It is a beautiful morning, and love is in the air.

This week marks more than four years of continuous daily blogging and by my count some 3,136 posts. When I began keeping this daily journal, I postulated that taking a photo every day would improve my photography. In point of fact, it has had the opposite effect. I am often hard pressed to come up with a photo each and every day and frequently settle for what I call a grab shot, one lacking much artistic or creative merit, but none the less freezing a moment in time.

Although my initial photographic goal was not realized through the blog, I feel like I have received a far greater benefit than I could have ever imagined. It generally takes me much longer to write the words that accompany each photo and somehow I have come to believe that a few well chosen words are often worth a thousand photos.

I look forward to keeping up my routine over the next four years and hope my children will one day look back upon this journal and enjoy sharing these memories with their own children.

Stanford is the size of a small city and I got a great shot of the entire campus. The image is far too detailed to post here so I settled on this more limited view of the sports complex.

Today is a travel day back to Boston. My flight was oversold, so I gave up my seat for a free ticket. My alternate flight took me to San Francisco, and on approach, we flew over my alma mater, Stanford University. This photo is of Stanford’s radio telescope, affectionately referred to as the dish.

Less than a mile from some of the worst destruction, the Santa Barbara Mission was spared and makes a nice reminder of the beauty that remains. Despite the terrible losses suffered, I saw and heard about many acts of compassion and generosity.

 
When a house burns to the ground the only thing which remains is usually the fire place and items made of brick or clay. Out of respect for the homeowners and their property all my photos of the fire aftermath were taken with a telephoto lens from a great distance away. I elected not to take pictues if family members were present. These would have been journalistically powerful but I am not a journalist and after this experience I am not sure I could be. I strive to make images which capture the spirit of the people in them. Taking a picture of someone who is suffering is something I am not now and may never be ready to do.

 
I am camping on the beach again so each morning I get up at about 3:30am and head into the office. I grab a shower and work for a couple of hours. After the sun comes up I head out for breakfast and a little photography. I was surprised to see so many burned up vehicles. A house made of wood I can understand but a machine made primarily of steel seems like a much less vulnerable target.

Helicopters, which looked more like hornets, are constantly picking up water and delivering it to the remaining hot spots.

Fire crews from all over the state and even neighboring states converged on Santa Barbara to help battle the blaze.

Everywhere you turn there are signs expressing deep appreciation for the firefighters, police and first responders whose heroic efforts saved many homes and many lives. Although something like 80 homes were lost, it was apparent to me that many hundreds more were saved. I often saw one house leveled to the ground with another standing 200 feet away without a hint of damage.

Today, I worked for 14 hours. That is nothing compared to this fire crew from Pasedena who has been on the scene for 5 days working around the clock. They informed me that the fire was well under control and that the weather was cooperating.

 
What you see here are the melted remains of the magnesium alloy wheels from this truck.

If

 
Volunteers have left a pair of gloves and a sifting screen for the family. Can you imagine having your entire home reduced to ash that will pass through a 1/4 inch wire mesh?

 
The family that lived here lost everything. Their house, in the background, has burned to the ground and their truck is nothing but a carcass. It was very sobering to view this scene and I can only begin to imagine the total sense of loss they must feel. Fortunately, despite the massive destruction, no one lost their life to the fire.

 
Another monthly trip to Santa Barbara today. Wake up at 4:30am, in the air by day break, land in LA at 10:30am (Pacific Time), drive to Santa Barbara, and then start an 8 hour work day. Still plenty of energy and almost an hour of sunlight to head up into the foothills to see first hand the aftermath of the Jesusita wildfire. It does not take long before I encounter the first signs. The fire is now largely contained due to favorable weather conditions but fire crews remain on site in the event hot spots reignite.

 
Nico scored in his match today to help his team to a 4-2 win. He did complain of knee pain after the game so we will have to monitor this as the season progresses. Kyle’s team won all four of their matches aggregating 19 goals for with only 2 goals against. I am still sidelined while my knee recuperates. I leave for Santa Barbara tomorrow and will not post again for a few days.

 
Overcast skies and light rain made for interesting light and with my long lens already out I decided to do a little birding.

 
While waiting for Kyle’s soccer tournament to begin I happened upon this pair of turtles in a nearby pond. The boys played well and opened the first of 4 games this weekend with a decisive 5-0 win.

1 Tennis Ball = 1 Happy Dog + 1 Happy Girl

Mother and daughter enjoying nature in their own ways.

 
Maya left this note for her brother Kyle and I could not stop laughing when I came across it. She chooses a happy penguin motif, leads with a guilt trip and closes with a demand for restitution. Gotta admire her style. I will have to follow the story to see if and how her brother responds.

Over a dozen aircraft and 1500 firefighters have been deployed to battle the Jesusita wildfire. Santa Barbara, an otherwise idyllic setting is unfortunately subject to these fires and this is the second major one in the last 6 months. Everyone here is concerned over the welfare of our California colleauges.

Sonos west coast headquarters is located in Santa Barbara less than 2 miles from wildfires which have destroyed several homes and caused the mandatory evacuation of 13,500 residents including many of our employees. A slight shift in wind direction or speed can dramatically change the course of the fire and we are watching it carefully given our office lies within the recommended evacuation area. I am traveling to Santa Barbara next Monday and hope the rain we are having here will follow me there.

 
Work and family demands left no time for a photo today so I dipped into the archive. Nico in his first tuxedo taken while the family was in France attending a wedding. He balanced atop a pedestal in front of the chateau where we spent the week.

 
This morning a colleague and I visited with a Sonos customer to observe and take notes as they unpacked and setup one of our new systems. Seeing this first hand is invaluable as we fine tune our products to maximize out of the box satisfaction. We walked and took local transit to the downtown Boston location and I grabbed this shot along the way.

Kyle’s church youth group and the chaperons who will be traveling with them to Transylvania this summer to visit our sister church there. Kyle’s soccer team suffered a very disappointing 2-1 loss, Nicolai scored a header to help his team to a 2-0 win, and I was on the sidelines this week nursing my injured knee.

 
Jeanine and I also cleaned up for a neighborhood social event. Photo courtesy of Maya.

Neither Kyle nor Chloe seemed very interested in being photographed, but I do rather like this shot which I caught between poses.

 
Kyle and Chloe just before leaving for the CCHS Sophmore Semi-Formal Dance.

 
Maya helped her team to a 5-2 win today showing fine form throughout the hard fought match. Pound for pound she may be the toughest of the Calabria’s on a soccer pitch.

Jeanine poses with her new beds. Later on we fill them with compost and top soil. Tomorrow they will be ready to plant.