I have never found it easy to tell the people I work with that I am leaving the company. I managed to do so this morning with a mildly humorous ice breaker to start the meeting during which I made the announcement. Being late (even by a minute) for my staff meetings will earn you a $1 fine. If I am late, the cost for me is $2. Over the last five years these fines have been placed into an envelope which is guarded by my administrative assistant. At the beginning of the meeting, I collected a buck from a straggler and asked my assembled staff to guess how much money was in the envelope. Today’s photograph captures their estimates. I then announced that the person with the closest guess would win the entire pot which was being disbursed because I had decided to leave the company in pursuit of a new opportunity.

I have thoroughly enjoyed working at iRobot which is an exceptional company filled with extraordinary individuals. When I joined the company, my original plan was to stay for four years. Last December when my first boss left, I made a commitment to stay for an additional year. Having achieved the results I was hired to deliver, the time has come for me to climb a new mountain. I have another opportunity in hand and others on the horizon but I am leaning towards starting another company of my own. This has been a dream of mine ever since creating Truevision and I have a very exciting idea in mind. For the moment, however, I am focused on a smooth wind down of my responsibilities and have agreed to stay with iRobot through April. I am also toying with the idea of a 6-month adventure-travel-photography sabbatical before jumping into the next cauldron!

Bell Labs, AT&T Epicenter, Truevision, RasterOps, Pinnacle Systems, Avid Technology, Sonos, iRobot, the ninth inning.

While at CES I came across these Rocketskates (electric-powered skates). I thought they might be something that would interest Nico for zooming around campus. He was intrigued, but not enough to have me place an order. He is still after me to invent a shoe that converts to a proper roller blade at the push of a button (not like the flimsy roller shoes that are currently available).

Furnace Creek is aptly named if you visit in the summer. Temperatures here have reached as high as 134F.  This morning it was in the low 30s when I emerged from my tent. Despite overcast skies and a slight drizzle I made good use of the morning hours before having to set out for the airport in Las Vegas. Had I known my flight would be delayed by five hours, I would have hung around much longer.

I could spend days in the Badwater Basin alone. The salt crystal formations are as unusual as they are beautiful. I travelled through Twenty Mule Team Canyon on my way out of the park using my own trusted steed, a Jeep Wrangler that did more than earn its keep over the last three days.

My plan for the day was to explore a very remote area of Death Valley called the “Race Track” where the famous sailing stones can be found. Unfortunately, I missed a turn last night while making the three hour journey and found myself a hundred miles off course in Panamint Springs before I realized my mistake. It was late and I was tired so I decided to make camp. In the morning, I was up several hours before sunrise and decided to visit the Panamint Sand Dunes. Thirty minutes of driving and an hour of hiking had me well positioned for sunrise but cloud conditions only afforded me a 3 minute window for decent photography. Sometimes you get lucky, sometimes not. The trek was not a total loss as I passed an interesting pair of abandoned cars on my return.

After breakfast I enjoyed hiking to Darwin Falls where the color green appeared for the first time. Later I drove to the Wildrose Charcoal Kilns and Aguereberry Point. The ten beehive-shaped kilns were built in 1876 to provide fuel to process silver/lead ore.

By late afternoon I arrived at Stovepipe Wells and the Mesquite Flat Sand Dunes. Here I had better luck with the setting sun and got some nice shots before driving on to Furnace Creek for my final night in the tent.

Last night I rented a Jeep Wrangler and headed to Death Valley National Park for a weekend of tent camping, photography and exploration. I met my colleague from Truevision (he prefers to keep his name off the grid) this morning and we hiked up to Zabriskie Point through aptly named Golden Canyon.   Later in the day we explored the  Devil’s Golf Course, Natural Bridge, and the Badwater Salt Flats, the lowest point in North America at 282 feet below sea level. Winter temperatures in the park make this the perfect time of year to visit although lighting is hit or miss as the clouds rapidly evolve from great backgrounds to obstinant blockers of the sun. Here are a few of the hundreds of photos I took.

The view from my room at the Westin Hotel looks on to the recently completed 550 foot tall High Roller, the world’s tallest observation wheel. High Roller features 28 spherical passenger cabins which can accommodate up to 40 passengers each, and is illuminated with dynamic multicolored LED lights nightly. I briefly considered going for a spin but I was too tired to wait in line after another long day at CES.

I spent an exhausting day touring the Consumer Electronics Show (CES).  For some reason I can trek continuously for 12 hours at a stretch with no problems but am left with an aching back and blistered feet after an 8-hour trade show.  My focus at the show is all things robotic.  The robot pictured above is by far the creepiest one I have ever seen.  It is an animatronic “communication” robot that features facial gestures and movements that are very human-like but not quite.  It is the not quite part that makes this thing very disconcerting to be around.  The day is coming when such a robot will be mistaken for a human and despite my love of technology, I am not sure that is something I want to witness.

It was not a great day for aerial photography as I flew from Boston to Las Vegas but I did manage a nice shot of the mouth of the Charles River.  After arriving at my hotel, I had an opportunity to reconnect with a former Truevision colleague who I have not seen in 21 years. He has been photographing the deserts of the world for the last three years and has created an exquisite collection of beautiful one of a kind images. He was kind enough to share his post processing workflow with me as we reviewed selections from his portfolio.  My work responsibilities limited our time together but we made arrangements to meet in Death Valley National Park for a day of shooting together later in the wee

For twenty years I attended the NAB (National Association of Broadcasters) trade show in Las Vegas.  Let’s just say that it is one of my least favorite travel destinations and yet that is where I am headed tomorrow.  I will be attending CES, the Consumer Electronics Show, for the rest of the week where I will be surveying whats new on the competitive and technology horizons and meeting with colleagues.  I will have new posts when I return on Sunday.

It was with mixed emotions that Jeanine and I dropped Kyle off at the airport early this morning. He is returning to Santa Clara University where he will resume his senior year after spending a gap semester at home with us. We are pleased that he took a break to focus on his future and that he has decided to add a computer science minor to his finance degree. On the other hand, we have really enjoyed the extended visit with him and are going to miss him more than usual this time. The hectic scene at the airport thwarted my effort to get a decent photo of him as he was leaving.

Today’s photo features Maya following precisely in her friend’s footsteps as she navigated an inch of slushy snow and frigid temperatures in a pair of flip-flops and shorts. Why does a child attempt winter snow traversal in flip-flops and shorts? That is a very good question for which I have no good answer.

A visit to the Great Meadows National Wildlife Refuge in search of a bald eagle recently spotted there netted an altogether unexpected photographic outcome. When it became apparent that the eagle was hanging out elsewhere, I walked down to the Concord River whose banks were lined with some of the most interesting ice formations I have ever seen. The combination of temperatures vacillating around the freezing point and a gradually decreasing river height resulted in fascinating patterns and ice structures.

As rare as the ice formations were, I encountered something even more surprising after having ventured a mile into the refuge. Understand, for context, that during the entire course of my two hour visit, I only encountered a half dozen people willing to brave the sub-freezing temperatures, and most of them within a few hundred yards of the parking lot. Just as I reached the furthest extent of the trail I was on, I noticed, approaching from the opposite direction, two human figures. Soon it became apparent that one was on crutches and a second later I realized it was Nico with his friend Raz. I estimate the probability of this chance occurrence as roughly equal to the likelihood of running into Jeanine at a fast food restaurant, one in a million.

The holidays are never as happy without a visit from Jeanine’s sister, Susan, and we were fortunate that she was joined this year by her friends Ikey and Jean. Before moving to Concord, our Christmas holiday was spent with Jeanine’s other sister, Lauren, and her family in Indianapolis. We are lucky to have lived so close to one or the other since starting our family. On my side of the family, only my mother and sister, Alissa, live within driving distance. It would be nice to one year spend the holidays with my other sister, Mayela, who lives in North Carolina and my brother, Mark, who lives in Minnesota.

It was back to work for me today but not before bidding farewell to our Vermont house guests and capturing a group portrait.

There is something wonderful about the start of a new year.  For me it is a time of infinite possibilities and fortified resolve.  With each passing year, I find myself increasinlgy  motivated to live deliberately  and in balance with the people and world around me.  Today I will take the first steps in the journey that is the rest of my life.  Some of these steps will cover familiar ground but I hope that many more will lead me in new and as yet unexplored directions.

Jeanine’s recent decision to purchase a deep fryer can, I believe, be directly traced to our breakfast menu this morning. Behold the beignet. These powdered sugar dusted fried doughnuts have their origins in France but migrated to New Orleans in the 18th century where they are often featured in Creole cuisine. A questionable choice to start a healthy new year, there were no objections heard over the munching sounds that quickly consumed the delicious fritters.

By evening, after a day filled with various card and dice games, the family once again found itself organized around food preparation in the kitchen.  Kyle is seen here sautéing lobster tails and shrimp to be served over bow-tie pasta being cooked by Nicolai while Jeanine prepared a kale salad with fresh lemon, anchovy, croutons and candied pecans.  Yummy!

It has become my habit to close out each year with a post featuring a favorite, previously unpublished photo.  This one was from a series intended for use on our holiday card but I opted for a pair that only included the kids.  2014 has been a great year for the Calabria family and we are thankful for our health and happiness.  Between Nicolai’s gap year and Kyle’s gap semester we have been united under one roof for more time than in recent years, something I am going to miss.   Kyle has decided to add a computer science minor to his finance major and returns to Santa Clara University this weekend to complete his senior year.  Nicolai leaves for Colorado College mid-January to pick up with his fifth block.  Fortunately we get to hold onto Maya for a couple more years.  The kid’s rang in the new year at parties with their friends while Jeanine and I enjoyed dining out with her sister, Susan, and family friend Jean Cass at the Vine Brook Tavern in Lexington.

From our family to yours, we wish you joy and good health in the coming year.