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.

Two years ago in August of 2014, Jeanine and I made a whirlwind tour of south central Alaska. Our eleven day adventure took us to more spectacular destinations than I would have imagined possible. We crossed Prince William Sound by ferry, explored the quaint town of Cordova, drove deep into the Copper River Delta, hiked to the summit of Mount Eyak, kayaked to the Shoup Glacier out of Valdez, camped at Wonder Lake in Denali National Park, explored the rustic town of Talkeetna, flew around Mount McKinley and landed on Ruth Glacier, went ice-climbing on the Matanuska glacier, flew by seaplane to the Katmai National Park where we hung out with the costal brown bears (grizzlies). For several months now I have been preparing a photo journal of our exploits and have finally completed the book (best viewed using the full screen option – icon with four arrows pointing outward).

We returned home from New York to a nice article in the Concord Journal that was published last week.  I am also posting a photo from this weekend of my mother with a rather impish look about her and my niece, Rachael.

The last game that I will be posting from the 2014 Amputee Soccer World Cup match features the USA against Turkey. The Turkish squad includes professional players who participate in a thriving league in that country. In order to gain a better bracket in the tournament the Turks intentionally lost their first game against Japan. Unfortunately, the US did not realize this at the time and we chose to model our game plan on the “winning” Japanese strategy. Even so, the US team did very well against a very strong opponent which eventually placed third in the tournament. Many thanks to Maya who was the videographer for the match.

This post wraps up my coverage of the 2014 games and we are all looking forward to the next World Cup in 2016. There is also talk of an Americas Cup in 2015 which may come to pass. The folks at Coca-Cola published a nice follow up piece on the World Cup which can be found by following this link.

Widely regarded as the best example of only 20 remaining inland pine barrens in the world, Jeanine and I enjoyed a 3.5 mile hike through the Albany Pine Brush this morning. Located 5 minutes from my sister’s house, it was the perfect location to work off some of last night’s feast. We then joined the rest of the family at the movie theater where we saw “The Imitation Game” which I cannot recommend highly enough. Even more enjoyable was the conversation time with the kids during our post movie left-over meal. Each shared perspectives on their educations and future plans. The 3.5 hour return drive to Concord passed quickly as we all listened to our favorite NPR programs.

We drove to Albany, NY in time to join my mother and sister, Alissa, for lunch at the Reel Seafood Company, owned by long time friends of the family. Next we visited the Atria Crossgate Independent Living Center where my mother is currently living. She gave us the grand tour and introduced us to many of her new friends during happy hour.  We finished the day, five minutes away, at my sister’s house where we enjoyed a grand holiday feast.

I managed a few stealth portraits including nephew John William, niece Rachael and Kyle, sporting a nicely filled in and trimmed beard.

This Christmas we tried a new approach to gift giving. Each member of the family was anonomously assigned a Secret Santa responsible for providing a gift to just that individual. Maya took it upon herself to organize the matchings using Elfster.com. This approach was deemed a great success, cutting down on the amount of shopping for everyone and giving us more time to spend with each other. Stockings this year were stuffed by all members of the family in another well received refinement. No changes to our breakfast popover and grapefruit tradition to start the morning or to our late afternoon Christmas dinner, this year featuring a delicious beef tenderloin.

This Christmas has been subject to evolving family traditions.  Normally, we dine out at Chang An’s Chinese restaurant with friends before attending the candlelight service at our church. Since Jeanine will spend a good part of Christmas day in the kitchen, this has been a nice way to give her a respite from cooking. This year the kids briefly entertained the notion of preparing a meal themselves but this morphed into a take-out order from Chang An’s as their enthusiasm waned and hunger grew. They did, however, assume full responsibility for making Zeppole Balls when we returned from church, a tradition that I venture to guess they will continue with their own families one day.

With the family all together and Christmas around the corner, there is much to be thankful for at the Calabria household. We are all healthy and pursuing our passions. We have been blessed with good fortune, great friends, and a loving family. Looking ahead to 2015, it is exciting to imagine what new chapters will be written in the Calabria journal even as we pause to enjoy the serenity of the moment.

Each Monday my Vimeo weekly file size limitation resets allowing me to upload and post new full-match videos from the 2014 Amputee World Cup.  Next week I will post USA vs. Turkey for the final installment.