This evening Jeanine and I joined a group of friends for Tapas and ballroom dancing. I was fairly confident I would not be able to dance with my injured thigh, but it turns out you can do a pretty mean Salsa without using much upper leg strength.
Last night I practiced under the lights on the new CCHS turf field. The Over 50 team scrimmaged the Over 40 team and we absolutely held our own. The fact that we had a couple teenagers playing on our side evened things out. The field plays just like grass and is really luxurious to play on. My practice ended abruptly when the goalie took me out as I was dribbling past him. His knee went into the top of my right thigh and I can honestly say it was one of the most painful injuries I have ever experienced. I went home immediately (using my left foot to work the pedals)and iced it down. Fortunately it is just a muscle bruise or tear and this morning I was able to walk again. The blood has begun pooling in my ankle and I suspect it is going to look even worse this evening. The good news is that I feel like I will not miss the playoffs and with any luck may even be ready to play this Sunday.
Although my new commute has less nature, there are still some pretty interesting things along the way. I believe this building is part of the MIT campus.
My Avid commute was filled with natural beauty. My Sonos commute is more urban but also produces some interesting photo opportunities. I shot this through my windshield while driving home this evening.
We enjoyed fresh lettuce grown by Maya for dinner. The elevated garden she used to grow it in was a gift from her grandfather, Larry, who passed away a week ago and who was a passionate gardener. Larry was a frequent visitor to this blog and I believe he is still tuning in. This post is for you.
The ribbon cutting ceremony featured local dignitaries and the citizens who helped drive the project to completion.
Kyle finds a way to stay cool in the swealtering heat.
In the afternoon we attended the opening celebration for Concord’s new, multi-million dollar, state of the art, turf fields. Members of our community worked relentlessly for nearly a decade to make this dream a reality. Later in the evening, Nicolai’s team became the first in the community to compete at the new venue. After an undefeated season, his team of 7th graders fell to the the Concord 8th grade team. Nico scored a beautiful header in the second half but it was not enough to overcome the first half deficit.
At 9am it was already 90 degrees and the sun was beating down like a blast furnace. Not ideal conditions for strenuous athletics. Maya participated in the PanAm Challenge (fund raiser for cancer research) completing the 10-mile children’s course. My soccer team played to a 5-1 win securing a first place finish in our division, promotion next season, and a birth in the playoffs. After the game we enjoyed a cook out at grill master Mike Monk’s house. I forgot how good a properly cooked burger tastes.
Jeanine returned this evening after a week in Indianapolis. After greeting the kids and the dog she made a bee line to the gardens. Fortunately we have had a good bit of rain and everything was thriving. Working with her sister and several friends, Jeanine was able to settle many of her father’s affairs and to ready his home for sale. In no small part due to the generosity of neighbors and friends who have been providing a constant supply of prepared food, I have managed to keep all the children and the dog alive. I am very happy that Jeanine was able to see her father before he died and that she was able to grieve with her sisters. That said, all of us are very happy to have her home.
Nicolai and I went to see Maya play this morning. Her team had a come from behind 3-2 victory. It was oppressively hot and Maya was quite pleased with an after game ice cream treat courtesy of her coach.
Frequent visitors will recognize this Japanese inspired bridge as one of my favorite seasonal subjects on my old Avid commute. This afternoon I returned to Avid to celebrate the on-time release of the companies largest ever software release. The team was in really good spirits and it was great to share in the celebration with them. I also felt a sense of closure seeing this project out the door after more than a year of effort by an extremely dedicated team which I was proud to lead.
With Jeanine in Indianapolis taking care of her father’s estate and me working dawn to dusk on the new job I have not had a spare moment to shoot any photography this week. This evening, however, Kyle was working on his photography assignment for school and I took this shot over his shoulder. He is shooting film, I am shooting digital. The entire concept and execution is Kyle’s. He hung the watering can from the stairs with fishing line, positioned the flowers and his sister. We used a white sheet for the background and this was the result. I think it is safe to say that Kyle has a very creative mind and keen eye.
During the closing song of Maya’s Bridging ceremony, Jeanine called to say that her father had passed away at 6:35pm. She sounded at peace and it is comforting to know that Larry was surrounded by his entire family during his last hours. Larry was a generous and kind soul who will be missed by all who knew him. Maya believes he is going to join Jeanine’s mother and will be happy when he sees her again. No words of mine can match that image.
Kyle did not return from his tournament in time, but Nicolai attended and bore witness to his sister’s right of passage.
When you live in Concord, the only bridge that will do is the Old North Bridge and here Maya crosses with her friend Allison.
Today was a very special day for Maya who graduated from being a Brownie to being a Junior in the Girl Scouts program during a Bridging Ceremony. Crossing the bridge signifies that a girl has become aware of her achievements and is ready for new adventures and responsibilities. Jeanine was very much looking forward to sharing this with Maya so I took many photos and video so that she can relive the experience when she returns from Indianapolis. Here the girls gather in anticipation of the ceremeony.
This morning I drove for an hour and a half before 7:30am to deliver Kyle to his soccer tournament and me to my match. Kyle’s team won one and lost one. My team came from behind to win 2-1 and I had a great game scoring both goals. On the first, I slipped a nice pass through to one of our forwards, he took a strong shot on the goalie who bobbled the ball. I zoomed in to take the ball off his hands for the score. On the second, I received a great chip from the midfield and beat my defender for a 1 on 1 with the goalie. He guessed left and I shot right. When I returned home I found our fields being mowed and Nala nearly horse barking at the intruders. Fortunately for everyone, her electric fence keeps her out of harms way.