Does anyone remember this little girl? Certainly it cannot be the same child that returned triumphantly from three weeks at wilderness camp.

A friend of Maya’s from Farm & Wilderness camp.

Raspberries from Jeanine’s garden make for a nice snack this evening.

I did some product photography this evening. I have been doing a little late spring cleaning and will sell this ball head and gimbal mount on the Internet over the next few days. I prefer taking photos of people, but the practice I get in lighting these types of shots is invaluable.

Maya and I went to the Concord Public Library this evening. She picked up a couple of books to finish off her summer reading program and I picked up some guides on wedding photography. My niece, Erica, has asked me to photograph her wedding in October and I want to be totally prepared.

Today we actually get to take Maya with us after she packs up her gear and says her goodbyes. We learned the significance of the 1-bell, 2-bell, 3-bell, 5-bell, and 7-bell and explored the 2-sided lean-to where Maya spent the last three weeks sleeping in one of the top bunks in a sleeping bag. Maya is looking forward to a hot shower and flush toilets upon her return to civilization.

Maya has made many new friends to whom we are introduced throughout the afternoon. We also meet one of Maya’s two counselors who lived with the girls in their lean-to.

Finally the moment arrives when we are reunited with Maya who comes running up a hill to great us. She looks positively radiant and it is instantly clear that she has had a wonderful time at Farm & Wilderness Camp. We are joined by aunts Susan, Jean, and Ikeie who have travelled from Burlington to see Maya and to enjoy the Farm and Wilderness Fair which brings to a close the summer camp session with food, arts & crafts, dancing, and a bonfire. Maya takes time to regale us with her exploits of the last 3 weeks. We learn that she has been on a 10-mile hike with a fully loaded pack, helped reconstruct a stone staircase, and harvested a chicken (chopped its head off with an ax, drained the blood, plucked the feathers, and removed the entrails by hand) for their Bounty Dinner. Her brothers were most impressed to learn of the slaying of the chicken and both seemed to look at their baby sister with new found respect or perhaps a sliver of fear.

After breakfast Jeanine and I hiked down into the Quechee Gorge, Vermont’s deepest, formed by glacial activity approximately 13,000 years ago. The Ottauquechee River flows 165 feet below the bridge on Route 4 from which the best views are had.

On the way to breakfast we came a cross a picturesque waterfall and covered bridge. The bridge was originally constructed with the wood from just four trees.

Jeanine and I travelled to Plymouth, Vermont this afternoon, leaving the boys behind to fend for themselves for two nights. We are picking Maya up from camp this weekend and decided to go up a day early for some time to ourselves. The first photo is from a stop we made at a farmer’s market, the next two from the gardens of the River Tavern where we enjoyed a wonderful dinner, and the last of our accommodations for the evening, constructed over a stream.

Our monthly executive staff meeting at iRobot was interrupted to celebrate the upcoming wedding of our co-founder and CEO, Colin Angle. Next week he leaves for Hawaii where he will be married on the Big Island and spend a month on his honeymoon.

This photo was taken by Maya and posted after her return from camp. Pictured are two of dozens of letters she received while at camp as viewed through the mosquito netting which draped her sleeping area. Maya said that she ran out of free wall space to post all of her letters by the end of her stay.

Nico took this photo during his time on Nantucket. I love the composition, color palette, and framing. I believe Nicolai has a future in photography if he so chooses.