It is that time of year when fall is distinctly over but winter has yet to arrive. While the leaves are all down there is still color and beautiful forms to be found. The walk way to our farmer’s porch entrance is flanked by a berry tree and a huge stand of ornamental grass.

Open Table opened its doors this evening to members of the Maynard community who were out on the town enjoying their annual Holiday Sip and Stroll festival. Following a tree lighting at Memorial Park, town residents enjoyed music and snacks being offered by virtually every downtown business.  These dancing youngsters provided an additional measure of entertainment for visitors to Open Table’s new facility.
 

Since it was announced just over a month ago, I have been anxiously anticipating the arrival of a Sony a7 Mark III camera. It is a mirrorless design, unlike the Canon DSLR (digital single lens reflex) system that I have used for the past twenty years.  Mirrorless cameras offer a fundamentally superior architecture but until recently have not been able to match the viewfinder experience of an SLR.  Sony’s last two models have rectified that and gone much further.  Canon and Nikon have been relegating their mirrorless offerings to the low end of the market and Sony has now created a superior camera that strikes at the heart of their professional market.  I found it compelling enough to switch systems wholesale and can’t wait to start shooting with it.
 

I achieved a new record time of 32 minutes for my morning commute by leaving at 6 am. This afforded me the opportunity to enjoy sunrise over the Charles River during a vigorous 5-mile walk I took before breakfast.

I pass this small parking lot every day on my way to lunch. The more I study the sign posted there, the more I struggle to understand almost everything about it; the font choice, the color scheme, the punctuation, and the kearning.  One thing is for sure, I never, and I mean never, want to engage in a confrontation with its creator.

When I started taking photography seriously about 20 years ago, I selected a very unusual quick-release camera and lens mounting system manufactured in Germany by a small inventor-run business called iDeesign. When the company went out of business several years ago, I cornered the market on used sales because I liked the system so much. Apparently, the rights to the design were acquired by another company and they were once again for sale. I picked up a few more sets before that company stopped selling them.  At this point, I am very confident I have the largest collection of these quick release clamps in the world.  This weekend I decided to switch to the industry defacto quick connect system and will either find a new application for the iDeesign clamps or start selling them off.

This pumpkin has been sitting in our kitchen for several weeks now.  Today I noticed how interesting the colors in the stem were and decided I would make it the subject of a still life. I spent the balance of the day collecting and spending money.  Three of my Craig’s List postings sold netting a total of more than $2K. I turned around and spent that on a new 27″ iMac.

We returned to Concord this afternoon so that Maya could host a Friendsgiving gathering of her high school buddies. All are doing well and they had a great time catching up. It took little persuasion to coax the women into a group photo which I hope they will look back on fondly one day.

This year our family is having Thanksgiving dinner at my mother’s house in Schenectady, NY.  She will celebrate her 90th birthday next year and can still run circles around the rest of us. The three hour car ride was a great opportunity to learn more about what each of the kids are up to. We were joined by my sister Alissa and her family for the holiday feast and later connected with my brother Mark and his family over FaceTime and briefly with my other sister Mayela by phone.

Nico encouraged the group to learn the card game of Canasta and despite its complexity, the group picked it up fairly quickly.

Having never really enjoyed card games of any type, I spent my time taking photographs of the family.

Cold weather and an outdoor location afforded me exactly two attempts to snap a family portrait. Given the constraints, I should be pleased with the outcome, but all I see are the opportunities to have done a better job. Those regrets aside, however, I have come to recognize how increasingly less frequent these opportunities are becoming and to make the best of them. 

Rare it is these days when all three kids are in the same place at the same time. Rarer still when they allow me to rope them in for a portrait. My goal for this holiday week is to get one good family portrait and one good photo of all three children.

As part of our effort to free up more space at Superpedestrian headquarters, we managed to fill a van with bicycles that will be donated to Bikes Not Bombs. Bikes Not Bombs uses the bicycle as a vehicle for social change.

Nala enjoyed some canine companionship while Jeanine hosted close friend Irene and her mother. Kobe is a big, handsome, and very gentle fellow. Still, Nala was not the least bit receptive to his amorous advances.

Fiona is the daughter of one of my soccer teammates and a very close friend of Maya. She is studying nursing at UMass and is back in town for the Thanksgiving break. Her parents have just sold their home and are looking for one in Rhode Island where they are moving to be closer to family and work. We have offered to let her stay with us during the transition and hope she will take us up on the offer.