Maya and I worked on her pumpkin this evening. She starts with her own design.

This afternoon Kyle had soccer practice with his travel team. The field was rather far from the house so I decided to do a little nature photography. I came across a pair of beavers working on a dam. I think this was the male (the larger of the two) who was ferrying a branch over to his construction project.

Nicolai entertains several friends from his church youth group. They had mac and cheese for lunch and enjoyed a movie in the home theater. I had a glorious morning. Conditions were perfect for soccer, cool and crisp, the field still soft from yesterday’s rain. We were facing arch rivals Acton/Boxborough and my knee was feeling pretty strong. At the half we were down 2-0 and things were looking grim. During the second half we earned a penalty kick to bring us within a goal of a tie. In the last 3 minutes we scored 2 beautiful goals to steal the game. It was the sweetest victory imaginable and we celebrated with Hungarian Goulash at Jeno’s house.

This afternoon, Maya performed in her Halloween Piano recital. Click below to see a video of her performance. She played the theme for the Pink Panther and dressed the part.

I got a big response to my guess what this is photo last week so I decided to make another entry.

Nala, having now chewed through almost everything we own, was treated to a home made toy fabricated by Maya and Jeanine. A slight application of peanut butter has rendered the toy irresistible to the temporary salvation of our furniture. 

Kyle’s soccer team has gone undefeated this season with one game remaining to play. Kyle had a nice assist today and I snapped a team photo for submission to the Concord Journal should the team achieve the perfect season. 

Peak color has passed, but I could not resist stopping for this photo of the Sudbury River on the way into work. I promise this will be the last of the fall foliage pictures for this season. Color was unusually brilliant this year and I had several great opportunities to capture the beauty. 

Ran across this wild turkey on the way into the office this morning. As Thanksgiving approaches, I may just trade in my camera for Nico’s bow and arrow.

Today was a 14 hour work day and I could not find the time for a single photo. This one of my bride was taken on Sunday. 

Occassionally, I take a photo for which I have no comment. We were having lunch alfresco when I noticed the flashing lights of a state police cruiser. The trooper asked Batman to tuck in his cape before returning to the Batcycle (seriously) 

Pictured here is a tributary of the Connecticut River. 

This is one of several very unusual mushrooms we came across. 

The seeds are really quite beautiful and extremely soft. 

On the way home we stopped at a park and enjoyed a nice walk. Jeanine and Maya liberated 1000’s of milk weed seeds. 

I used a polarizing filter to bring out the shadow of the bridge from which I was shooting. If only I had taken a little more time to get the exposure right. 

This morning I played soccer for the first time in outdoor competition since I injured my knee. I was in for twenty minutes which was plenty and it held up well under full pressure. Unfortunately, we were only able to manage a 1-1 tie. Immediately after the game, Maya, Jeanine, and two out of town guests traveled to western Massachusetts where we dropped them off. The fall color was spectacular. 

Kyle and his friends have a leaf gathering science project due on Monday. Each of the boys needed a few ellusive leaves to finish their collections of 50 different species and we drove around searching for them. 

I took Maya to her soccer game this morning. It was an exciting 0-0 tie. Both teams had many scoring opportunities but no one could seem to find the back of the net. After the game we took advantage of the beautiful background for a team photo. 

Today was the perfect fall day. The trees are showing peak color, the air was crisp and a soft breeze was blowing. I was able to take a few hours for myself and immersed myself in nature. See if you can figure out the subjects of this photo. These are the colors as shot in camera with no post processing.

Kyle and close friend Chloe were reluctant to let me photograph them. I am glad they did.

By popular demand, I have uploaded the video of Nicolai on the Ellen Degeneres Show. Click on the link and select the image of Ellen.

Nico on the Ellen DeGeneres Show

There is another video in the album of Kyle and some fancy soccer skills.

The big news today was Nicolai’s appearance on the Ellen DeGeneres Show. Jeanine and Nico returned on the red-eye early this morning after thoroughly enjoying their Los Angeles experience. Nicolai was fantastic and he had a great time. Ellen gave him a Gibson Les Paul guitar and amp which he was thrilled to receive even though he doesn’t play guitar (yet).

Nicolai with Alyson Roth of the Free Wheelchair Mission at Universal Studios. Jeanine and Nicolai enjoyed meeting the person on the other end of the phone. Alyson has helped us at every turn with our fundraising efforts. 

While waiting to pick up Kyle after his soccer game this evening I enjoyed a beautiful sunset from the Concord Carlisle High School. 

Being Mr. Mom for the next three days required me to make a trip to the store for milk. I was treated to Golden Light on the Sudbury River for my troubles. 

After soccer, Maya and I waited to pick up Kyle at our church. He was returning from a weekend retreat in New Hampshire with his Coming of Age group (different from our family Coming of Age Adventures – teens from the church explore their religious beliefs). While we were waiting we enjoyed the clebration surrounding the annual Crop Walk (for hunger). 

Early this morning, I drove Jeanine and Nicolai to the airport. They are headed to Los Angeles to be on the Ellen DeGeneres show. The show will tape on Tuesday and air on Wednesday. I made it back to Concord in time for my soccer game against Framingham. I warmed up with the team but opted not to play. I think I need another couple of weeks before my knee is ready for game level intensity. We tied 3-3 in a very combative match. Afterwards, I dropped Maya off for her soccer clinic and then found a nice field for some photography. 

Maya beats her defender and makes a run up the sideline in her game today. The hard faught match ended in a tie. 

A rather overcast day today and little time for photography so I am posting a shot of Kyle I took last weekend. He had just completed some work for me in the yard and did not realize his face was covered in dirt. After work today I attended soccer practice in the rain. My knee is on the mend and I had a pretty good run although I am still in no shape to play in a competition. Nicolai was invited to be on Good Morning America in December and received an interview request from the Smithsonian Magazine. 

This photo really needs to be viewed at full resolution to appreciate the leaves. Click on the photo to get the full image.