In this sequence Maya dispossesses an attacking opponent during her soccer match this morning.

Maya and her Girl Scout troop prepared a fund raising concession stand at the Emerson Umbrella this evening. Proceeds will be donated to charities which care for abandoned or abused animals. I was the first customer and added $4 worth of fat to my waistline. Kyle will be spending the weekend with Hannah and her family on the Cape while Nico and Jeanine are out with their respective friends this evening. I am enjoying a brief moment of solitude after another exhausting but extremely productive week on the new job.

Our gardens are bursting with color, the beneficiaries of all the recent rain and unusually warm weather we have experienced lately. Hard to imagine that snow is in the forecast for the coming weekend.

Although my new job continues to consume most of my time, I did complete my initial assessment work several days ahead of my own schedule and feel very optimistic about how quickly I will be able to work with the team to deliver improved results. With little time for photography, I opted today for a still life featuring a birthday present Jeanine received from her great friend Aliza.

The Concord Fire Department was on the scene to rescue our town flag when attempts to lower it were thwarted by a tangle. I paused during my evening commute to look on as the CFD made quick work of the task.

My birthday girl turned 47 today and just seems to grow more beautiful, vibrant and wise with each passing year. She received several dozen phone calls and e-mails from family and friends, was treated to lunch by her local chic clique, and celebrated with our family over dinner at the Asiana restaurant in Bedford. Maya created a very special hand made birthday card and the boys chipped in for a raspberry plant which they have committed to plant for her as well. Inspired by who knows what, the boys got into a playful wrestling match tickling each other and tumbling around much as they did when they were toddlers. It brought back fond memories and capped the evening on a very happy note.

Maya danced in two routines during her end of the year recital (once to the theme of Fame and the other time to Gimme Some Lovin by Sam and Dave). She was her effervescent self and a pleasure to watch. My soccer team faced Nashoba on their grass home field. I scored the season’s first goal 10 minutes in with a crushing half volley from about 25 yards out. I shot with the outside of my right foot and bent the ball around and over the goalie into the upper right corner. We won the match 3-1 and it was a great way to start the season.

After lunch, I drove to Brattleboro, VT, enjoying the photographic opportunities along the way. Each of the three states I spent time in today has a distinctly different character, and I managed to return to Barre just in time to have a late dinner with Jeanine in between workshop sessions.

This morning I drove to Keene, NH stopping at a half dozen photogenic covered bridges along the way. The harsh light was not very flattering but I found a few angles I would like to come back and shoot in the fall when the leaves are turning.

This is my favorite Seuss sculpture. The background was extremely distracting so Maya and I stripped it out (a tedious and time-consuming job). Please click on the image for a closer view and try not to laugh.

My next stop was the Dr. Seuss Memorial Sculpture Garden where I thoroughly enjoyed myself. This man was a genius. I reread his book, Oh, The Places You”ll Go and it is like a treatise on Life.

Today Jeanine and I had planned to attend a personal development conference together (she is one of the facilitators of the workshop) but I got kicked out last night when I could not commit to stay for all four days of the program. My outdoor soccer season opens Sunday morning and I was compelled to honor the commitment I made to my teammates which would have had me miss four hours of the last day. As this was unacceptable to the conference leader, I found myself with a free weekend on my hands. I spent the morning hiking around the Quabbin Reservoir and the afternoon in Springfield where I started with a visit to the Basketball Hall of Fame.

This evening after work, I joined Jeanine at the Jenkins B&B in Barre, MA where we will spend the next three nights enjoying a long weekend getaway in celebration of her upcoming birthday. My first three weeks at iRobot have passed in the blink of an eye, and I am looking forward to a lighter meeting schedule next week.

The pace of my life right now feels a lot like the blur of my sons disappearing into the distance on their way to school. Their initial departure was aborted when Nicolai discovered he had forgotten his shoe. I can understand forgetting your homework or your lunch bag but it is hard for me to comprehend how unconscious a child must be to forget their footwear.