To my way of seeing things, Nala is more trouble than she is worth. Lately she has been breaching her electric fence (even with it set to maximum shock level). She returns covered in ticks or bathed in the aroma of skunk. When she is inside she wants to go out. When she is outside she wants to come in. She has learned how to open the lever handled outside doors but not to close them behind her. Despite the constant aggravation it is hard not to love the way she interacts with the family.
Even on the grayest of days there was a splash of color to be found in the yard. With day light growing shorter each day it is increasingly challenging to find interesting photographic subjects when I am not at work. Nicolai began editing video footage that we shot together last weekend of him doing all manner of stunts on his crutches. The founders of SideStix, the company which designed his crutches, have requested a short clip to put on their website. Tomorrow night they will be appearing on the CBC television show called the Dragon’s Den, where aspiring entrepreneurs pitch their business concepts and products to a panel of Canadian business moguls who have the cash and the know-how make to help them succeed. They expect the national exposure to drive traffic to their website and Nico was more than happy to help out.
Anytime I take vacation I can count on a very busy day in the office when I return. Such was the case today and there was no time for even a single photograph. Consequently I went into my time machine and set the clock for November, 2006 returning with this image of Maya and one of her pets.
Just as Goldilocks searched for a bed that was just right, our dog Nala was caught this evening sampling a new piece of furniture in the music room. She has been banned from our recently reupholstered family room couch and is now intent on finding an equally comfortable substitute.
With Nico out on a babysitting gig, Jeanine, Maya and I took in the movie, Hugo, which I can highly recommend. This was my first 3D movie (I don’t get out much) and must say that the effect was used with great artistic impact and made for an extremely immersive experience.
Finally, after two failed attempts earlier this week, I was able to get on the water with my nephew Johnie today. The weather was perfect for our one-hour round trip from the Concord Boat House to the Old North Bridge. The exercise felt great after several days of feasting. Johnie took Kyle to the airport this afternoon for his return flight to San Jose and we are once again down to a family of four.
Having done some serious damage to my weight maintenance plan yesterday I was all too happy to learn of a 10AM pick-up soccer game at the high school. Children were specifically invited to join the more seasoned (old and slow) players. Nicolai, his cousin Johnie, and Maya all joined me for what turned out to be a great game. We played full field until the numbers grew to the point where we split into two cross-field games. Although he turned his ankle mid-way through the game, Johnie scored a phone number from a local girl who is attending Wellesley.Nicolai was approached by the CCHS varsity soccer coach after our game and asked to play in the alumni match being contested on the adjacent field. Later he approached me and asked that I encourage Nico to try out for the team next year having distinguished himself in the game among a group of players who have won the state championship in 2 of the last 3 years. Plans for a mid afternoon kayak run were thwarted by our fall clean up crew which blocked access to the garage with their equipment. The kayaks are loaded, however, and I hope to be on the water tomorrow. John requested a photograph for his Facebook page and I was more than happy to oblige.
With much to be thankful for our family, joined by my sister and hers, and by good friend Susan Reynolds enjoyed a traditional Thanksgiving dinner. The kids have matured to the point where they remained for quite some time at the table to share in post-feast conversation with the adults. The children eventually retreated to the kitchen for card playing and the adults to the family room for an old movie. My mother was missed by all but we reached out for a group phone call and it sounded like she is doing a bit better. Jeanine prepared a dinner plate for her with all the fixings and hopefully this will be a small consolation.
As a child, Christmas was my favorite holiday. Since becoming an adult, Thanksgiving reigns supreme. A day to gather with family and friends, to prepare and share food together and to give thanks for our many blessings. What holiday could be more perfect. As was my father’s tradition, we went around the table, each of us sharing our reasons for being thankful. Health and family were the dominant themes. I expressed gratitude for the courage of my family in the face of challenge.
It is not everyday that you return from work to discover a trio of Greek Goddesses making a movie in your home. Prohibited from the set I captured these images, from the adjacent room, as Maya (Hestia) directed and filmed her classmates (Demeter and Hera) for a project they are doing on the Greek mythology.
Speaking of Goddesses my sister Alissa and her daughter Rachel arrived today from upstate New York and were joined by her son John William who drove over from Babson College where he is a freshman. Due to work obligations, John senior will not be joining us until tomorrow. Unfortunately my mother, who had originally planned to join them for the visit, will not be making the trip due to illness. We considered bringing the feast to her but the last minute logistics proved to be too much.
Last week Nicolai learned that his coach had selected him as a co-captain of the varsity wrestling team.
Today he learned that he will never wrestle again.
Last season he suffered from a number of “stingers” which caused his arms to go numb. A visit to the neurologist today revealed from his MRI scans that he has two bulging discs between the vertebrae in his neck (C4/C5 and C5/C6) that are impinging on his spinal cord. A further bulging or herniation of either disc could result in permanent loss of feeling in his arms or paralysis. The doctor reassured Nico that his current situation is stable but felt the risk of continuing to wrestle was unacceptably high given the potential consequences.
Its generic solution or Kamagra tablets are invented to solve these big concerns cialis 25mg http://seanamic.com/order-3885 of the millions of the ED patients. The man therefore is generic india levitra not able to give your 100%. These medicines are designed keeping in cialis generic purchase mind the specific users with a set number of characteristics. Vision changes or sudden vision loss; Ringing in your ears, or sudden hearing loss; Chest pain or heavy feeling, pain spreading to the arm or shoulder, nausea, sweating, general ill feeling; tadalafil wholesale is the trade name for a drug called Sildenafil. We were all despondent over the news. Wrestling is the one sport in which Nico felt he could compete on equal footing (no pun intended) because his limited mobility and leverage were equally offset by his greater upper body strength at any given weight class. I left work early and spent hours pouring over his MRIs and doing research on the internet. Initially, I thought it would make sense to get a second opinion but the damage to his neck is apparent even to my untrained eye.
A door has closed today for Nico. Despite our sorrow, we can only be thankful that we learned of this situation before an even more tragic outcome ensued. Although Nico has had to shoulder more than his fair share of burden, it has made him exactly the indomitable person he is today. We are hopeful that he will rise above this setback and that it will only further strengthen his mighty spirit.
I enjoyed a phenomenal dinner this evening at the Capital Grille. My boss treated his direct reports to the culinary feast in appreciation for an extremely profitable fiscal year. The only photo from the dimly lit interior that I was pleased with was of this statue, located adjacent to the entrance. I really should have thought to bring a wider angle lens so I could have captured the entire team.
Although I have a great deal of equipment that supports my photography addiction, I am very good about selling items that I no longer use. Recycling of items such as the ball head pictured here have netted me about $1K over the last few weeks which will no doubt be reinvested in more equipment. I am generally able to sell at 90% of my acquisition cost by taking good care of the item and producing “glamour” shots like this one for the auction listings.
This afternoon I played in my final outdoor soccer match of the season in the divisional playoff finals in uncharacteristically perfect weather for this time of year. Regrettably our undefeated season came to an end as we lost the game 0-1. What was most unfortunate is that our opponent, Nashua, had only 2 shots on goal all day compared to a dozen opportunities for us, two of which rebounded off the cross bar. We dominated possession and would beat this team in a rematch but on this Sunday they produced the win and we walked away with 2nd place tee-shirts. I did not have a particularly good game. My broken pinky toe bothered me for much of the match despite a heavy dose of Ibuprofen and another well engineered duct tape splint. I plan to start playing indoor soccer now but not before my toe heals.
Jeanine prepared a Sunday dinner feast in celebration of Kyle’s return and we had a most enjoyable discussion around the table.
Kyle took the red eye from California last night and I collected him at the airport early this morning. Jeanine called from the road (on her way to classes at Brockport) to great him just as Nala was saying her hellos. Kyle was full of stories about college life and by all accounts he is doing well and really enjoying himself. Between the 3 hour time zone shift, the 3 hour college life shift and a slight cold, Kyle slept until late afternoon before joining Nicolai on an excursion to Worcester where the CCHS Varsity Men’s Soccer team was, for the third consecutive year, vying for the state title. Unfortunately the team had to settle for second place but I am sure the brothers enjoyed catching up during the one hour drive each way. I spent the bulk of the day setting the remaining tiles for our fireplace renovation project. I used a traditional fan pattern for the arch which is pictured here during the dry fitting stage with a support structure I fashioned to keep the tiles in place while the thinset cured. I am using a 1/16 inch gap between tiles which requires extremely precise cutting of the stone but results in a very elegant look. The last remaining step is grouting which I should be able to get to in the next few days.
The front of the iRobot building has an architectural accent in the form of a metal mesh which drapes one side of the entrance. While waiting in the board room for a meeting to start with our CEO I looked out the window and saw the backlit stripes of the American flag through the diagonal patterns of the mesh and thought it made for an interesting composition. It has been a very hectic but productive week and I am really looking forward to the weekend and to Kyle’s return from Santa Clara for the Thanksgiving break.
Maya has been studying drama this semester and this evening Jeanine and I were treated to night of improvisational performances. Here Maya is leading her cohorts on a big game hunt. She shares her mother’s gift for improvisation and we reveled in her antics and talent. Earlier in the day Jeanine gave a very successful presentation about food, nutrition and her business to a local gathering of women. My attempts to upload a video of the entire talk has been thwarted due to the size of the file. Stay tuned, for I may work out a way to reduce the resolution sufficiently to meet the 500GB limit.
Photographically speaking autumn is coming to a close. Leaves are falling like rain and but a few trees remain with any color to speak of. Because I am in the autumn of my own life I am beginning to wonder how many more times I will get to enjoy the magnificence of this, my favorite season. With each passing year, I am increasingly determined to squeeze every last ounce of color from the autumn pallet.
The final hurdle for approval to build a new Concord Carlisle high school was an affirmative vote by both towns to authorize a Proposition 2 1/2 debt exclusion. Jeanine and I were among a third of the town to vote this morning and the measure passed with an 84% margin here and 85% in Carlisle. Maya will only enjoy one full year in the new school but the benefits will extend to future generations of Concord students and provide our best in state teaching professionals a matching facility. Photography is not permitted within the polling area so I opted for this image of the entrance complete with one of Concord’s finest on duty. I was reminded what a great privilege it is to live in a country where everyone has the right to vote. News of a vote in Congress to undermine nutrition guidelines by classifying pizza as a vegetable in response to pressure from the food lobby underscores the importance and responsibility of citizens to exercise that right.
This Jack Russell terrier puppy is the newest member of my youngest sister Mayela’s family. Eight week old Peachy replaces Coco who In the same way the branded free samples of cialis is working. cheap levitra tablet browse now The main components of Shilajit include peptides, amino acids, phenolic glycosides, uronic acids, humic acid and fulvic acid. It increases the production of testosterone and energized the reproductive system. tadalafil cheap india This proves to be a shortcut in the buy cheap levitra foea.org treatment. passed away recently. Brother Jake has not yet warmed up to his new baby sister but is expected to become just as attached over time.
For my children the answer is NO!
It is said that necessity is the mother of invention. A more apt version of this truth when applied to me and my desire to play soccer would be “stupidity is the son of insanity”. Pictured here is the splint I made of duct tape and a cotton ball to isolate my injured and now very purple pinky toe so that I could play our semi-final playoff match this morning. We gave up an early goal and trailed well into the second half when we equalized with 20 minutes to play. With 3 minutes remaining I chased down a through ball from midfield to the end line and sliced it back to the penalty spot to a teammate who knocked it in for the win. It would be fair to say that this duct tape splint saved the day for without it I would have been incapable of playing at all.
After the game I raced back home for Maya’s soccer team end of the season party. The coaches reviewed the season accomplishments and recognized the girls for their effort, attitude and skill. Later we watched a slideshow of photos from the season and then by popular demand a video of Maya as she was first exposed to soccer (link here: Maya Goalie Practice)
Not to be outdone by her father, Maya and her soccer team also secured a first place finish in their division with their last game of the season this morning. We are looking forward to the official celebration party that will take place at our home tomorrow afternoon. I tried taking it easy today in the hopes my injured pinky toe would heal in time for my match tomorrow. No such luck but I did discover a work around. If I splint the toe in an arched position it does not hurt at all. I experimented with cotton balls and tape and think I may be able to immobilize the toe for the game. The question remains if I can fit this contraption in my soccer shoe and still run. Time will tell.
With all the rain we received this week rivers and streams are swollen everywhere. Also swollen is my right pinky toe which is causing a disproportionate amount of pain for the relative size of the digit. Hopes for a recovery in time for my playoff match on Sunday seem remote. I took advantage of the working holiday to make further progress on the fireplace renovation I started last week completing the tile setting for the base.
Occasionally the planets align for a brief moment and something exceptional happens. This evening, under the lights and a relentless cold rain, my soccer team faced Needham in a rescheduled match to determine first place in our division and promotion next season. Both teams were undefeated on the season and our last head-to-head match resulted in a 0-0 tie. I stepped on the pitch fully recovered from the string of injuries that have plagued me this year and played one the best games of my career in the most important match of the season. In the opening minutes, I stripped a defender of the ball and drew two others to the end line before splitting them with a perfect pass to a forward at the top of the box who touched once and easily beat the keeper to gain the early lead and momentum.
Shortly before the end of the first half I volleyed a rocket past the keeper off a rebound. The ball found the back of the net before I hit the ground after the goalie took my legs out. In the second half I scored again off a rebound, this time with my first header of the season. Beyond the goals and the assist, I played with an unprecedented level of intensity and feel like this set the tone for the entire team. We celebrated this pivotal victory afterwards at Serafina’s by which time the adrenaline had worn off and I discovered an excruciatingly painful injury to my right pinky toe. It remains to be seen if I will be able to compete in either of the two playoff matches (north vs. south divisions) the first of which is scheduled for Sunday.
This squirrel was literally cooked from the inside out when it shorted out the high tension lines that service iRobot. Shortly after 3:30PM power to the entire facility was knocked out. It was not difficult to determine the cause as the aroma of cooked meet could be traced to the base of the pole which carries the electrical wires which service the building.
With an estimated repair time of 2 hours, employees were advised to leave early for the day. Given the continued perfect fall weather this was a most welcomed gift. I am only sorry that it came at the expense of an innocent life.
A more perfect autumn day one could not wish for. The air was crisp and the sun was warm as I took advantage of my lunch hour to enjoy a long walk and being outside. I have a favorite circuit which takes me past this building but I have never really paused to admire its beauty. Perhaps it was the color of the sky or the fall colors but I found myself compelled to photograph it today.
Town governance in Massachusetts is at the same time an exercise in futility and a spectacle of democracy in action. This evening Jeanine and I attended Town Meeting where the major ballot vote was to approve a new $92M high school to replace the dilapidated CCHS facility. After contributions from the state, taxpayers in Concord and Carlisle will pick up the tax burden for $64.5M. Mercifully the question was called after an hour of debate (amazing what happens when you offer a microphone to anyone with an opinion and half the town a captive audience). Registered residents raise their ballots to indicate their vote and in the event the outcome is less than obvious they are collected and counted. Pictured here is one of three venues filled to overflow capacity and linked by remote video monitors as the measure was overwhelmingly approved.
Nicolai turned in a very respectable set of grades for the semester and with the term and soccer season now over, he had some time this weekend to just hang out. I photographed him before leaving for my soccer match while he was texting a friend and watching TV at the same time.
I played reasonably well with an assist on our only goal which was good enough to secure a 1-1 tie and retain our hold on first place going into our final match of regulation play on Thursday night. My right quad is returning to full strength and the numbness in that leg is ever so slowly diminishing. While I am sure this is a good thing, I must admit that it has been very liberating to play without any sensation of pain since the numbness set in.
When we first moved into our Concord home, Jeanine and I both disliked the casual brick hearth and surround decorating our living room fireplace. This morning I started a renovation project and made good progress between outings to buy materials, and shuttling Maya to her soccer game, guitar lesson, and a birthday party. My first task was to correct an installation error on the flue. Indoor air was able to flow freely around the closed flue because a large gap had not been filled. I built a frame from wood and poured in a batch of concrete which did the trick nicely. Next I removed the top course of bricks from the fireplace arch since they stood proud of the face by about an inch. Finally I used thinset to adhere cement backing board to the facade and hearth covering the existing brick. This will provide a nice flat surface to which the new stone will be applied. A sample tile of the marble is shown in the lower left corner of the after photo. I plan to complete the stone work over the next few weeks.
Clad in my slippers and bath robe, I wandered into Jeanine’s garden this morning searching for signs of the changing seasons. I am not sure what I photographed (although I am sure Jeanine will help me with the identification) but I liked the patterns and composition. Work was unusually hectic for a Friday which meant that the day was over before I blinked twice. Maya was invited by a friend this evening to attend the Boston Ballet’s production of Romeo and Juliet which she enjoyed immensely.
I recently built a very simple adapter that allows me to attach my point and shoot camera to our spotting scope. Some further refinements are needed but this morning I was able to photograph a rafter (yes, that is what a group is called) of turkeys who were gathered in our back yard. Nala was going out of her mind as we observed the intruders and I had half a notion to let her retrieve our Thanksgiving dinner. Fortunately, the memory of several recent jail breaks (traversal of the electric containment fence) informed my decision to keep her inside.
Last weekend Jeanine was in Lebanon, Indiana for her thirtieth high school reunion. Today I downloaded photos from her camera and found this one of her posing with the school mascot and yearbook. She reported having an absolutely wonderful time and has reconnected with many long lost friends. She also had an opportunity to visit with Bradley, her nephews son and her great friend Monica. I think after taking stock, Jeanine concluded that her life has turned out pretty well since high school. The other photos which included her classmates turned out too blurry to post but were clear enough for me to conclude that Jeanine is still the hottest girl in her class.
If I have an addiction, it is the constant pursuit of finding the right tool for the job. My tripod collection (to which I made an addition from Craig’s list this evening) is a case in point. Each one of these carbon fiber tripods is designed and optimized for a specific application. The ideal tripod would be weightless, infinitely adjustable and able to support the heaviest telephoto lens/camera combination. In the real world one must trade each of these attributes for another and hence the array of sizes, shapes and weights.My work horse is the second tallest but there is no way I was going to drag it to the top of Kilimanjaro (that application was better served by the second shortest). If I go more than a few months without using one of these then it winds up on eBay or Craig’s list. My passion for tools is in their use rather than their collection.
Incidentally this photo does not include the stand on which I mounted my camera to make this photo. Although technically not a tripod it is yet another tool in the camera support family. Speaking of families, I wonder if I could have saved money by buying the two big tripods first and leaving them alone in a candle lit room with some nice wine and mood music.