I thought I would close the year with a post featuring my favorite photo from 2012. After an hour of struggling to select a single image, I have opted to reflect on my growth as a photographer instead. As I looked through the 8713 pictures I elected to save from last year (probably shot five times that number) I concluded, perhaps with a somewhat biased perspective, that my landscapes have improved noticeably. I think I have finally got the knack of rendering a three-dimensional scene in a two-dimensional medium (hint: it is all about the foreground). 2012 was also a year where I made the effort to put myself in remote places of beauty and grandeur. As more of my life is behind me than in front, I am increasingly taking advantage of every opportunity to travel the world in search of natural wonders and cross-cultural experiences. I am so very thankful for my family, for my health, and for the means to pursue my passions. I wish all my followers the happiest New Year.

Photo credit to Kyle who captured me doing what I love.

We received our first real snow of the winter last night. I was up at 5 AM to clear the 6 inches from our driveway so that I could get out for a little sunrise photography.

Maya was in fine form this evening scoring her first hat trick during an indoor soccer match. She shot from distance, she dribbled past defenders and she went head-to-head with the goalie. I was able to sneak in with the players so I did not have to photograph from behind the dingy and scratched glass walls.

My adventure in Patagonia came at a high price. I missed seeing Maya in 4 dance and 3 acting performances in the weeks before Christmas. She is pictured here during her performance of The Shepherdess Dance in the opera Amahl and the Night Visitors.

Normally prepared on Christmas Eve, this year’s batch of Zeppeli (fried dough covered in honey and sprinkles) was postponed for a few nights. Joining us this evening in the preparation were Hannah, back from Emory for winter break, and Nicolai’s friend, Taylor. The kids made short order of the work and the results were excellent.

For all the pictures I take it is surprisingly rare when I get one of A woman always desires a loving relationship with her husband and similarly a man also tries to levitra pills live up to expectations. A healthy diet and regular exercise may greatly improve impotence by reducing the risk factors. http://secretworldchronicle.com/podcast/tales-of-the-secret-world-war/ cialis without prescription It relieves you from exhaustion and anxiety and online cialis purchase improves concentration. When one is perennially despondent and glum, one does not feel http://secretworldchronicle.com/2017/12/ vardenafil cost great to stay so negative. all three kids together. I never did inquire as to the source of their fascination but was pleased with the formation of bodies it created.

If it is Christmas morning, then you know the Calabria’s will be enjoying popovers and lingonberries for breakfast, a tradition from Jeanine’s side of the family. Popovers can be a little tricky and if not prepared in exactly the right way then they do not rise, leaving you with something more akin to a muffin. The proper popover is hollow inside ready to be filled with any combination of butter, jam, syrup, berry, bacon, fruit, you name it. This year’s batch was prolific in size and the overflow batter which fell to the bottom of the oven created a new form of treat, which we have dubbed popovers. Rather than rushing through the process, we linger over the investigation of stockings and opening of presents. This year we completed stockings in time for lunch and presents in time for dinner. Many stockings were found to have reproduced and contained babies (regular socks) which were initially misidentified as ear warmers prompting the photo below of all who received them.

We are delighted to have both my mother and Jeanine’s sister, Susan, staying with us for Christmas this year. We attended the children’s service at First Parish in which Maya participated. It concluded with the singing of Silent Night by candle light which inspired this photo, taken after we returned from our traditional Christmas Eve Chinese dinner with the Budris family.

Two weeks ago when Kyle and I departed for our adventure in Patagonia he made one simple request. He asked that we grow our beards until we returned. Although I have maintained a beard at various times in my life, I have not done so since having children. The last time I saw my own beard, there was a much younger man on the other side. Despite the itchiness, there were days on our trek when I appreciated the extra layer of warmth and protection it provided. As we prepared to board our return flight to Boston, Kyle and I made a final father-son photograph to document the growth of our facial hair. What is not apparent from the photo is the growth we experienced in our relationship. I am so pleased that Kyle joined me on this adventure and I feel much closer to him as a result of the long periods of time we spent together uninterrupted by smart phones, iPads, TVs and computers. Sometimes we trekked for hours without speaking a word. Other times we had deep and extended conversations about our respective lives and aspirations. When Maya and Jeanine leave for India in February, they will complete the last Coming of Age adventure for the family (age 13). I would like to initiate a new parent-child tradition called the Journey of Discovery to be repeated with Nicolai and Maya when they turn twenty years of age.

With only one day to see Buenos Aires, a city of some 13 million residents described as the “Paris of South America”, we opted to take an open air bus tour with on/off privileges. The 3 hour, 25 stop circuit provided comprehensive coverage of the main attractions of the city. We completed the first lap listening to canned descriptions of the various sites through headphones. We used the second lap to jump on and off where we wanted to spend our time on the ground. The La Boca neighborhood was our first stop and destination for lunch. We enjoyed delicious roasted chicken although Kyle observed that we failed to order in the incremental fashion of the locals who can turn any meal into a three hour affair.

La Boca has a strong European flavor, with many of its early settlers being from the Italian city of Genoa. Known among sports fans for La Bombonera, the home of Boca Juniors, one of the world’s best-known football clubs. It is a popular destination with its colorful houses and pedestrian street, the Caminito, where tango artists perform and tango-related memorabilia is sold.

Our next destination is the open-air market at the Plaza Intendente Alvear where each of us peruse the artifacts produced by local artists. The challenge was selecting items that were small and light enough to add to our packs for the return flight home.

Our final destination was the San Telmo neighborhood where we settled in for an Argentinian style dinner. Kyle was determined that we order in the fashion of the locals and we stretched our dinner experience over two and a half hours. Shortly after dessert we were treated to a live tango show and music bringing our South American adventure to the perfect end. I was enjoying the dancing so much that I did not think to video the performance until it was almost over. For all the ballroom dancing experts in my family I am not sure if this clip is of a tango or another style.

Having gone to sleep quite early the night before, it seemed quite natural to wake up at 2AM. With nothing else to do, I decided to make the 3 minute walk out of the forest in which we were camped to an open meadow where I could take in the night sky. The storm had completely abated and there wasn’t a cloud in the sky. The star field was incredible and Mount Fitz Roy was totally visible. I quickly returned to the tent and insisted that Kyle wake up to enjoy the celestial panorama. Kyle was amazed by what he saw but was too cold to remain outside for more than a few minutes. I managed 30 minutes before the cold got the better of me as well, but not before making some of my favorite images of the trip by the light of the stars, the moon being no where in sight.

Inspired by the absence of clouds in the sky, I departed for the Laguna de Los Tres vista at 4AM with the goal of catching the sunrise on Mount Fitz Roy at 5:15AM. Kyle opted for the warmth of his sleeping bag given he had already seen the peaks in normal daylight. This one hour ascent was without a doubt the most demanding yet. The trail rises relentlessly gaining 1,700 vertical feet in under 2 miles of climbing. I found the slope to be reminiscent, if only half the vertical ascent, of the summit day climb on Kilimanjaro and also best climbed by the light of a headlamp to minimize my feelings of vertigo. My reward for the effort was glorious morning light. Unfortunately, Fitz Roy was partially shrouded by clouds even though its two brothers were out. In these mountains you take what you can get.

I chose to descend very slowly to protect my knees and reunited with Kyle as he was waking up. We had just enough cooking fuel and food for a breakfast of hard boiled eggs and hot soup (again). Out of fuel and out of food (either good planning or dumb luck), we broke camp and descended to El Chalten by way of Laguna Capri.

After a nice lunch we snagged front row seats on the 1PM bus to El Calafate and rested our weary feet as we enjoyed the view. A gamble to jump an earlier flight to Buenos Aires paid off and we arrived at our hotel by midnight affording us a full day to see the city tomorrow.

With a base camp established, today’s trekking is with camera gear and day pack only, a welcomed relief from hauling full packs. Not five minutes into our hike, Kyle looks back and notices that Mount Fitz Roy is totally clear. Knowing how infrequently this happens with good light I jumped on the opportunity to capture the scene.

Our destination is the viewpoint of Cerro Torres from above Laguna Torres. The round trip takes us 6 hours to complete. When we arrive at the mirador, Cerro Torres is completely shrouded in clouds. It is said that visitors have a 1 in 10 chance of catching an unobstructed view on any given visit. Disappointment about the cloudy conditions instantly gave way to excitement over the katabatic winds. I have no way of knowing for sure (driving with my torso sticking out of the sun roof in a limo being my only frame of reference) but I would estimate sustained winds of 50 mph with frequent gusts to 70 mph. The video which I shot is far more compelling than the still photos.

Pause stimulating for about 30-60 levitra 100mg seconds and resume once you feel that you have gained control. Polyneuropathies can affect motor nerves, sensory, autonomic or combinations cialis generic overnight of these. This article is about those who set up a legal Canadian-American drug trade where the FDA makes it legal for Americans to buy their drugs from a select group of Canadian pharmacies that thought about that order levitra online buy all their products directly from the U.S. or manufacture their drugs in the facilities of Canada’s major drug companies. The medicine can be used by men of all age cialis prescription click here to find out more groups. Satisfied with our gale force wind experience we descended back into the forest where we encountered this very large woodpecker doing some serious pecking on a tree immediately adjacent to the trail. Even with only a wide angle lens at hand I was able to capture a fairly good image of this very distinctive bird.

During the last 45 minutes of our return to camp we encountered a light rain, which eventually transitioned to barely perceptible snow and then to highly perceptible albeit tiny hail. Anyone familiar with sand blasting will appreciate the sensation of these tiny balls of ice, driven by a horizontal wind, smashing into ones face. Between the hail and continuously dropping temperature, Kyle and I decided to get bundled up inside the tent. The soup I cooked under the vestibule of the tent helped to warm us from the inside out and made it easier to fall asleep much earlier than normal.

El Chaltén is a small mountain village in Argentina located on the riverside of Río de las Vueltas, within the Los Glaciares National Park at the base of the Cerro Torre and Cerro Fitz Roy mountains. Another three hour bus ride delivers us to this village, a popular destination among trekkers and climbers, just in time for lunch. “Chaltén” is a Tehuelche word meaning smoking mountain, as they believed it was a volcano for its peak is most of the time covered by clouds. Starting at the Hosteria El Pilar, we make a relatively easy 6 Km hike to the Poincenot campground where we establish a base camp that will serve us for two nights. Having run out of dehydrated food, this evening’s meal is pasta with meat sauce prepared with ingredients obtained in town. I was rather pleased with the outcome and Kyle offered no criticism of the simple but hearty and piping hot meal. Temperatures here are considerably cooler than Chile and we are wearing almost everything we have to fend off the cold.

For a complete change of pace today, Kyle and I will trek in crampons over the Perito Moreno Glacier. This glacier is located in the Los Glaciares National Park in the south west of Santa Cruz province, Argentina. The 97 square mile ice formation is 19 miles in length, and is one of 48 glaciers fed by the Southern Patagonian Ice Field located in the Andes system shared with Chile. This ice field is the world’s third largest reserve of fresh water. The Perito Moreno Glacier is one of only three Patagonian glaciers that is growing, the reasons for which are a matter of debate among glaciologists. The terminus is 3 miles wide, with an average height of 240 feet above the surface of the water of Lago Argentino and an average ice depth of 558 feet. My back of the envelope calculation puts the total weight of the glacier at 40 billion tons which helps to understand how such a formation advancing at up to 6 feet per day can carve valleys from stone. Massive calving events are a frequent occurrence.

We arrived at the glacier mid-morning after a two hour bus ride from El Calafate. We were then shuttled across the lake to the trail head of our trek on a catamaran which afforded us great views of the face of the glacier. After a relatively short hike to its base we were fitted with crampons and began our ascent onto the glacier. A very knowledgeable guide taught us proper ice trekking techniques and gave a series of short lessons on glaciers in general and the Perito Moreno in particular. Our trek concluded with a whisky and glacier ice cube toast (I opted for straight glacier water) before returning by boat to the other side of the lake. An additional hour was spent viewing the glacier from a set of balconies emanating from the visitors center offering a much wider view of the entire glacier. Even with my 17mm lens on a full frame camera I was not able to capture the full width of the glacier in a single photo.

After a good night’s sleep we caught the early bus bound for El Calafate, Argentina. The six hour transit included more than an hour spent clearing passport control and customs at the border. A model of inefficiency, all passengers exit the bus on the Chilean side of the border to clear passport control and then re-board the bus. A few minutes later we arrive at the Argentinian control point and once again everyone disembarks and files through the passport control office while dogs check luggage for illegal contraban. A single passenger with a soon to expire visa held up the line for over 30 minutes. When travelling in this part of the world you simply have to accept the fact that time tables are more like loose guidelines. We arrived Calafate by mid afternoon, checked into our hostel and made a bee line for Laguna Nimez Nature Reserve, a virtual gold mine for birders. Pictured below are but a fraction of the birds we discovered.

I asked Kyle to select the restaurant for dinner this evening and we were not disappointed with his choice. By far the best meal of the trip, I enjoyed a grilled salmon while Kyle sampled their best cut of beef. Also on his radar was a fine ice cream parlor which served as our final gastronomic destination of the evening where we indulged ourselves in our only frozen treats of the trip.

Consistent with the plan formulated yesterday, guided by our headlamps through a cold light rain, we left the warmth of our refugio at 3:30AM destined for the 3000 foot high Mirador Torres which requires a fairly steep ascent after passing the Campamento Torres. Our party of four arrived at the top by 5AM, fifteen minutes ahead of sunrise. Alas, the sun would be blocked by clouds on this morning which would prevent me from making the image I had hoped for featuring the peaks bathed in golden light with the small tarn and boulders in the foreground. Kyle, having glimpsed through the clouds at the grandeur we came to see, wisely elected to return to the refugio after about 30 minutes on top and before losing all feeling in his fingers. I remained for another two hours hoping to photograph all three peaks unmasked by the clouds. I had two such opportunities which lasted for less than a minute each. The light was not good but I was grateful for those brief windows of relative clarity. With a 9AM breakfast deadline looming, I completed the 12 Km round trip back to the refugio descending at break-neck speed to ensure I would have a meal in my belly before facing the dreaded 3 Km, all downhill leg (most punishing on my knees) of our trek. Kyle had waited to have breakfast with me and it was nice sharing our last meal in the park together. Before taking the shuttle to the park entrance and transferring to the afternoon bus back to Puerto Natales we had an opportunity to dry our tent and sweat soaked clothing in the sun and do a bit of sun bathing ourselves.

Two days of carrying most of the weight left Kyle with a very tender hip flexor muscle today so we shifted much of it to my pack to give him some time to recover. We also scaled back our planned 17 Km distance to 12 Km and stayed at the Refugio Chileno instead of the Campamento Torres. Generally regarded as the most difficult hiking day, our effort was rewarded with great vistas, one after another as we made the traverse from the Valle del Frances to the Valle Ascencio.

If I had not heard the sound of falling water I would have walked right past this waterfall which was only a few hundred meters off the main path. Much of our journey today will take us along the emerald waters of Lago Nordenskjold. Each lake here seems to have a distinctive hue depending on the mineral content carried by the streams which feed it. Despite their beauty, dipping one toe in these glacier fed lakes will either completely dissuade you from even thinking about a swim or put you in touch with your inner polar bear.

Now well beyond the area consumed by fire, the vegetation here is lush and calls out to the weary hiker to stop and rest atop the cushion of green velvet. We forge on, both of us preferring to adjust our pace as necessary but not to stop for long rests.

As we enter the Valle Ascencio we catch our first glimpse of Las Torres (arguably the most iconic mountains in the park; so famous they appear on the Chilean currency).

After arriving at Refugio Chileno we meet up with a great bunch of folks from California, Austria, and Australia. A group of us decided we will leave early the next morning (3:30AM) so we can catch sunrise at the Las Torres Mirador. To my surprise, Kyle, a generally late sleeper, agrees to join us.

Even though the sun here does not set until after 10PM at this time of year, I was sound asleep last night well before then and up prior to the 5:10AM sunrise for some pre-dawn photography. After a breakfast of rehydrated scrambled eggs (unlike the stroganoff, these were just horrible) we made a 7 Km excursion up the Valle del Frances. The weather could not have been more cooperative and we enjoyed spectacular views as we ascended beyond Campamento Britanico. In my 54 years, I have never witnessed a more stunning 360 degree view than on this day at the lower mirador along this trail. With Los Cuernos on one side, the Glacier Frances on the other, the Cordillera Paine behind us, and Lago Nordenskjold and Pehoe in front, every sliver of the horizon was a jewel to behold. Snow capped peaks, granite spires jutting up through the clouds, a calving hanging glacier, distant islands nestled in emerald lakes, and waterfalls feeding a raging river. No camera can do justice to such a vista and I will have to settle for the image seared into my memory.

We returned to Campamento Italiano by early afternoon and I “prepared” a lasagna with meat sauce lunch before embarking on an additional 6.3 Km trek to the Refugio Cuerno where we arrived just in time for dinner followed by a piping hot shower.

Reaching the Italiano Campground will require a 19 Km hike which we start early in the day. The katabatic winds which jostled us yesterday are all but gone today and we make excellent time. Much of this portion of the park (40,000 acres, 10%) was consumed by fire last year when an Israeli trekker triggered the inferno when he burned his toilet paper rather than burying it as is required. It will take decades before the slow growing vegetation recovers.

Upon reaching the campground we secure a level site, pitch our tent and ready it for the evening. I slaved to prepare a delicious beef stroganoff (added boiling water to a pouch containing the freeze-dried, dehydrated ingredients; a perfect match to my cooking skills). Kyle inherited his mother’s refined taste for food and was quite surprised with how good the meal was. It is amazing what a long day of hiking will do for your appreciation of a simple meal.

Minutes from our campground is a “bridge” (a literally loose collection of boards laid on top of two steel cables “secured” on each side by a netted pile of rocks) over the Rio del Frances from which there are exceptional views of the Glacier Frances and Los Cuernos mountain peaks (“the horns”). The former is an actively calving, hanging glacier which produces thunderous avalanches about every 15-30 minutes. Often the avalanche produces a prolific waterfall that lasts for several minutes as the melting glacier water is released from behind the ice. The latter is a set of 7500-foot peaks that are capped in dark brown stone and rise abruptly from the surrounding forest.

Our Patagonian trekking begins today after a 3 hour bus ride from Puerto Natales to the Torres del Paine National Park. We have elected to trek the classic “W” route (so called because the shape of the letter mimics the path of the trail) from west to east. This direction of travel allows us to work up to the more demanding hikes and provides generally better forward facing views. In addition to the tent, sleeping bags/pads, clothing, food and cooking gear carried by most trekkers, we have an additional 15 pounds of photographic equipment in the form of two DSLRs and a tripod. Fortunately, I have with me a strong Sherpa who on all but one day will shoulder the lion’s share of the weight. With all side excursions included we will cover a distance of approximately 48 miles during our 5 days in the park.

The entry station at Laguna Amarga where we briefly disembark to pay our park entrance fee offers our first view of the mountains we will be hiking amidst and our first encounter with guanacos. The guanaco is a camelid native to South America that stands between 3 and 4 feet tall at the shoulder and weighs about 200 pounds. I took several close up photos but enjoy this one of a single male surveying the landscape from atop a rocky ridge.

We exit our bus at Pudeto and board a catamaran which shuttles us across Lago Pehoe where the first 11 Km leg of the trek begins at around 1PM. Our destination for the evening is the refugio at the base of the northern lobe of Grey Glacier. Our plan is to spend two nights in the tent and two in refugios which are rustic hostels offering fixed menu hot meals and sleeping accommodations (6-9 bunks per unheated room and communal bathrooms with hot showers). From the moment we set sail until we arrived at Grey, we experienced the intense katabatic winds for which the park is renowned. A katabatic wind is the technical name for a wind that carries high density air from a higher elevation down a slope under the force of gravity. Such winds can reach hurricane speeds, but I would estimate the ones we experienced to be under 50 knots, invariably hitting us head on and making the hiking that much more difficult. Normally, I only use trekking poles to ease the burden on my knees while descending. On this day, I was happy to have them to provide additional stability when a sudden gust could easily knock you off the trail.

We made good time and reached Refugio Grey in under four hours. After dropping our packs we did a short hike to a spectacular mirador where we paused for photography and to enjoy the magnificence of the Grey Glacier. This glacier, in the south end of the Southern Patagonia Ice Field, has a total area of 270 square Km and length of 28 Km. It terminates in three distinct lobes into Grey Lake as seen in this photo from space (courtesy of NASA).

Isla Magdalena lies inside the Magellan Strait at the southern end of Chile just north of Antarctica. It is a small (600 square mile), uninhabited island that during the summer months (October-March) becomes a breeding colony for some 120,000 Magellanic penguins. In 1983, the island was declared a protected national monument, Los Pingüinos Natural Monument, and its only human occupants are park rangers there to protect and monitor the penguin population. Visitors walk on a marked trail from the dock to the highest point on the island, where the lighthouse also serves as an Environmental Interpretation Center.

To visit the island, Kyle and I board a high speed Zodiac which makes the transit in about 30 minutes. The Magellanic penguin, which lives up to 25 years, is found only in southern South America and the Falkland Islands. It’s a medium-sized penguin which grows to be 24–30 inches tall and weighs between 6-14 pounds. Adults have black backs and white abdomens with two black bands between the head and the breast. The head is black with a broad white border that runs from behind the eye, around the black ear-coverts and chin, and joins at the throat. Studies show that while the penguin population in the Falklands is declining the numbers in Chile have stayed robust.

The penguins have no fear of humans and will approach to within a few feet as they make their daily commute to the ocean where they fish during the afternoons. Chicks and younger penguins have grey-blue backs, with a more faded grey-blue color on their chest. They are carefully guarded by one or both parents who do their best to keep the youngsters from venturing out of the burrows in which they are born. Vigilance is necessary as their is an abundance of winged predators on the lookout for a wayward chick.

Magellanic Penguins are a flightless birds which “fly” through the water in flocks feeding on cuttlefish, sardines, squid, krill, and other crustaceans. Magellanic Penguins mate with the same partner year after year. The male reclaims his burrow from the previous year and waits to reconnect with his female partner. The females are able to recognize their mates through their call alone.

Our next stop is the even smaller Marta Island which is home to some 1000 South American sea lions (called sea wolves in Chile), countless cormorants, and a medium size contingent of penguins. The male South American sea lions are twice the weight of females and have a very large head with a well-developed mane, making them the most lionesque of the eared seals. They can grow to over 9 feet and weigh up to 800 pounds.

Punta Arenas is the southernmost continental city in the world, located some 2000 miles south of Santiago. It is the main urban center of the Patagonia Region; it is also known as “the end of the world” and the gateway to Tierra del Fuego and the Antarctic Continent. The city of about 120,000 inhabitants is on the shores of the Strait of Magellan, named after Ferdinand Magellan, the Portuguese explorer sailing for Spain in search of a westward route to the Spice Islands. Kyle and I arrived mid afternoon and immediately ventured out to see the city. Our first stop was the Municipal Cemetery which is distinguished by magnificent mausoleums showing the family history and wealth of the old colonizers and the very large and perfectly manicured evergreen trees which line many of the pathways.

One of the oldest buildings in Patagonia, the José Nogueira Mansion, pictured below, was built in 1890.

Magellan described the Selk’nam Indians of Tierra del Fuego as “giants with large feet”. The monument in his honor, located at the center of the city’s main square, features statues of the Indians, all depicted as very tall with exceptionally large feet. Kyle and I both touched one of the feet for good luck on our adventure.

Kyle arrived at Logan airport this morning on a red-eye flight from California at about 5:30AM. He tried to catch some sleep before boarding a second red-eye flight with me bound for Puntas Arenas, Chile by way of Miami and Santiago. By the time our travel is completed, Kyle will have been in transit for more than 36 hours straight with a bonus 5 hour time shift thrown in for good measure.

So begins our father-son travel adventure to Patagonia. Chile is roughly as long (2,880 miles) as the United States is wide but only 265 miles at its widest. This extremely narrow country is bordered by the Pacific Ocean and the Andes mountain range. Its length is dotted with volcanoes, two of which can be seen in the photo below taken from the plane on our flight from the capital of Santiago to Puntas Arenas, one of the country’s southernmost cities.

Posts for the next two weeks were added after our return from South America at which time we learned that the Copahue Volcano, located in the immediate vicinity of this photo had been showing seismic activity and venting a mile high ash plume.

Kyle and I depart for Patagonia tomorrow and I completed packing for our two-week trekking adventure. Kyle is flying in from California on the red-eye and I will connect with him at the airport in the morning for our flight to Puntas Arenas, Chile by way of Miami and Santiago. We will spend a week in Chile, primarily in the Torres Del Paine National Park, and then a week in Argentina trekking around Mount Fitz Roy and the Perito Moreno glacier. We will return by way of Buenos Aires on December 22nd. Until then it is not clear if I will be able to post any new blog entries. Kyle and I will each be carrying about 40 pounds and plan to cover 100 miles on our father-son expedition. It has been seven years since we traveled to Belize for his coming-of-age adventure and I am excited that we are doing this together.

Scared to death I would pull a muscle and end my upcoming Patagonian trek before it even starts, I nevertheless played very intensely and racked up four goals during my indoor soccer match this evening. We had a late time slot and play did not end until after midnight. It took me another hour before my body had relaxed sufficiently to fall asleep. My status as the leading scorer in the league will surely be lost as I miss the next two games due to travel. On the positive side, I hope to return several pounds lighter which should enhance my speed and improve my game.

Recently I was asked to serve as one of three judges in a photography contest sponsored by OARS whose mission is to protect, preserve, and enhance the natural and recreational features of the Assabet, Sudbury, and Concord Rivers. This evening Jeanine and I attended a casual reception at the ArtScape Gallery for the winning photographers. The top twelve images, all featuring our local rivers, have been used to create a 2013 calendar that will be sold to raise funds to support the OARS mission. I needed to put an artistic spin on my otherwise technical background when asked to submit a biography for the event.

Carl Calabria has had a lifelong passion for creating still and moving images. This love affair can be traced from the dark room he built as a high school student to his Emmy Award from the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences for pioneering work in the field of computer based video. At age 26 he co-founded the Electronic Photography and Imaging Center where his work enabled early use of computers in the field of photography and full color digital publishing. In 1987 he launched Truevision, a company dedicated to harnessing the power of computers in the digital arts. Videography magazine has identified Calabria as the “Father of Desktop Video.” An avid photographer, Calabria enjoys exploring the world through the lens of his camera. Favorite subjects include places of natural wonder and people with beautiful souls. His photographic quests usually involve a tent and have taken him to over twenty five countries on five continents. Calabria was the principal photographer and videographer for Nico’s Challenge, a documentary film which won first place at the American Pavilion Film Festival in Cannes, France and was featured at the Mountainfilm Festival in Telluride, Colorado and on the Mountainfilm World Tour. His photography has been featured on the cover of Exceptional Parent magazine, Scholastic Choices magazine and used in numerous textbooks.

Tis the season of offsite planning sessions and I had to leave for the office earlier than usual today for perhaps the third such meeting in as many weeks. While you may avoid the distractions of the office by getting away, it is not as if your work stops Organic erection problems often begin sildenafil canada online gradually. Stage 4 is inside the method to turn out to be thinner and thinner overtime which will ultimately leave a bald cialis generic price spot. You need to take eight to ten drops of this herbal oil and apply along the length of the male organ and offers effective cure for male impotence or ED is http://ronaldgreenwaldmd.com/item-3227 cialis 10 mg Sildenafil. It can be said that men taking ED drug can lead a long, happy and healthy ordine cialis on line discover that page life. piling up while you are out. By the time I left the office, I had neither the light nor the energy for photography so I decided to post this image I took while in Alaska over the summer. I have more detailed close ups but I prefer such environmental portraits where you get a sense of the subjects habitat.

The very last thing you want to discover the week you are set to depart on a 100-mile trekking adventure is a hole in your boot. It can take weeks to break in a new boot and blisters will end a trek faster than almost anything else. The only option is to find a cobbler who can replace the sole and/or heel in time for my departure this Saturday. The good news is that I noticed the problem before departing. Kyle and I will be hiking through water, mud and snow as we amble through Patagonia and a leaky boot will be a really serious problem. Borrowing a line from Apollo 13, one of my favorite movies, “Looks like we’ve had our glitch for the mission” and hoping our story does not follow the rest of the script.

A project for her French class was the perfect vehicle to expand Maya’s woodworking skills beyond those used for kayak building (which is largely an exercise in fiberglassing). Students are each assigned a different type of building which can be found in a typical French village. They are expected to research the style of architecture and create a design on paper and then a scale model. All of the buildings are organized into a model village and facilitate conversations about life in France (“How do I get from the train station to that little hotel next to the bakery?”). Maya’s two-story bookshop features bookshelves, window displays, actual windows, a cloth awning, stucco paint, a slate roof, and wrought iron balcony rails. During the course of the project, under careful supervision, she learned to use the table saw, chop saw, jigsaw (both stationary and cordless), and pneumatic pin nailer. The result is likely to be the talk of the town. In order to light the interior, I placed a radio-controlled flash inside the structure.

It never ceases to amaze me how much anxiety a creature not one and a half inches in length can generate in my wife. She announced the discovery of this adolescent field mouse in our garage with a shriek. After failing to kick it out of the open door, she instructed me to capture and evict the cute little fellow. We have differing opinions about the relative level of menace represented by this tiny mammal but on this subject, I have learned it is simply best to follow the instructions of my dear spouse. After returning him to the outdoors, he was kind enough to hang around for some portraiture.