My flight today from California to Florida flew directly over Yosemite affording me an exceptional view of the entire valley. As luck would have it my cameras (all four that I had with me) were in the overhead compartment and I was not able to gain access to them in time. Instead, I had to settle for this aerial view of a city which I found interesting.

It rained last night like their was no tomorrow. Fortunately our tent proved to be a match for the storm and we remained dry if slightly rattled by the lightning and thunder. Our reward was a moody sky at morning light which made for some fine photography from Tunnel View.

Kyle’s strep throat grew worse throughout the morning and after breakfast he elected to sleep in the car while I made the hike to Vernal Falls. I found some nice off trail paths which opened up on nice views of the falls.

We left Yosemite at noon for our return to Santa Clara where we were joined by Kyle’s new girlfriend Karina for a very nice Mexican dinner on Santana Row. She was kind enough to capture an image of father and son to commemorate our long weekend adventure.

I was up before the sun for some morning light photography. Kyle, having pulled several late nighters cramming for exams, was content to sleep in. Morning light favors the eastern exposure of El Capitan so I hunted for a spot on the Merced River that would provide a nice reflection. I found several nice shooting locations and settled on the one pictured here as my favorite. During my location scouting I encountered a very healthy looking coyote which remained focused on finding breakfast even as I stalked him for a photo.

When I returned to the tent several hours later, Kyle was still sleeping (we later learned that he was suffering from strep throat). We grabbed a quick breakfast and made a tour of the valley floor including a quick jaunt up to the base of Lower Yosemite Falls.

This is my fifth visit to Yosemite and the panoramic vista from Tunnel View never ceases to inspire me. For a new perspective, Kyle and I made the 2.6 mile roundtrip hike from Tunnel View to Inspiration Point, a 1000 ft. gain in elevation. If truth be told, the view from the top is not all that inspirational compared to one that can be found about a third the way up the trail. We have since learned that the original Inspiration Point has been renamed to Old Inspiration Point and the place we discovered along the path has now been deemed, justifiably, the new Inspiration Point. When we returned from our hike we drove to Curry Village in the valley and checked into our accommodations for the next two nights, the platform tent pictured below.

Once situated, we ventured out for more exploration and stopped at Valley View for a nice evening light scene. We arrived at the Yosemite Lodge just in time to have dinner before the restaurant closed which was fortunate as both of us had worked up quite an appetite.

I flew from Boston to San Francisco today where I rented a car and drove to Santa Clara to visit Kyle for an extended weekend. Pictured here is the student housing complex which he moved into at the beginning of the semester. His two bedroom apartment, which he shares with one other student, is quite an upgrade from the tiny dorm room he moved into as a freshman. Below is a photo of the Santa Clara Mission Church, the iconic center of campus.

Our plan is to head for Yosemite National Park in the morning and I am really looking forward to sharing the experience with Kyle who is now the same age I was when I first visited. My desire to visit all of the US National Parks was no doubt kindled when I first gazed upon Yosemite valley from Tunnel View.  Profoundly beautiful is the only way I can describe it.

I have had the distinct pleasure of working with Frank Wilson, General Manager for the Defense and Security Business Unit at iRobot for two and a half years. He has been a great partner in crime and his departure will be a huge loss for the company.  This evening we celebrated his contributions while roasting him at every turn.  An inspirational leader with bold vision and an intense desire to satisfy customers, he has a gift for building engagement and motivating people in a culture free of blame and focussed on the future.  Frank is also a pilot and co-owner of a plane. He agreed to take me up for a ride until I asked if we could remove a door to facilitate my aerial photography.

What can I say? I am a sucker for a meandering stream. I passed this scene as I was returning from meetings in Watertown. The fact that I was wearing dress shoes was not a consideration as I trudged through the snow in search of an unobscured view of this partially thawed lowland area. Regrettably, no such vantage point was to be found and I had to settle for a distracting foreground and pair of cold feet. While on the subject of thawing ice, here are two crops of the same image, a picture of the edge of  block of ice (an ice damn that fell from our roof) which is being thinned everyday by an ever present and intense sun.

I did not appreciate finding this insect in the duffle bag I am using to pack my camping gear for my upcoming trip to California and Florida. I am not one to squash bugs (mosquitos being a notable exception) but have no compunction whatsoever about ejecting them from the house, even if it is cold outside. Once I photographed him on the ice where he landed (this thing flies), I moved him to the warmer grass which is now exposed over the area where our septic tank is buried.

Maya is trying out for the CRI crew team this spring as a coxswain. If bossiness is one of the desirable attributes, then I think she will be a shoe in. Maya has a way of making you do things that you don’t necessarily want to do without making you upset. Winding up with half an orange I have peeled for myself or slowly stealing my blanket as the reward for massaging her fee, for example. She has practice every night this week and today I was in charge of delivering her to the Harry Parker Boathouse, pictured below, along with the Ruth Somerville Sculling Pavillon and a crew that dodged chunks of ice to get a workout on the water.

With temperatures hovering around the freezing point all day it was not until late afternoon that rain gave way to snow, possibly the last of the season. Snow is most beautiful (IMHO) when it sticks to the trees which has not been the case at all this winter despite the prodigious amounts. Today’s coating was little more than a quarter of an inch but it stuck like glue making for some nice photo opportunities.

I have been checking our local heron rookery in recent days and have yet to spot a single bird. I settled for a photograph of a stand of trees distinguished by their uniformity in size, distribution and color. I head to California this Friday for a visit with Kyle and will spend the following week in Florida where I expect to find all of our heron still basking in the warmth.

Nicolai opted to remain in Colorado for his block break and has joined his roommate, Thomas, and his family to ski Breckinridge. The mountain is 13,000 feet high and features 187 trails. We were happy to receive the photo above, taken by Thomas’ mother, but have yet to receive any reports from Nicolai. He was quite a proficient skier as a youngster, pictured at age 14 below, but it has been many years since he was last flying down a mountain.

My new Canon 200-400mm telephoto zoom lens arrived yesterday. After putting it through some testing, the image quality has proven to be as exceptional as I had hoped for. Its range falls between my Sigma 120-300mm and my Sigma 300-800mm and my thought was that I would sell these two lenses to help offset the cost of the new Canon. Both have served me very well over the last 4 and 7 years respectively but I cannot justify keeping them knowing I will always reach for the Canon first in all but a few very rare situations. I spent a few hours creating the glamour shots to be used in my listings, a form of photography I enjoy a great deal.

The stories that went with the giant photos presented to me at last nights farewell celebration.

While traveling in China I became involved in a chopstick slippery peanut pick-up contest (I may have been the one responsible from turning a casual dining experience into a competition). The goal was to pick up, one at a time, and hold as many slippery peanuts as possible with a pair of chopsticks. It is much harder than it sounds or looks. Our local hosts were amazed when I reached a total of five compared to their best effort of three (at least these are the numbers I remember although the fish may be getting bigger every year).

It is generally not a major event when a senior executive wears a suit to work. In my case, however, it was not until year four of my stint with iRobot that I did so. We were in China to participate in the opening of a new factory building dedicated to manufacturing iRobot products. The SVP of Operations felt it necessary to hint several times that those participating in the ribbon cutting ceremony should be well dressed. When I arrived for breakfast in a suit and tie that morning my colleagues were so shocked they felt compelled to document the occasion with a photograph. I prefer to wear clothing suitable for climbing tall mountains when I go to work. They are far more comfortable and equally appropriate for overcoming mountainous challenges in the office.

Whenever attending a work function, I was sure to bring along the appropriate photography equipment to document the event and the environs. In the case of an executive retreat to a Maine shoreline hotel, I brought along a 300-800mm telephoto birding lens that is half as big as I am. What is not shown in the photo is the fact that the end of the lens is propped on the shoulder of a colleague who was acting as a make shift tripod for the 15 pound rig. Always at the ready with a camera it was noted that I was probably the highest paid corporate photographer in the world.