I had a few minutes this morning before it started raining again to photograph the house with our landscaping foliage at peak color (perhaps a day or two past). If the weekend weather is accommodating, I may head south on Saturday to capture the last of this year’s color in what has been a most spectacular year.

The rising success of the US National Amputee Soccer program would not be possible without the dedication of the all volunteer staff of the American Amputee Soccer Association (AASA). Pictured above from left to right are the Head Coach, Massage Therapist, Assistant Coach, and Athletic Trainer. Without their contributions to the team, it would not have been possible to secure the victories we did in Costa Rica last week.

Today my team held a half day offsite program retrospective for the Form 3. The idea is to identify what went well and what could have gone better so as to learn how to improve on future programs. As is the culture at Formlabs, we spent 99% of our time focused on our mistakes. Also in keeping with our culture we spent the second half of the afternoon enjoying ourselves in each other’s company.

I took a red-eye from San Jose to Boston today and was back in the office by noon. As is usually the case when I take a “vacation,” I returned entirely spent but spiritually recharged. I experienced the natural beauty of Costa Rican volcanoes, waterfalls, and wildlife. I had the pleasure of watching Nicolai playing the game he loves so much while wearing the colors of his country. Perhaps most gratifying, however, was witnessing the inspirational impact that our amputee athletes had on all who watched them compete. Able bodied observers walked away with a new appreciation for the determination and adaptability of differently-abled people. Those facing their own physical challenges were lifted in the knowledge of what is possible.

With one win and one loss, today’s match between the US and Costa Rican National teams was for all the marbles. Actually, it was for the President’s Cup trophy. Despite last night’s ordeal, the team voted to go ahead with the competition and on some level used their collective anger to push themselves to new limits. The US scored first; the Costa Ricans answered almost instantly. The US scored again and with just minutes left in the game the equalizer came, forcing another penalty kick shoot out. Thanks once again to our excellent keeper we were up 3-1 on PKs. Once again, Nico was summoned for the deciding kick which he put away definitively for the 4-1 win and his twentieth international goal. If you want to know what pure joy looks like, have a peek at the celebration below.

I will return to Boston totally exhausted and thoroughly happy for my solo time in nature and my community time with Nico and his teammates. A full set of soccer photos can be found here.

The field we played on yesterday was right next to the Church Vazquez de Coronado which I photographed early this morning before the team boarded a bus for seaside Puntas Arenas. There the US faced Costa Rica for the second time with a much less satisfactory outcome. The team gave up two early goals and a third in the second half falling to a 3-0 defeat. The two hour ride in a barely large enough bus had done little to help with the stiff muscles everyone was experiencing. Nicolai played well and put shots on both the left and right posts but could not find the back of the net.

After the match both teams enjoyed dinner at a restaurant just off the beach. A number of us paused our meal to enjoy a beautiful sunset and to dip our toes in the Pacific Ocean. The two hour return to San Jose after losing was not made easier by constant rain. Adding insult to injury, we arrived at the Olympic compound only to discover that the room Nico was staying in had been burglarized. Three of our players lost all their electronics and other valuables and one lost his passport. Amazingly, Nico’s belongings were undisturbed. Apparently the thief had to make a hasty exit. Cue memories of my last visit to Costa Rica when all my camera gear was stolen. Hours were spent investigating and providing the police with necessary details. A decision on withdrawing from the tournament to help our stranded player with obtaining a replacement passport was postponed until the morning.

Having enjoyed a few days of vacation it is now time to get down to business. In my capacity as the Vice President of the American Amputee Soccer Associations and more importantly, the team photographer, I am in Costa Rica to support the US National Amputee Soccer team as they face Costa Rica in a series of three international friendly matches. The team is being hosted at the Costa Rican Olympic Training Center, an oasis in an otherwise densely populated suburb of San Jose. Nicolai is captain of the US team and was featured in a flattering article published earlier this week in the local paper. I used Google to translate the article into English.

The team’s first match was this afternoon in a light rain. At the end of regulation time the score was tied 0-0. By prior agreement, a winner would be determined in a penalty kick shoot out. Thanks to some outstanding goal tending, the US went up two goals to zero. A third goal would secure victory and Nico delivered a low shot to the right corner for the win and celebration with his teammates. It must be said that officiating was fairly one-sided making the victory that much sweeter.

Many people consider the Resplendent Quetzal to be the most beautiful bird in the world. I would not disagree. It is also very hard to photograph. They feed primarily on wild avocados so the key to finding one is to locate and stake out an avocado tree with ripe fruit. Ninety percent of the time the Quetzal is in and among the branches and leaves making a clean shot nearly impossible. Posted here are my best images from today and yesterday. A total of ten hours at one tree. Some might think this is a crazy use of vacation time. It may be easier to relate if you think of this as a form of hunting, something deeply embedded in our primitive programming. I enjoy the challenge, the resulting “trophy” and spending quiet time in a beautiful natural setting which for me is very restorative.

This morning I got an early start for San Gerardo de Dota, high in the mountains about two hours south of San Jose. Access to the valley is by a two way 1 1/8 lane road in desperate need of repair. One side of the entire road is a shear cliff drop off. I traversed this road not once, but twice as I had difficulty locating the tiny rustic cabin I had rented for the night. Cell service was right at the margin and my map app was getting royally screwed up. I am glad I persisted. The wildlife shots I posted earlier this week were taken in a nature park where the subjects are essentially captive (albeit in very natural settings). The birds I photographed today are all wild. I spent 5 hours hoping to get a shot of the very elusive Resplendent Quetzal. I had several sightings and a few half decent shots but not the killer image I have been hoping for. That said, I was able to capture several other very beautiful species.

Even though October is the peak of the rainy season in Costa Rica, I have been lucky so far. Yesterday I simply drove to places that were not raining. Today, the morning was perfectly clear affording me a pristine view of the Volcan Poas and Catarata del Toro before the heavens opened. On my last trip here, I took some really great pictures of both these locations only to have them stolen along with my camera gear (see account here). It is said that every cloud has a silver lining. Such was the case today. The weather at Poas was perfect and I was the first to the observation point (arrived at the gate at 6am for a 7am open) giving me wonderful morning light and perfect camera position. At the del Toro waterfalls, vegetation that had partially obscured my original photos has been cut back. Oh yeh; I also have a much newer camera and shot these both as panoramas with more than 200 MPixels of resolution (the ones I post here are significantly downsized, even the larger versions). I could not have been more pleased with the photos I got today. Some of my best were taken with my drone but I forgot the adapter I need to download the images to my computer so these won’t post until next week.

Having visited Costa Rica twice before, I had a pretty good idea of where I wanted to go and had prepared a tightly scripted itinerary. Let’s just say that the plan didn’t survive the morning. Picking up my rental car proved to be an exercise in aggravation and delay, my first destination (the Volcan Poas) now requires advanced reservations booked online, and the nature park I had hoped to visit was closed for maintenance. Despite these hurdles which cost me hundreds of fruitless driven miles and nearly half the day, I made the best of the situation and came away with some very nice images.

I am off to Costa Rica for the next week. Nico is playing for the US National Amputee Soccer Team in an international friendly tournament in San Jose later in the week. I will meet up with the squad when they arrive. Until then, I hope to do some photography, weather permitting. October is smack in the middle of the rainy season and it remains to be seen how successful I will be dodging the weather.

This morning I enjoyed a perfect fall day on the soccer pitch. My team managed a 2-1 win in the closing minutes against a Wayland squad that was more physical than talented. After the match I grabbed a quick shower and left to pick up Jeanine at the Amtrack station. We drove into the Seaport district for lunch before she dropped me off at Logan for my flight. It was exciting to hear all about Jeanine’s adventures in NYC and I was grateful for the few hours of overlap we had.

Today I started my road trip in Littleton, NH and followed the Connecticut River from north to south crossing between Vermont and New Hampshire a dozen times and eventually into Massachusetts. The weather could not have been more gorgeous and the foliage was pretty good. By the time I reached Turners Falls I found the town celebrating The Great Falls Festival where I paused for diner and live music. In total I covered 275 miles and feel like I got my last big gulp of autumn in New England.

I had to leave work early to make a 3pm dentist appointment in Lexington. I was expecting to have one restoration done but left the office with a pair. I decided to head west and north with my camping gear so I could get an early start on fall foliage photography. Tomorrow is forecasted to be ideal conditions. Pictured here as the sun was setting is the French King Bridge over the Connecticut River.