Nicolai wrestled brilliantly today winning 9-3 over a strong opponent from Wayland. Even though I think he earned a pin, (study the first image carefully), I am glad he went the whole six minutes for the conditioning value. Nico accepted a forfeit during the second match of the double dual meet which was fortunate because his elbow was quite tender after the first. The results of Kyle’s MRI revealed muscle and tendon damage and although surgery is unlikely it is very clear he will miss the remainder of the wrestling season. He will begin physical therapy as soon as the pain subsides and with any luck will be as good as new in time for the soccer season.

Travel from Santa Barbara to Boston will take the better part of the day. Here I get a nice view of the coastline on approach to LAX.

Main St. in Santa Barbara is lined with boutiques which remain open until 9pm to capture the tourist traffic. This shop does not allow photos from inside so I had to settle for a photo taken through the window.

Even though I spent all the daylight hours working, I did manage to find a nice image as I walked from the office to my hotel at dusk. I have admired this tree for some time but until today had never found a satisfying angle from which to photograph it.

I am in California for the entire week primarily to attend a two day management off-site meeting. Each functional area reports on accomplishments over the prior year, what could have gone better, and objectives for the coming year. Sonos did extremely well last year distinguishing itself from almost every other consumer electronics company. In spite of the global economic down turn, we enjoyed 50% year over year growth. This image seemed to capture the spirit of our success.

Followers of this blog know that my business trips to Santa Barbara often provide very unusual images. As I walked from my hotel to the office I passed this woman and snake. This is something we just do not see that often on the streets of Concord. She was actually trying to raise money for snake rescue and I was happy to donate to the cause. If I see her again tomorrow I may try and get a closer image of the snake.

Since the beginning of this school year, Nicolai has been preparing for a right of passage in the Unitarian Universalist church called Coming of Age. In this ceremony, held later in the year, Nicolai will stand in the pulpit and share his personal credo with the entire congregation. This evening, as part of the process, parents were asked to share letters describing what they admired and valued in their children as well as any words of advice they wanted to offer. The entire group assembled afterwards for a moment of reflection. I leave for Santa Barbara tomorrow and will spend the entire week there working.

Here is a nice sequence of our powerful little Maya unleashing a rocket on goal. She has grown an inch and a half in the last 2 months and although she remains the smallest girl on the court she is intimidated by no one.

Meanwhile Maya had a futsal match in Brookline where she scored a very pretty goal after dribbling past defenders over the full length of the court. Kyle helped out by driving Maya to meet me at Belmont. Even with Maya as navigator (she is actually very good at this) they got lost and arrived twenty minutes late. Fortunately we had planned with some margin in the schedule. When Kyle turned around to head back to Concord he got lost again. Two hours later, Maya and I while returning from her match thought we spotted Kyle driving near Fenway Park. A phone call confirmed it was him and that he was hopelessly lost. We rendezvoused and he followed us back to Concord. I think a map and navigating lessons are in Kyle’s immediate future.

Jeanine is attending a conference this weekend and I am juggling the kids. Nicolai had an all day (6am-6pm) wrestling tournament at Belmont. He won his first match with a pin in the first period and dropped the second in a well fought battle against the number two seed. Nico took him down in the first period for an early 2-0 lead but during the second and third periods it became clear why his opponent was ranked so high. Nico looked strong for the entire 6 minutes and had some very nice moves. His finally match was a very dissappointing 6-8 loss. Nicolai led for most of the match, nearly pinned his opponent twice but failed to pursue a winning strategy in the third period. Rather than protect a two point lead he went for a risky pin, got reversed and gave up two back points. This loss put him out of the running but I am guessing a valuable lesson was learned.

For the last 6 years Penny has been my dental hygienist. She is the most skillful and gentle I have ever encountered and the only reason, since leaving Avid, that I stayed with the Tewksbury based practice where she works. I trust her more than the dentists to tell me what is going on with my teeth. Sadly, I have been unimpressed with the newer dentists at the practice and Tewksbury is neither close to home or work making it quite inconvenient to reach. Consequently, I will be switching to the practice which handles the rest of the family located one town over in Lexington. Penny and I are the same age, enjoy adventure travel, are still active in sports and have plenty of injuries to show for it. I will miss her and our twice a year conversations and pray that the new practice has someone with half her talent.

This evening I took Kyle to the hospital for an MRI of his left hip. X-rays have ruled out a broken bone and we hope the MRI will show no major soft tissue damage. We should know the results early next week. Kyle is able to walk but is still experiencing a lot of pain. He has plotted his recovery trajectory and believes he will be back to wrestling this season unless his injury requires surgical repair. We shall see. The MRI scan took 30 minutes and Kyle had to remain perfectly still with his legs taped together. The machine is in use around the clock and patients ring this call button to gain access to the hospital after hours. We rang the bell for twenty minutes before gaining entrance.

Nicolai wrestled in his first varsity match yesterday. I arrived ten minutes before the scheduled start time and unfortunately the meet was already underway and Nicolai (in the lightest weight class) had already completed the first period. At that point he was leading 2-1 but soon fell victim to fatigue and lost on points. He fought off two pinning combinations with the heart of a lion and I was very proud of him. Kyle is now off crutches and walking gingerly. On the recommendation of his chiropractor he is going to have an MRI to rule out a torn muscle. With no time to set up my camera for Nicolai’s match I have no pictures of him so I am substituting one from later in the meet of one of his teammates executing a nice suplay.

The glory of this sunrise lasted for about 90 seconds. I raced to grab a camera and was fortunate to catch the tail end. I am beginning to wonder if this happens every morning and is often missed due to the brevity.

Jeanine gave me three bonsai trees for Christmas and I brought them to my office today where they will keep me happy year round. Still thriving under my care is a large bonsai I recieve two years ago which greats me every morning in our sun drenched master bathrooom. My mother, a master gardener, will be happy to see that I show modest signs of competence and a distinct appreciation for the bonsai art form.

I managed to coax Jeanine into a quick portrait. She is extra cute when she gets all bundled up.

Fresh snow means that Aliza and Jeanine will soon be out for some cross-country skiing. Had we stayed in Burlington for another day, we would have been treated to 33″ of snow, an all-time record.

To be safe we took Kyle to the hospital today to confirm that he did not break his pelvis. Fortunately X-rays confirmed the initial suspicion of a muscular injury for which weeks or months will be needed for a full recovery. Kyle requires crutches to move about and is borrowing a pair of Nicolai’s. I am sure he will gain profound new respect for what his brother must deal with on a daily basis.

The only one in our party to refuse to wear a helmet was Kyle. Not unsurprisingly, he was also the only one to wind up in the Ski Patrol Infirmary for the second time in as many snow boarding outings. In his version of the story he caught an edge while trying to avoid a novice skier who veered into his path and heard a bone cracking sound when he landed off trail on his left hip bone. He was in too much pain to stand or walk and in his only intelligent decision of the day used his board as a sled to make his way back to a trail where he summoned medical assistance. I had hiked half way up the mountain and positioned myself for good photographs when Nicolai called to tell me that Kyle was injured and could not move his legs. When I reached Kyle he was in a lot of pain but a cursory examination suggested that his injuries were muscular rather than skeletal. By the time Jeanine arrived (she had been spending the day with her sister) Kyle was ready for transport and the kids opted to call it a day so we could travel back to Concord together. Hell of a way to start the new year. My only hope is that Kyle will begin to make a connection between going too fast on a snowboard and getting very badly hurt. Hint for Kyle: The same lesson applies to all things that go fast.

The absence of snow on her Little Bo Peep ensemble suggests that Hannah is an accomplished skier. I appreciated her tending to my little sheep while the boys were racing down the mountain.

Lydia and Maya enjoyed each other’s company and seemed like well-matched partners. Lydia had more control and did not fall, whereas Maya crashed often but went faster. The boys were instructed to stay with them at all times and to keep to runs they could handle. More often than not, it was Hannah that I observed in their company.

Nicolai appears to have lost none of his skiing skills since last season, although his patience for staying with and supervising his younger sister seemed greatly diminished. He has completely abandoned his outriggers (crutches with little skis on the ends) in favor of crutches that he uses like regular ski poles.

This morning I left Burlington with all the kids for the Bolton Valley Ski Resort where snow conditions were very good and crowds were small. Kyle, apparently having learned his lesson after yesterday’s failed snowball attack on Hannah tries a different approach by helping to secure her helmet. I am guessing he found this outcome to be far better than a neck full of cold snow.

Our final destination is a short walk to the apartment of Jean Cass a close friend of the family where we enjoy games, ice cream, and fireworks from the vantage point of her 9th floor lake view activity room. We have enjoyed many blessings this year none more important than time spent with family and friends. We look forward to seeing you all soon and wish everyone a healthy and prosperous new year.

Both Maya and Susan were selected from a crowd of several hundred to participate on stage with improve group Kamikaze Comedy during our final entertainment choice of the evening. This actor is on a fishing expedition with his buddy and Susan is required to move his body as his dialog responds to each new body position.

Next we enjoyed the physical comedy of Brent McCoy whose juggling skills were nothing compared to his humor. During his performance he sustained several injuries for which he singled out Jeanine to kiss the boo boo to make it better. Jeanine drew the line when he fell on his keester and came looking for medical treatment.

Our next activity was mask making where Jeanine, Maya, and Lydia fashioned their own works of art.

If we had ended the evening after this single event it would have been well worth the travel to Burlington, but this was just the beginning.

Each act seemed more amazing or comical than the last and was equally entertaining for both children and adults.

The Burlington First Night Celebration features dozens of events held at venues throughout the downtown area starting at noon and finishing at midnight. We begin with Circus Smirkus a troop of young aerialists, acrobats, and contortionists who bring high adventure and low comedy to the big ring. Judging by Maya’s expression (in the upper right hand corner) this was probably her favorite performance.

As we prepared to head into Burlington to enjoy First Night, Kyle instigated a snowball fight. Hannah is a very intelligent and charming young woman but beneath her sophisticated exterior beats the heart of a tiger. When all combat had ceased, I would say that Kyle was covered with more snow and may think twice before provoking another skirmish.