On approach to LAX I notice hills covered in blooming goldenrod. I have rarely had so many great aerial photo opportunities on a single flight and take this as a good omen for my week of photography.

Today begins a one week solo adventure during which I will travel 7150 miles (6000 in the air, 1100 by car, and 50 on foot). During my flight from Boston to LA en route to Page, Arizona, I am lucky to fly directly above the terrain over which I will be hiking in the coming days.

Maya and Lydia decided to paint the tree house today. I was very impressed with the results given they worked on the task with no adult supervision. It should be noted that there appears to be as much paint on Maya’s thighs as on the tree house. Earlier in the day I played in my first outdoor soccer match of the season. We won 4-2 and I came away with a well struck goal from the top of the box and an assist and most importantly no injuries. I leave early tomorrow morning for a one week solo adventure into the wild. I will be hiking and camping in Utah and Arizona canyon country. Weather permitting, I would like to spend most of my time in the spectacular slot canyons of the region. I will not be posting for at least a week but when I do I hope to have a bounty of great images to share.

This morning Maya’s indoor soccer team concluded their season with a three game sweep of the championship tournament. Maya did not think it was any big deal and has already turned her sights on the outdoor season. The parents, however, were plenty excited about the accomplishment.

Early this morning I attended Maya’s Teacher Conference. It was almost embarassing to hear about how wonderfully she is doing in all aspects of school. We are very proud of her and hope she continues to take full advantage of all that school has to offer. As I was leaving the building I decided to capture an image of the library where Maya has spent a lot of time enjoying herself. I hope she will look back on this entry many years from now and remember this special place where she began her love affair with reading.

It is not exactly clear to me what Jeanine does on these retreats to Kripalu. I am fairly sure they don’t make bagels but why else would you need to toast so many sesame seeds?

When she returns from Kripalu, Jeanine will be pleased to learn of her daughter’s exploits as a professional chef. Maya announced this morning that we would be having French Toast for breakfast and proceeded to create a masterpiece. Unfortunately, Kyle had long since left for school leaving Nico and I as the sole benefactors. Maya thought this would be a healthy breakfast to fuel her through the MCAST tests at school today.

In case Jeanine checks the blog from Kripalu I though she would enjoy seeing a picture of her dog missing her. Kyle was in charge of dinner this evening and we enjoyed pasta with Vodka sauce.

 
Jeanine is off to Kripalu, a center for yoga and health located in the Berkshires of western Massachusetts for a 5 day retreat. She will be both student and teacher as she continues to acquire and share knowledge about healthy lifestyles, food, and eating. I will hold down the fort with the primary goal of keeping everyone alive until she returns. Unhealthy eating will be permitted. Having returned early from Baltimore, I was able to attend an outdoor soccer scrimage this morning and scored several nice goals. Despite the pouring rain, which fell throughout the match, it was a great tune up for our season opener next Sunday. Later in the afternoon I retrieved Nicolai from an all day referee training course held at the hotel pictured here.

Obsolete perhaps, but still the subject of student interest. Is this the preppy equivalent of graffiti?

The card catalogs, a bygone technology, remain a powerful reminder of the 13 million volume book collection and a work of art in and of itself.

Sterling Memorial Library is architected in the style of a cathedral per the wishes of its benefactor but all religious symbols have been replaced with Yale inspired secular icons.

This sculpture, Women’s Table, by Maya Lin, winner as a Yale senior, of the design competition for the Vietnam Veteran’s Memorial in Washington, D.C. depicts the growth in number of female Yale graduates over the years. Women now outnumber men at the school by a wide margin.

We stopped for a lunch break in downtown New Haven. I opted to visit the Yale campus instead of eating and was fortunate to catch up with a student led tour which was both informative and entertaining.