Creating reflections off a white foreground proved harder than I would have expected while I did some product photography for Superpedestrian today.  Normally, I do not work on Friday’s, but I was in the area when a request went out for assistance.  It does’t take much to get me interested in a photography project.

Boston has been miserably hot all week.  Today a new record high was set (98F) and we are on track for the hottest August in history.  Humidity is also through the roof so any outdoor activity is guaranteed to produce a sweat.  Fortunately, the air conditioning at work is extremely efficient.

Maya moved back into her dormitory on the campus of Olin College yesterday. She and her new roommate Lauren are constructing a loft in their room to create more gathering space in their room.  Such construction projects are encouraged at Olin.  Jeanine helped the girls with lumber transportation and general nest building.  I would have loved to help with this effort but was otherwise tied up at the office with a very busy schedule.

A colleague brought this homemade car to work today. It was built by his father in 1982 with 50-year-old parts from an MGB GT. He will be driving it in the British Reliability Run, a 580-mile road trip to benefit charity. For more information on the Reliability Run, you can go to https://www.ctbrr.org/

The task: Deliver an important set of documents to an office within the tallest building in New England and get a receipt.  Simple, right? Not so much!

As I approached Back Bay in my car, traffic was snarled because a movie was being filmed on location a few blocks away. No problem.  I found a parking spot on the street and filled the meter with every quarter I could lay my hands on in exchange for a 32 minute reprieve from being towed. I then walked six or seven blocks past the film crew and traffic jam to my destination, pausing for the photo above as I approached. I checked in at the security desk, offered my license as proof of ID, and identified the company I was visiting. Because my name cannot be found on an authorized visitor list, I am denied access to the building. We call up to the office but no one answers. I ask if the security people can deliver the document. Not allowed. I ask if the security people can run up to the office and ask someone to come down.  Not allowed.  Still no answer on the phone. I then do an internet search on my phone to find the personal phone number of the individual to whom the documents are to be delivered.  Success!  But not so fast.  You want a receipt?  “We will prepare one and send someone down right away.”  Fast forward 24 minutes; more like, wait for what seems an eternity getting progressively more irritated about being made to wait while my parking meter is ticking down to zero.  Finally, an assistant arrives to collect the documents and present me with a receipt. I am as cordial as my elevated blood pressure permits and then pivot for a quick jog back to my car.  Time had expired but I was spared the bright orange envelope under my windshield wiper that normally punctuates a story like this.

Last year my over-50  soccer team (formerly my over-40 soccer team) entered a new team in the over-56 league.  This required that we start in division two.  Last spring we were undefeated, earning us promotion to division one for the fall season which commenced today.  This morning we faced Raynham, the division one champions for the last three years running. We managed to beat them in a very close match by a score of 1-0.  Because I was out of shape, I was only able to play for 30 minutes but made the best of them.  I headed the ball off a corner kick directly at the keeper who could not hang on to it, dropping it right in front of the net.  A teammate came rushing in and chested the ball in for the winning goal.  My glory was short-lived when I was issued a yellow card for a dangerous play (I tried to get a boot on the ball while the goalie was bobbling it) earning me beer duty for our next match. I think this is only my second card in 37 years. I started the sport as a walk-on to my Union College team, playing JV goalie.

Bocce is the official game of Calabria family reunions.  The tradition goes back as far as I can remember.  Roughly two decades ago I designed and constructed this bocce ball carrier and am pleased to report it has fared quite well.  A recent message from a relative reminded me about this project and I realized I had not taken a picture of it at the time.  The pallino was lost some time ago and a golf ball has been substituted.  Perhaps a visit to Amazon.com will rectify the situation.

I often make reference to the large field behind our house. There are numerous blog entries with photographs of it taken from that vantage point.  Here is an aerial perspective taken with my drone of the field from the opposite end looking back at our home (upper right). Abutting such an open natural space is perhaps my favorite thing about our house and will certainly be a sought-after attribute when we put it on the market next year.

Every day I walk past the Cambridge Community Garden on my way to breakfast and lunch. A tiny patch of land at the corner of Brookline Avenue and Emily Street, it is not exactly photogenic. Even so, I found these sunflowers to be quite beautiful if somewhat common.

Nicolai has been named to the US National Amputee Soccer Team (USNAST) that will represent the United States at the 2018 World Cup tournament to be held in Guadalajara, Mexico later this year. Selections were made by Eric Lamberg, head coach for the US team, after watching players compete at a training camp in Chicago last weekend. This is the third time Nicolai has been named to the US national team and he is training hard for the competition which will start in late October. The US finished 12th at the 2016 World Cup and the squad is hoping to improve on that record this time around.

Link to Concord Journal coverage.

Jeanine and I made a quick run over to Great Meadows for an after-dinner stroll. There she recommended I take this photo which proved to be a wonderful suggestion. There was the slightest hint of autumn in the air and although brief, our walk was pleasantly invigorating.

While on the last 100 yards of my commute this evening I spotted this red tailed hawk and an even more magnificent owl perched on the fence of the horse farm across the street from us. They were competing over a dead carcass in the field. I raced home to grab my telephoto lens and returned only to find the owl no longer there. As much as I had hoped for an image of the owl it is hard to be unhappy with the shot I managed of the hawk. Click for a larger image and check out the talons.

My soccer team participated in a charity tournament this weekend. With the fall season set to begin next weekend, I thought it best to save my knees by sitting this one out.  Last night, however, a call went out for more players to make up for those injured yesterday or unable to make the matches today.  I was able to join the team for the finals match and got enough minutes to confirm how out of shape I am. Fortunately my knees held out and I made a few nice defensive plays to help my team secure a 1-1 tie which was good enough to win the tournament on points.

Later in the afternoon, Maya, Jeanine, and I attended a summer party for Olin students hosted by the same family which has generously allowed Maya to store her tiny house on their property. Maya enjoyed giving tours of her construction project to her classmates.

I found this little (could fit entirely on the head of a quarter) fellow struggling to traverse the carpet in our living room. How he got inside the house is something of a mystery although at least one house member confessed to have possibly left a door open for an extended period of time.  He was extremely dehydrated and so entangled in dog hair that he could barely move. I placed him in a glass, added some water, and carefully used tweezers to remove strand after strand of hair. The procedure took 15 minutes after which I released him on our rear deck. He seemed infinitely happier and was kind enough to pose for me before hopping away.

It is hard enough to find true love once in a lifetime. It is a rare gift to find it twice.  Our friends Bill and Karen both lost their first spouses to lengthy illness having endured the “for worse” half of the “for better or worse” marriage covenant.  Widowed late in life they probably could not have imagined finding love again, but they did. Jeanine and I had the honor of witnessing their marriage this evening on the grounds of the Fruitland Museum.

Featured prominently in the ceremony and at the reception was Bill’s dog Beau.

When I returned home from work with a pint of ice cream in hand, Jeanine shamed me into getting some exercise to offset the caloric damage. I completed a four-mile walk along our new (although technically still not open) rail trail.  I pause for some drone photography of the adjacent wetlands.  When we moved to Concord some 15 years ago, this was a field.  Amazing how a couple of beavers can transform the landscape.

My stroll took me past White Pond where the kids used to swim as youngsters.

Today at work I conducted a half-day Engineering Leadership Team meeting. We spent the first 2 hours doing a design and construction competition. I am very found of these kinds of projects because they allow me to gauge how well my teams works together and to spot behaviors that are unproductive. They are also a ton of fun. The second half of the morning was devoted to a series of exercises design to help clearly define roles and responsibilities.  I recently added two new Directors to the engineering leadership team and experience has taught me the value of spending time early on to delineate boundaries and clarify accountability.

At the end of the business day we regrouped to see which team constructed the stronger bridge.  The prize?  Bragging rights for the coming year.  The team with less mechanical engineering education won so there will be a lot of crow to eat.

By the time I got my camera out and adjusted the shutter speed to my liking, the torrential downpour I was trying to photograph had already subsided.  I had a meeting at our contract manufacturer in Westford this morning and spent the balance of the day working from home.  I am preparing to facilitate my first team-building event at Superpedestrian tomorrow and worked well into the evening to fine-tune the exercise and presentation materials I will be using. 

Nico recently posted a couple of images from a long hike he did with Karuna and their dog Kubo.  I am unclear on all the details but I believe they covered 8 miles.

Even more painful than putting our piano up for sale was listing this 8″ jointer from my shop.  It has served me incredibly well over the years but must find a new home.  After an hour of cleaning it looks as new as the day I purchased it some 20 years ago.  Delta has since exited the jointer market so it may even have some incremental value for the right collector.

In 1995 we purchased a grand piano hoping it would encourage our children to play and as the centerpiece for a rather large living room.  All three kids took lessons and developed a reasonable degree of proficiency.  Nicolai went on to become very accomplished and now plays the keyboard for a jazz band in Colorado for fun. On visits back to Concord he will spend hours every day tickling the keys to the pleasure of anyone in the house. For that reason, it was with great regret that I listed it for sale today.  At nearly 7 feet in length, the piano effectively requires a room of its own which is incompatible with our future plans to downsize.

Jeanine enlisted my photographic services to shoot the image that will be used for their annual appeal marketing materials.  The concept (“Help Fill the Truck”) was developed by the Open Table team and my job was to execute it.  In the background is Open Table’s new refrigerated truck that is used to collect and transport food. In the foreground is one of Open Table’s youngest volunteers. This was my first time using such a large prop and young model.  I had to position the truck in the shade and at an angle to manage the reflections from the windshield and truck side. I lit our tiny model and the wagon full of food independently and shot from a very low angle to increase the relative size of the girl to the massive truck. Even though I can think of ten ways to have made this an even better image, I am pleased with the outcome given I had to work very quickly and was limited to roughly twenty exposures.

Jeanine believes it is her responsibility to ensure our local hummingbirds are properly nourished.  She makes her own hummingbird food recipe which they seem very fond of.  During the early morning and late afternoon hours, there is usually a parade of visitors with occasional jousting over who will visit the feeder first.

Nico flew out last week for his grandmother’s birthday/family reunion and returns to Colorado tomorrow.  He and Jeanine enjoyed doing some shopping together at REI.  They returned with a very nice backpack, padded gloves, and two pairs of boots (more accurately, 2 different left-footed boots, sold at a deep discount).  These were belated birthday presents. Nico turned 24 back on July 8 and this is the first time we have been together since then. New this year are glasses that seem fitting for someone pursuing a career as a professor.

I finally had a chance to upload the video I shot of my mother dancing at her birthday party last weekend.  How many 90-year-olds do you know who can do this? She is an inspiration to all who know her.

Over the weekend, I used my drone to capture images of famous Schenectady landmarks including Nott Memorial on the campus of Union College, the Saint John Evangelist Church, and City Hall. Schenectady fell on hard times when General Electric moved much of their operations out of the city decades ago. Now it feels like things are on the rebound with a new sense of vibrance at every turn.

Although his grandmother was the center of attention yesterday, Kyle was the star today. We celebrated his 26th birthday at a family reunion brunch this morning.  He will start his third week of work at Cengage tomorrow with a trip to Ohio and then on to New York City for a programming conference.  Last week he joined the Boston Sports Club where he works out every day before heading into the office. Below he takes my sister out for a spin at his grandmother’s party last night.

My mother celebrated her 90th birthday today (technically not till Aug 6).  Pictured here with her four children, their spouses, and her nine grandchildren, she chose to have the party at a dance studio.  Why? Because she loves ballroom dancing and can easily keep up with partners half her age.

Watching her grandchildren take to the floor demonstrating both interest and aptitude in ballroom dance was probably the most rewarding part of her evening. A full set of photos from the party and reunion weekend can be found here. I prepared a retrospective slide show dedicated to my mother which played on a TV in the studio. Those images can be found here.

Tomorrow members of my family and loved ones coming from far and wide will celebrate my mother’s 90th birthday.  This evening the first wave arrived and gathered to celebrate the birthday’s of my sister-in-law Marie, above with my sister Mayela and nephew Mario, and brother-in-law Stephen, below.

Niece Rose.

Daughter Maya.

Man seeking employment as a shopping mall Santa Claus?

Niece Sophia.

Sister Alissa and Jeanine.

Nephew Rory.

A member of the US Congress for 41 years, Ed Markey is the junior Senator from Massachusetts.  He is pictured here with Caleb Symons, Maya’s boyfriend, who is working over the summer as a Legislative Fellow for Markey. Caleb is a rising junior, studying Political Science and International Relations at Tufts University and is also a managing editor of the Tufts Daily. Because her flight from Indianapolis to Boston was delayed, Caleb was able to pick her up at the airport after work.  Maya is back for the weekend to attend the 90th birthday celebration for my mother being held in Schenectady, NY this weekend.

I would venture to say that this is a photographic perspective of Canadian Geese that has not been shot too often.  This gaggle was completely undisturbed by my drone flying not more than 5 feet overhead. I approached them gradually expecting them to fly away at any moment. These are obviously urban geese who have grown acclimated to the various and loud noises to be found in the city.