Fall color has lasted longer than ever before this year. This photo was taken ten days ago across the street from the River House. One of the last remaining stands of color in the area, the leaves were incredibly vibrant in the morning sun.

Among other projects I tackled today was the decommissioning of our 300-gallon fuel oil tank in preparation for demolition. Step one was disconnecting the filler and vent pipes as well as the supply lines feeding two furnaces. Step two was cutting off the top third of the tank which took about thirty minutes to make the circumferential cut in the 1/8 inch thick steel. Step three, shown above, was draining the remaining oil from the tank by lifting the side opposite the drain valve. Later this week, I will return to cut off the middle third which will make it possible to muck out the sludge at the bottom of the tank. I will filter the remaining heating oil (about 6 gallons) and pour it into the tank at Kyle’s house or find a neighbor who would like a couple of days of free heat. Once the inside of the tank has been cleaned, I will dispatch the metal to a scrap yard for recycling.

For some time now, I have been searching for a better way to keep the bits I most commonly use with my drill/driver close at hand. After trying a number of different ideas, I finally settled on the use of cup magnets. Each 3/4″ magnet is attached to the tool where the belt hook is normally secured. The four bits I most often use are a #2 Phillips, #2 Square Drive, #8 Flat, and a T25 Torx. I am very pleased with this solution and have now similarly fitted my two other drill/drivers. Odd, what simple things can give me such joy.

Maya was not pleased with the dinner rolls she baked for Thanksgiving and decided to make a new batch today. Apparently, the dough did not properly rise last time and there was much discussion between mother and daughter as to the best approach to proofing. Jeanine and I were treated to the improved rolls, hot from the oven, as we binge-watched Ted Lasso with Maya who has not seen it yet.

Yesterday’s Thanksgiving Day bocce tournament gave me an opportunity to photograph the kids without the normal pushback I get when pointing a camera in their direction. Our family has a long tradition of playing this multi-generational game when we gather for the holidays. My father, who introduced my siblings and me to bocce, would be very happy to see that his grandchildren have embraced the game as well. If there is an afterlife, I am sure my dad was smiling yesterday.

We had a lot to be thankful for this Thanksgiving. Everyone in the family is healthy and pursuing their passions. We have a green light to proceed with our new house plans and found a great place to live during construction. Kyle is enjoying his new home as we work together on renovating his basement. Nicolai is just back from Costa Rica where he scored 6 goals for the US National Amputee Soccer team during three matches with the host country. Maya has one term remaining before graduating with a degree in robotic engineering and is already fielding job offers. Jeanine continues with her important work at Open Table finding new ways to meet the ever-increasing need for food relief. I am enjoying semi-retirement and am about to start a substantial consulting project with a fourth client. Maya, Jeanine, and I started the day with a 5K Turkey Trot. Jeanine and I walked the course while Maya ran it. Later in the day, the boys joined us for a bocce tournament in the backyard (Maya won MVP honors for some very impressive, if very lucky tosses). We were joined by one of Nico’s roommates, a close friend of Jeanine’s, and her mother for Thanksgiving diner which featured contributions from all participants. I was the designated potato peeler and masher. We normally go around the table before beginning diner to share that for which we are most thankful. With so many guests joining us this year we opted to bypass the tradition so we could enjoy the meal while it was hot. Therefore, I will record my thoughts here; I am most thankful that my cousin Edward appears to be on the road to recovery after suffering a serious stroke. He is an amazingly fit, highly competitive triathlete and the news of his situation came as a great shock. I am not one who believes prayers are answered but I am praying for him every day nonetheless.

Jeanine and I accompanied Maya to a climbing gym this evening. There she demonstrated the considerable skill she has developed since beginning to climb on a regular basis. Nico introduced her to the sport and gifted her a set of climbing shoes a few years back. While she was interning for Rivian she joined a climbing club, the Midwest Bouldering Babes, and has since become quite proficient.

I spent the better part of the day creating a detailed photo survey of our River House, a condition of the approval we received to proceed to demolition. I documented each outside elevation and every room from multiple angles. I compiled the resulting collection into a book-style PDF document adding annotations to each photo describing the location and orientation of the photo. Pictured above is the former family room. In our new layout, this will be the site of the guest bedroom.

The Sunday Boston Globe featured an article about local programs working to address food insecurity. Open Table was included and Jeanine quoted in the piece. I am so proud of Jeanine for the work she does and happy anytime she is recognized for her contributions. In addition to helping to feed thousands of people that she does not know, I am also grateful that she chooses to feed me as well.

My soccer team’s fall season wrapped up today on a disappointing note. We traveled to Epping, NH for the finals of the over-55 Division One playoffs. There we lost our first game of the season 0-1. Our opponents were very strong but their only goal came on a fluke when our goalie launched a goal kick directly into the head of one of their strikers and it bounced back into our goal. I did not see any action because we had our full roster including players who returned from Colorado and Maine, all of whom are more talented than me. Instead, I took action photos of the late afternoon game during the first half while the light was still good and helped manage substitutions during the second half. Pictured above is Mario, arguably our most talented player. Earlier this season he scored an unassisted goal from a corner kick, a difficult but not uncommon feat in soccer. What made his goal truly remarkable is that he hit the ball along the ground rather than into the air. I have never seen such a goal at any level of soccer, EVER.

I replaced two dingy light bulbs with eight four-foot-long LED lightbars in the shop today (only six visible in the photo). While I will no doubt make further improvements to the space, the shop is now officially open for business. Next week, I will likely turn my attention to creating a provisional photo studio on the other side of the basement.

I woke up very early this morning to photograph the partial lunar eclipse. Unfortunately, the sky was obscured by clouds until about 5:15 AM by which time the eclipse was nearing completion and the unique red coloring was no longer visible. Still, it was fun to get outside in the brisk night air to witness the celestial drama. I can only imagine how early humans would have interpreted such events. The ancient Inca people interpreted the deep red coloring as a jaguar attacking and eating the moon. They believed that the jaguar might then turn its attention to Earth, so the people would shout, shake their spears and make their dogs bark and howl, hoping to make enough noise to drive the jaguar away. It reminds me that absent understanding people will fill the void with explanations they can believe in. At this time in history, when our understanding of the truth has been eclipsed by social and political bias, it is little wonder that we have so many people barking and howling at each other.

The final step needed before getting our demolish permit is to disconnect electrical service to the house. Rather than going cold turkey, I installed a temporary service on the back of our garage. This will provide access to electricity during construction. When the power crew comes to disconnect the wires from the house they will connect them to this temporary meter which feeds a circuit breaker and weatherproof outlet. Due to the very real shortages associated with the supply chain problems it took me longer to acquire all of the components than to do the installation.

With the stairway framing sheathed in plywood, today I turned my attention to creating storage space under the stairs. I installed shelving in the pockets under each stair creating both shallow and very deep storage areas. I left an opening at the front to fit a shelving unit on casters. I will store my most frequently accessed items on the shelving unit and roll it out of the way to get at less often used items on the built-in shelves.

I installed plywood sheathing over the exposed stairway framing after running a pair of new outlets to each side on a new circuit. To the wall, I attached a workbench top; it was from a section of the bunk beds I made for the boys when they were small . The temporary leg shown in the middle will be replaced by a nice pair of adjustable steel legs which should arrive next week. I repeated the process on the other side of the stairway where I have provisionally set up my miter saw.

After a year without a proper shop, I was thrilled to begin organizing my tools in the Road House basement this morning. Over the course of the coming week, I plan to add plywood sheathing over the exposed 2×4 stair framing, add several electrical outlets, build shelving under the stairs, and install a workbench to create a modest shop. For the record, I do not have a DeWalt tool fetish. Once you commit to a battery platform, however, it means you are pretty much tied to the brand. I have twenty or so battery-powered tools of which I used more than a dozen over the past week.