen if the goals of the project can be achieved and I will certainly report on the outcome in a future post.

Our visit to the Museum of Science today started with a showdown between Erica and one of the resident felines. I enjoyed resting in a perfect-sized chair while exploring an exhibit on perspective. The Electricity Theater was a big hit with Lily as were the interactive exhibits. I have been to the MoS many times and always look forward to discovering what’s new. On this visit, I was pleased to see an iRobot Roomba within the artificial intelligence exhibit as well as a robotic dog created by Boston Dynamics.

Erica, Jeanine’s niece, and her daughter Lily are visiting us for the next few days. Lily (just turned eleven) enjoys building things and making jewelry. I thought building a jewelry box would be fun for us to do together. Like Maya, she has an engineering-oriented brain and was quick to learn how to safely use the miter saw and table saw. Over the course of an hour, she was able to complete the box sides and apply a water-based finish to the top. We will be ready to begin assembly during our next work session.

This pair of damselflies elected to use the outside of my office window as a mating site. If not for the yummy dinner waiting for me, I would have set up my tripod and done a better job of lighting the backlit scene. I have a feeling, that this will not be the last time I get such an opportunity.

It is always exciting when we get a new first time visitor at the River House. The Muscovy duck is a large, domesticated waterfowl native to Central and South America. It is known for its distinctive red facial caruncles (fleshy protuberances), which are more pronounced in males. Muscovy ducks have a unique appearance, with glossy black plumage that can exhibit iridescent green and purple hues. They are generally quieter than other duck species, producing a soft hiss instead of quacking. Muscovy ducks are hardy birds, well-adapted to a variety of environments, and are often kept for their meat, eggs, and as pest controllers in gardens and farms. This morning one was perched on a log right in front of the house and was most cooperative as I moved down to the bank to photograph him.

Noddle’s Island was historically one of the Boston Harbor Islands. Most of the original land of Noddle’s Island now makes up the southern part of the neighborhood of East Boston; it is now part of the mainland since the strait connecting Noddle’s Island to Hog Island and that connecting Hog Island to the mainland city of Revere was filled in the early 20th century. The original contours of Noddle’s Island were also greatly obscured by the 20th-century construction of Logan International Airport, which filled the tidal flats between Noddle’s Island and Governor’s, Bird, and Apple islands to its east.

After another morning spent spreading wood chips, Jeanine and I scouted the Sailing Center at Pier’s Point where we encountered the above-pictured pavillion. When we walked out to the end of the pier we were treated to a commanding view of the Boston skyline which now includes the 600 foot tall One Congress Street building, the new global headquarters for State Street.

During the construction of our new house, I needed a way to shuttle my tools and parts to and from the job site. The pictured stack of portable toolboxes and parts organizers was the perfect solution and served me well. Now that I am fully ensconced in my new shop, these have just been collecting dust and I listed them for sale this afternoon.

For the second day, Jeanine and I worked on spreading wood chips around the house. Although not very glamorous work, it is a good exercise. Despite hours at the task, the pile of chips does not seem to be shrinking and we have two others just like it elsewhere on our property, the donated remnants of tree work done by our neighbors.

For the second time in as many days, the Concord Bridge used one of my aerial photos in their reporting. Pictured above is the Massachusetts Correctional Institute at Concord. Earlier this year the last inmates were transferred out making way for the sale of the complex by the state. The future use of the site is up in the air and will no doubt be the source of much debate within the town.

Earlier this week, I was asked by the Managing Editor of the Concord Bridge if I would take aerial photographs of various places in town for the paper. I agreed, starting with the Concord-MCI prison for an upcoming article on the future of the now-decommissioned facility. Other locations on the list included Walden Pond and Warner Pond. Tragically, there was a drowning at Walden yesterday, and I was asked to provide the images I had shot the day before, one of which appears above.

Moments after sharing my photos I found two of them included in this posting on the Concord Bridge website.

Eventually, I will come to grips with the fact that I am no longer a spring chicken and probably do not belong on a 24-foot ladder with a 15-foot pole saw. Today was not that day, as I up-limbed several trees needing pruning. The work was not made easier by the extreme heat combined with my choice of a long-sleeved shirt and long pants to protect my skin from the limbs falling past me. When I completed the work, I was as physically spent and left with the realization that I really should not be doing this kind of work any more. Getting old sucks. Falling off a ladder with a mini-chain saw probably sucks more.

Due to the amount of mud present, I have been reluctant to do any yard work near the river banks on our property. Today, that excuse evaporated with the arrival of the pictured muck boots. I was relieved when I slipped them on and found the fit to be good, a concern I have whenever purchasing footwear online. Unlike other new purchases, I am not looking forward to using my new boots.

Despite above-average rainfall over the past months, the level of the Sudbury River has returned to a normal level. During parts of the winter, water was present from tree line to tree line. This afternoon, I flew my drone from our patio up to Fairhaven Bay to survey the waterline. Note to self: I think it would be very cool to record my altitude and geolocation so that I can return to this same vantage point for future photos illustrating the changing look of the river through the seasons. I ended the flight with an aerial selfie.

Something I have been meaning to do for some time now is to replace our mailbox with a more substantial one and to replace the cross members on the post we share with neighbors. The old ones were rotting and not level. The new box is more in keeping with the modern design of our house and I like the way the large numbers appear on the door.

During one of my many trips from the mailbox to my shop for a forgotten tool or needed fastener, I encountered this Eastern Milk Snake crossing the driveway. These snakes are non-poisonous, non-venomous, have tiny teeth, and are docile unless provoked. It was odd to encounter one during the day as they are primarily nocturnal hunters. They are a welcome member of our local ecosystem feeding primarily on mice, other small mammals, snakes, birds, bird eggs, slugs, and other invertebrates.

We hosted a Euro Cup finals viewing party in the afternoon with the kids. Maya came with her boyfriend, Owen, and flatmate Zoe. Nicolai arrived with amp soccer teammate Musa, and Kyle was solo. Jeanine was only slightly interested in the match but did think to take a picture of the assembled group. While studying the image, I have tried with no success to locate Owen’s head. His left foot can be seen in a black sock.

Discovered in early 2023, pictured above are three of five musket balls that were unearthed in Minute Man National Park. These musket balls were found near the Old North Bridge on the eastern side of the Concord River where British soldiers formed up to resist the colonial militia when the “shot heard round the world” was fired. The British used standardized musket ball sizes while the colonists cast their own to match their specific rifles (40 to 70 caliber). Only later in the war did the Colonial army begin to standardize as well. This difference and where they were found offer compelling evidence that they were fired at the British by the Minutemen. Striations on the musket balls confirmed they were fired rather than dropped.

Today, for the first time, they went on public display at Minute Man National Park where Jeanine and I were first in line to see them this morning. It is fascinating to live in a place with such a rich history of our nation.