More often than not, obtaining a leaf required climbing high into the tree. Why Nico would choose to do this without a shoe only reinforces my belief that the teenage brain is still missing some critical executive thinking functions.

I am thrilled that my calf has recovered sufficiently to allow me to play soccer. Even though I could only go at about 70% effort it was great to be out on the pitch this morning. We have a make up game on Thursday and I hope to be in even better shape by then. Back to the leaf hunt. Nicolai uses a field guy to verify that he has the correct specimen.

I spent a good part of the afternoon with Nicolai hunting for leaves. He has a science project which involves collecting leaf and needle specimens from a list of 50 trees. He can earn extra credit for having 20 photographs showing him in the act of collecting. This project took us all over the town of Concord guided by a Google Earth map showing us where each tree type could be found.

Nico was in his element hanging out with a bunch of soccer players. He would rather take part in a juggling circle than spending five minutes to eat dinner. The game itself was a bit of a let down but it was still well worth the time spent with the boys. I posted photos from the event on the CCHS Men’s Varsity photo sharing website (link can be found in the panel to the right).

Kyle is nursing a turned ankle and pulled groin muscle. I am encouraging him to sit out a few games and practices so that he can fully recover.

This evening, the boys and I attended a Revolution soccer game in Foxboro, which was attended by most of the other soccer athletes from the high school. Before the game, the team enjoyed a first-rate tailgate party.

Another great day for aerial photography on my return flight to Boston. One of the more gruelling weeks of my professional career, with a long weekend on the horizon as well.

Too busy with work (fourth 18-hour day) for photography. A quick self-portrait conveying the pace of my life right now.

Another killer work day in the office. Third 18 hour work day in a row. I am exhausted but my team made a nice breakthrough on the design issue we have been chasing. The major IT transition is largely completed and has gone fairly smoothly. No time for photography so I am posting an image I took of Kyle last weekend. He and Nico were kicking the ball around in the backyard. These days they travel in such different circles it is rare when they get to hang out with each other and it gave me great joy to watch them playing together as they did when they were younger.

On the boat ride to the island, the team was treated to a dolphin escort. I am disappointed to have missed the opportunity to share this day with my staff, but I have decided to repeat the adventure with Jeanine when I one day ask her to join me on a business trip to California.

Although I could not join them, I sent my camera out with their guide, and she captured some nice images of them.

Today my staff enjoyed a team building kayak adventure that had them exploring water caves near the Scorpion anchorage off Santa Cruz Island in the Channel Islands National Park. Regrettably it was necessary for me to remain back at the office to deal with urgent matters. I had to revamp the team building exercises at the last minute since I would not be present to facilitate. I often do my most creative thinking under the gun and came up with a good back up assignment. The weather and tide conditions were perfect and the team returned from their 10 hour adventure both exhausted and thrilled. We enjoyed dinner together as they recounted the exploits of the day and compared wounds (minor cuts and abrassions from close encounters with mussel cover sea cave walls).

I will be working in Santa Barbara this week and enjoyed a window seat with a clean window on my flight from Boston to Los Angeles. It is important to relax now because I am in for a high stress work week the second I touch down. Over the weekend, Sonos transitioned our e-mail system from a local server to one managed by an external IT services provider. About a million things can go wrong and since this initiative was the result of my direction there is a lot at stake for me. Couple this with an unresolved design issue on a product we are about to launch and you have the ingredients for the perfect storm. It will be a 21 hour work day before all is said and done.

This shot took a little more patience and a bit of luck to capture the tiny flying creature on the right. Patience is something I could use more of. My right calf muscle is still too tender to play soccer and the frustration is almost unbearable. I had breakfast with the boys and afterwards we went over to watch the tail end on my team’s game. We were leading the first place team in the division 2-1 late in the game but had to settle for a tie when they equalized.