This afternoon, I assembled the multi-driver tool I designed last week. Maya kindly printed the two parts needed to complete the project and delivered them this afternoon. I had planned for the first unit to be a prototype, but the dimensional accuracy and ergonomics were perfect, and I consider this to be a field-ready tool as it stands. This multi-driver is 1″ in diameter and 4.2″ in length with bits stowed, and 6.5″ long with a bit deployed. It holds six 3″ long standard 1/4″ bits. It has a magnetic base that holds the bits in place and holds the handle to the bit holder. It is also possible to use the handle without the bit holder as a bit extension.

While waiting for the 3D-printed parts, I put together a similar set of bits designed to fit in my existing camera bag. This kit is volumetrically more efficient at the expense of a proper handle and fully enclosed bit storage. Not pictured is the same configuration with 2″ long bits, which will cut space and weight even more at the expense of bit reach.

Jeanine spotted this Osprey as it landed in a tree overlooking the river adjacent to our house. I grabbed my camera and stepped onto the patio, where I had a perfect line of sight and favorable lighting. After briefly posing for me, our guest flew off in search of dinner.

I met with the kids today at their triplex in Somerville to discuss and formulate plans for the house. We have discovered a rather large cavity under a section of pavement, and it is not apparent how it came to be there. We all agreed that it would be best to determine the root cause before electing to fill it in or tear up the concrete first. Next, we turned our attention to the backyard to determine how many parking spaces might be accommodated: two for sure and possibly three. The foundation and surrounding concrete from a garage previously located there make the conversion to a parking area an obvious choice.

With Jeanine in Minnesota and no projects on tap, I decided to spend the afternoon in Quincy after learning about the August Moon Festival being celebrated there today. I arrived just as a group of performers began a Chinese Umbrella Dance on stage. In Chinese culture, the umbrella symbolizes prosperity, good luck, and protection from evil spirits, making it a perfect fit for a harvest festival. I regret having eaten lunch before arriving, as there were many yummy-looking foods at every turn.

Before succumbing to the temptation of fried dough and/or ice cream, I decided to make a brief walking tour of downtown Quincy, where I discovered Peace Field, a nearly 300-year-old residence that was home to two presidents.

Closer to the town center, one finds the very stately town hall building and an elegant statue of Abigail Adams.

The longer I studied the statue, the more apparent it became that the proportions were exaggerated. Unless Abigail is wearing 16-inch heels, the bottom half of her body has been elongated. The typical adult human head is 1/7 to 1/7.5 of total height for both men and women. I fear my head may be on the larger size to carry around such mundane facts.

On the drive home, I stopped at the Quincy Quarries Reservation to check out the latest graffiti art. I am not a fan of people defacing natural objects (or buildings, for that matter), but somehow, in this setting, I find the result to be quite captivating.

My nephew Mario and his wife Brooke were treated to a baby shower at my brother’s home in Minnetonka today. Representing the eastern contingent of the Calabria clan were Jeanine, Maya, and my sister Alissa, who took all of today’s photos. Jeanine and I gifted a car seat, and Maya knitted a pair of booties for her first cousin once removed. I have laid claim to this baby as a surrogate grandchild and will be asserting all applicable rights and privileges when he is born. Said surrogacy shall persist and all rights shall endure until such time as one of my children produces an offspring.

Jeanine is pictured here with my sister and sister-in-law.

I spent an hour searching the internet for a multi-bit screwdriver that I would consider buying. Everything on the market in the compact size I am looking for uses short interchangeable bits, which often do not provide the necessary clearance to access a fastener located inside a recess or cavity. I spent less time designing my own, made from two 3D-printed parts and off-the-shelf components I found on Amazon. When those parts arrive, I will fine-tune my measurements before printing the handle and base. I hope to have a prototype ready for testing in about a week.

Meanwhile, Jeanine is in Minnesota to attend my nephew’s women’s-only baby shower this weekend. She spent the day with our sister-in-law, Marie, visiting Taliesin, the 800-acre estate, home, studio, and school of famous architect Frank Lloyd Wright.

Where the heck are the meteor photos in this dubiously titled post?

Last night, the annual Perseid Meteor Shower was at its peak. Even better, there was a new moon providing optimal conditions for photography. Unfortunately, cloud cover obscured the celestial light show for all but a brief moment just after nightfall, and I saw a single meteor trail from my vantage point on the high grounds of the Fruitlands Museum in Harvard. Unfortunately, it did not show up in the 300 photos I took.

To photograph a meteor shower, you put a wide-angle lens on your camera, put it on a tripod, aim it at some part of the sky, and use an intervalometer to take back-to-back 15-second exposures for several hours. When you get home, you download the images and look through hundreds to see if you were lucky enough to catch one. Pictures you may have seen with multiple meteors are made by compositing several such images.

The forecast for this evening called for clear skies and a 5% crescent moon. Although past the peak rate, there are still plenty of meteors burning through our atmosphere. For optimal viewing and photography, I drove an hour and a half to Dennison Lake in central Massachusetts, a Bortle Class 3 dark sky site. Although I visually observed 5 meteors (one was spectacular), I did not capture a single image in over 600 photos. If you are not lucky enough to have your camera trained on the right part of the sky at the right moment, you miss the photo. Had I let my camera run all night, I have no doubt I would have caught something. I decided to bail just after midnight, given the 90-minute drive home.

Pictured above and below is Mount Monadnock. By virtue of its proximity to Dennison Lake, I used my drone to get a few shots before sunset. Thankfully so, or I would have gone empty-handed for the day.

Had I decided to photograph today’s partial solar eclipse a few days ago, I would have had time to buy the necessary solar filter for my camera. Such a filter reduces the amount of light by a factor of one million to one, allowing for proper exposure and preventing the destruction of the camera’s sensor. Yes, the sun is THAT bright! Determined to memorialize the rare celestial event in some way, I aimed our spotting scope at the sun and placed a piece of white paper on the ground behind it. I did not have time to angle the paper such that it was orthogonal to the scope, so the geometry is slightly distorted (stretched horizontally). Nevertheless, I was able to photograph the image projected onto the paper, where you can see the moon taking a bite out of the sun. It was a quick hack that let me “see” a partial solar eclipse for the first time in my life. The next total eclipse will be on August 2, 2027, and will begin over the Atlantic Ocean, cross southern Spain and Morocco, then proceed across North Africa through Algeria, Tunisia, Libya, and Egypt, before moving through Saudi Arabia and Yemen and passing over Somalia and the Indian Ocean. Perhaps I will time a visit to one of these countries to catch totality.

Later this evening, we have another celestial event that I hope to capture for tomorrow’s post.

Today, I decided to clean up a rather large downed limb from an oak tree that came down a few days ago during a storm. The effort took the better part of 2-1/2 hours and left me drenched in perspiration and totally exhausted. Cutting the limb up is the easy part compared to moving and stacking it near our fire pit at the back of the house. Even worse is picking up the nearly infinite number of small branches strewn in all directions from the impact zone, 90% of which are outside the frame of this photo. On the bright side, this was the type of full-body workout that is helping me to get in shape for the fall soccer season, which is less than a month away.

This season, Jeanine added a small grouping of the unusual gladiola pictured above to the edge of our patio. They are quite lovely, especially when viewed from a low angle. The cone flowers that our resident groundhog has not eaten are starting to drop their blooms but remain quite something to admire. After completing the laundry project at Nico’s place following a 4-mile run on the elliptical at the gym, I was quite spent and content to wander about the garden looking for photo opportunities.

My favorite image of the day is the one below. There is something very pleasing about the patterns within patterns created by a starving artist.

I continued work today on the laundry hookup for Nico and Teddy. The stacked washer and dryer (LG Washtower) will completely block entry to the closet where it will be located, rendering the remaining area in the closet inaccessible. I chose, therefore, to locate all of the connections in that space so that the machine can be pushed further into the closet, providing clearance for the closet’s folding door. I also installed two perfectly leveled skid plates to facilitate sliding the Washtower into place and avoiding the need to have to adjust the feet to get the machine leveled. I completed the drain and electrical connections (both 120V and 240V) in the basement and will finish up the water supply lines tomorrow. The dryer is a ventless heat pump design, which explains the absence of an exhaust vent.

Jeanine shared this photo of me with one of the elephants we visited last night. It reminded me of the photo below, taken in Thailand ten years ago.

I spent most of the day at the Somer house beginning to install a washer-dryer hookup in Nico’s unit. The fact that he is on the first floor made this possible, since all the connections (hot water, cold water, drain, 120V, and 240V) can be made in the basement and run right up through the floor. I anticipate it will take another day or two to complete the work.

A herd of 100 life-sized elephants has just arrived on Commonwealth Avenue Mall in Back Bay. The sculptures are part of a touring public art exhibition called The Great Elephant Migration. Since 2024, the herd has traveled across the United States, including stops in New York City, Newport, Rhode Island, Miami, and Houston. The elephants range from small calves to large adults. They are made from a repurposed invasive plant called Lantana camara by indigenous artisans from in Southern India. Each sculpture takes three to four months to complete and is inspired by a real-life elephant that lives in the region. Jeanine and I stopped to walk among the herd on the way home from the kids’ house, where I spent the afternoon installing a new washer/dryer hookup in Nico’s unit, and Jeanine did some gardening.

By way of comparison, below is a photo I took in 2004 of a real herd of elephants in South Africa. At the time, I was lying on top of a minivan that was rapidly backing up to make way for the procession.

Jeanine and I have decided to create a Japanese-style garden at the entryway to our house. My mother would have been thrilled with this prospect and would have dropped everything to help us with the design. Absent her guiding presence, we met this evening with a gardener whom we have decided to work with. While surveying the area with him, I noticed this golf-ball-sized object, which I later identified as a Lycoperdon Marginatum mushroom, more commonly known as a peeling puffball. Some sources suggest it is safe to eat, while others describe it as poisonous. You gotta wonder who decides to eat a mushroom hoping to determine its toxicity. In Mexico, the puffball is used to produce auditory hallucinations, although chemical analysis of fruit bodies has not revealed the presence of any substances that would cause this effect.