I purchased a used light-weight, wide angle zoom lens for my upcoming Nepal trek. It arrived today and I did a couple of test shots in the front yard to verify image quality. I was very pleased with the results. It is only 3 ounces less than my current lens but allows me to get the same angle of view on my lightest DSLR body yielding an additional 19 ounce savings. In total the new package is 1.4 pounds lighter than my current kit. This particular image is a composite of three different exposures combined to improve dynamic range.

Kyle left this afternoon for Santa Clara University where he will start his junior year later this month. He has taken a job as a private chess tutor to help offset his college tuition and now needs to purchase a car to get to his clients. It has been very nice having him home for the summer except for the fact that Jeanine no longer wants to cook for me since I do not appreciate her food as much as Kyle does.

Jeanine, Kyle, and I were all in attendance for Maya’s first high school soccer game. Nico had to work. She is one of the co-captains of the freshman girl’s team and plays at wing, midfield, and back all on the left side (she is right-handed and left-footed). The match was against perennially strong Wayland High School. The girls looked sharp as they secured a 2-0 victory to start the season on a positive note. Maya played very well offering up several nice crosses and passes. Like her older brothers, she really sees the field well and is always looking to deliver a dangerous ball. It was nice to watch as Kyle congratulated her after the game and offered her a few pointers.

The only positive thing I can say about having a colonoscopy is that it is a quick way to lose five pounds. Having endured the procedure once before (when I turned 50) I knew what to expect. The sedative you receive pretty much knocks you out so the procedure itself is not something you remember. The cocktail you need to drink the night before, on the other hand, is something you will never forget. I was very groggy when the doctor shared my results but I don’t remember hearing anything scary and I will check in again to make sure. I was back at work and reasonably coherent two hours later.

I have always practiced a form of team development that features time-constrained construction projects. Favorite building materials include Popsicle sticks, cardboard, newspaper, tape and such. It gave me great pleasure when I walked into the office yesterday to discover several water balloon launchers proudly on display in our huddle area. Critical meetings last Friday prevented me from joining our Electrical Engineering department for their annual team building offsite. I was thrilled to see how that team had continued the tradition with such an outstanding concept. I can’t wait to see the pictures from the event when they get posted.

I have always found it difficult to buy sunglasses. Most merchandising displays offer a pathetic excuse for a mirror, positioned so you are looking at a bizarre angle into something the size of a rearview mirror. You do this, of course, while looking through a polarized and tinted lens designed to reduce the amount of light passing through them. My solution is to photograph myself with several candidates and select my favorite from the camera’s display. The pair pictured here will replace my current ones which I found broken on my car’s passenger seat this morning. No one has yet confessed to sitting on them. I refuse to pay the exorbitant prices for prescription sunglasses (my regular ones cost more than $800). Instead, I buy a cheap pair that I wear over my regular ones and don’t fret when they get lost or damaged.

My fall soccer season opened today. We played a team called MPS Silver on their home field at Middlesex School. Having been promoted to Division 1 last spring we will be facing a significantly different class of opponent this season. The team got off to a shaky start but finished strong. It was a tough match and the 0-0 result was a fair outcome. I was pleased with my game. I dispossessed the defense several times and had three shots, all on frame. My last shot cost me a layer of skin off my right knee. I had just beat two defenders and was off balance, literally falling forward in slow motion as I approached the goalie who was rushing forward to cut down the angle. A tiny shove from behind was all it took to send me head over heels. 3 refs in 4 would have awarded a penalty. Had I made a dramatic flop instead of a last-ditch effort to score I might have got the call.

Nicolai spent the entire day at a concert in Boston and was not able to join the remainder of the family for a farewell dinner for Kyle who returns to college at Santa Clara University later this week.

I started training in earnest today for my upcoming trek to Nepal where I plan to cover 150 miles over the course of 21 days. I hope to fit everything I will need into and on an ultra light 28 liter pack (this is very small as packs go). Two cameras and three lenses will go into a chest pack and my tripod will strap to the side of my backpack; all in, my photo gear will account for 7 pounds. My pack will hold a sleeping bag, rain gear, fleece, down jacket, hat, gloves, toiletries, a pair of camp shoes, and clothing for 3 weeks. Trekking poles, an ultraviolet water purifier, 3L water reservoir, headlamp, GPS device, rescue beacon, iPhone, first aid kit, batteries and chargers will make up the balance. Water will account for 4 pounds and I am hoping all the rest will come in under 19 pounds for a total pack weight of 30 pounds. I will sleep and eat in tea huts along the trek and do not plan to carry any food.

I decided to start out with a 6 mile hike and 21 pound load. I walked from our home to Walden Pond, where I visited the original site of Thoreau’s Cabin, and then on to our church in downtown Concord where I met up with Jeanine for a welcome picnic for our new minister. The cabin site was discovered in 1945 and is now outlined with granite markers. A large rock carin can be found adjacent to the site where visitors from around the world have deposited rocks to pay homage to Thoreau. At the picnic, I participated in the kazoo choir and played Amazing Grace.

Jeanine and I had an opportunity to go for a walk this evening while waiting for Maya to finish soccer practice. We discovered the Emerson-Thoreau Amble which was just completed in June. It is a wonderful 1.7 mile trail that runs from Heywood Meadow (near Concord Center) through the Hapgood Wright Town Forest and ultimately to Walden Pond. The Amble also forms part of the Bay Circuit Trail (BCT); its path over the Emerson land reroutes the BCT from busy roads to a nature trail. The trail’s route includes a crossing over the Mill Brook behind the Emerson House and on the reconstructed bridge over a tributary of the Mill Brook. After collecting Maya we attended a fund raising party for her soccer team where we met parents of all CCHS girl soccer players.

We received this photo today from my nephew John, third from the left on top, pictured with his Babson classmates on the Great Wall in China. He is taking a term abroad to study Global Entrepreneurship and Business while traveling to China, Russia, and India. Meanwhile, on the home front, Maya was named co-captain of her freshman soccer team and we are sure she will be a great leader both on and off the field. This evening my soccer team had its final pre-season tuneup match against Belmont. I produced one assist and one goal, a rocket from distance into the lower left corner after beating the sweeper off a through pass. Most importantly I did not injure anything and should be pretty healthy when the season starts this weekend.

When I had my head CT done last week I requested a copy of the study. Today I picked up a CD that contained over 700 x-ray slices of my brain. I studied the images for hours before concluding that my brain is completely normal, a fact that my family might choose to dispute, but supported by the included radiologist report. The images of my brain are photographically uninteresting so I have selected a slice that shows my eyeballs, less-than-symmetrical sinuses, and ear canals.

There are few things I enjoy more than listening to world percussion played on hand drums. Whether it is a Djembe or Conga I am entranced by the syncopated rhythms can be produced by a skilled drummer. Nicolai has a natural talent for percussion, something he did not inherit from either of his parents. He is pictured here with the Congas I picked up yesterday, a belated birthday gift.

We said goodbye to Plum Island this morning and stopped for an incredible breakfast in Newburyport. Jeanine and the kids took her car and returned to Concord while I took mine and drove to Dover, NH. There I purchased a pair of used Conga drums for Nicolai who has waited patiently for his birthday gift since July. On the way back I stopped at REI to pick up items needed for my Nepal trek later this year including an ultra lightweight, 28L pack that tips the scales at a mere 24 ounces. At home, I spent the better part of the afternoon devising a method of attaching my camera holster to the new pack and am quite pleased with the solution (likely to be featured in a future entry).

I returned to Concord early this morning for a soccer scrimmage while the rest of the family was still sleeping. My fall season opens next weekend and it was important I get a game under my belt before then. We played Lowell United, last year’s Northern Division 1 runnerup. We won 3-1 and I scored two rather nice goals. The first was off a break-away and one-on-one with the keeper. He closed rather quickly taking away my angles so I slotted the ball between his legs. The second was a powerful full volley from inside the box after the defense failed to clear a corner kick adequately. Torrential rains started in Concord shortly before the end of my game but the weather could not have been nicer when I arrived back on Plum Island shortly after noon. Jeanine and the kids had just returned from a lunch excursion to Newburyport and we all headed to the beach for an intense game of bocce. Father and daughter took on the brothers in an epic match which featured play on the heavily sloped dunes and among the rock outcroppings. The first game went to Maya and I as we spanked the boys. The second saw them rebound and beat us like a drum. In the tie breaker, however, our pinpoint accuracy and control of the pallino led Maya and I to a victory that we will savor until the next rematch.

As the sun began to set I asked the kids to pose for a photo and this may well be one featured in our Christmas card this year. Later in the evening, Nico and I returned to the beach to photograph and make videos of him using his recently acquired light gloves. These gloves have multi-colored flashing LEDs at the tip of each finger and when a skilled performer moves them in rhythm to the music it has a very hypnotic effect on the observer.

Last night the family arrived at Plum Island where we are renting a beach house for the long weekend. We spent the bulk of the day at the Parker River National Wildlife Refuge where we enjoyed the wildlife and the Sandy Point State Reservation beach located on the southern most tip of the island. Within minutes of arriving, Jeanine observed a huge Bald Eagle. He was just out of camera range but conveniently perched for viewing through the spotting scope we brought with us. Next we came across a tree with leaves of birds. Click on the photo for an enlarged version if you don’t believe me.

As we continued to drive through the park, a small furry creature scampered across the road. Massive debate ensued regarding what we had just seen until an internet consultation via smart phone confirmed it was an American Mink, the first one any of us had ever seen in the wild. A second unusual spotting occurred at the beach where we came across a floundering stingray. A good Samaritan gently and carefully guided the stranded creature back out into deeper water.

The water was too cold for swimming but the beach offered much to enjoy for each of us.