This morning I retrieved Maya from her week long stay at Camp Wildwood located in southern New Hampshire.

 
This evening Nicolai was interviewed by Steve Audette for a story he is doing for Frontline. Nicolai was a real trooper and handled the two hour session with grace. Steve is a skilled interviewer and really explored the emotional side of the story. You could tell he was angling for the most dramatic telling of Nico’s Kilimanjaro adventure (what all good story tellers do) but Nicolai held firmly to the slightly less glamorous truth of his experience. I was very proud of him for his unwavering honesty. We will know in a couple of weeks if Frontline picks up the 10 minute story. Stay tuned. I tried working from home today and with Maya at camp, Kyle at work, Nico at a friends, and Jeanine at yoga and then her nutrition training it worked out extremely well. Even though I was considerably more efficient, I must say I missed the office setting. I finished my last meeting at 7PM just as the team arrived to set up. It took about an hour to create a studio in our living room and setup the lighting and sound. We wrapped shortly after 10PM.

 
I got tied up at work until 8:30 but was rewarded with a beautiful sunset over the Charles.

 
The return flight from Indiana was delayed on the tarmac for over an hour and we did not return home until late Sunday evening. On each visit home, Jeanine enjoys the wide open spaces and the seemingly endless fileds and near inifinte sight lines. I thought this would be a nice image to remind her of home. See if you can figure out what the objects covering the field are. Click on the photo for a closer view.

 
Larry would have been pleased with the gathering of his family and friends to celebrate his life. He would have appreciated the outdoor, casual setting, where words came only from the heart and each song told the story of his life. Guests were invited to take plants from his garden (potted by the girls) as a remembrance and I know that nothing could have pleased him more. I am equally confident that he continues to look in on this blog everyday, as he did in life, and I will honor his memory by continuing to share the story of his daughter and grandchildren. A complete set of photos from the memorial service can be found by following this link.

 
….there were moments of joy.

 
Each daughter in turn spoke of their father and his life. For each moment of sorrow…..

 
Maya with second cousin Bradley.

 
The Earle family children (of Jeanine’s childhood friend Kris) have grown up beautifully. Kyle and Bethany shared the same bath tub as infants.

 
Jeanine was surrounded by friends and family who came from near and far to be with her at this time.

 
The girls fashioned an altar from giant wood slabs that Larry had planned to turn into table tops. The French, Sweedish, and Northwestern University (where Larry earned a degree in botany and minor in zoology) flags decorated the tent and were integrated into the service during the closing.

 
The service was held outdoors surrounded by nature and the gardens that Larry was so devoted to.

 
Today we celebrated the life of Jeanine’s dad, Larry Roche, during a memorial service at his home on Lake Holiday in Crawfordsville, Indiana. He died rather suddenly after complications from surgery on June 1, but not before his three daughters reached his bedside. Tomorrow is Bastille Day and the date for his service was picked for this reason. Larry was half French and grew up speaking the language. This was a holiday near and dear to his heart.

 
Today was spent preparing Larry’s home for the memorial service. I was assigned the task of cleaning up and organizing the basement. It was an all day job and we had a fire going for the better part of it. Over the years Larry and Euince had acquired, salvaged or built a number of tables and bookshelves. Unfortuantely the damp basement and untreated wood made for ideal mold conditions and the only option was to burn these items off.

 
Sister Lauren and Jean.

 
We enjoyed dinner with Jeanine’s two sisters (Susan pictured here) and close friend Jean Cass before indulging in an ice cream splurge at Culver’s.

 
Kyle and I flew to Indianapolis this afternoon to join Maya, Nico and Jeanine for her father’s memorial service. The Indy skyline has been enhanced by the addition of a new basketball stadium (right hand side) since we moved away five years ago.

 
Our field is being harvested again and I always enjoy this as a photographic subject. I was in a rush to leave for work and did little to think about exposure of this image (or composition, or framing come to think of it). None the less it is my photo for the day.

 
I was dead tired after work this evening and took a little snooze after dinner. Now that the soccer season is over I went in to have my right knee, which has been bothering me, looked at. I almost walked out of the doctors office after waiting an hour and a half to be seen. I almost wish I had. The initial diagnosis is arthritis which is pretty dissappointing since there is little that can be done to address it, short of giving up soccer (which is not an option). I am scheduled for an MRI to confirm the initial assessment.

 
We celebrated Nico’s 14th birthday this evening. He celebrated with his friends earlier this summer before they left for vacation. For dinner he requested a rotisserie chicken on the grill. This time we did not incinerate it and it was very yummy. It has been quite a year for Nicolai and during the traditional birthday video he reflected on his Kilimanjaro and all the unexpected follow on noteriety.

 
Last night when I returned from work Maya told me that she had designed a trap for a wild cat that has taken up residence in her horse riding instructor’s basement. When I saw the plans I was amazed by both their detail and the practicality of the design. Because we used a cardboard box for the primary structure, construction went very quickly and we were able to work and see inside with the box open. I have no doubt this trap will work and Maya could not be more pleased seeing her concept turned into a working device. I think there is still hope for one engineer in the family. Click on the photo for a more detailed view.

 
Jeanine sporting a new hair fashion accessory.

 
Apparantly there were more than butterflies at the exhibit.

 
Nice work Jeanine. I love the composition.

 
Jeanine’s photographic skills have really become quite excellent. While Nico and I were kayaking on Sunday, Jeanine took Maya, Kyle and Johnnie to a butterfly exhibit.

 
Today I downloaded photos that Jeanine took from the weekend. I liked this one because it shows some detail on the kayak.

 
After a long day of training, Nico insists on taking my kayak out and demonstrates a reverse sweep stroke for his mother and siblings who have returned from a butterfly house visit to pick us up. I am told Jeanine’s camera has some great photos of their adventure and I will post once I have time to download them.

 
Thanks to Jeanine, Nicolai and I are enrolled in an all day kayak clinic featuring training in technique, safety and rescue. Nicolai was the only person in the class of a dozen who could self rescue without the assistance of a paddle float. (the standard method used). He was simply amazing, but could not keep up with his dad in his new torpedo.

 
This morning I put my kayak into the water for the first time. Jeanine photographs me as I pull away from the shore and I am happy to report that I did not sink. In fact, the kayak tracks like an arrow, handles like a dream, and is very, very, very fast. I could not be happier with this project.

 
Cousin Johnny captured in the same light. Earlier in the day, the whole crew did a 2.25 mile hike through the soggy woods in search of a 75 foot waterfall located on the 200 acre property. After getting lost (temporarily) we were able to come within ear shot of the falls but in the end only got to see the 1 foot waterfall emenating from the dam at its source.

 
As the light faded, I decided to do some shallow depth of field photos including this soft focus shot of Kyle.