For all the discipline and rules involved in the sport of wrestling it is, at the end of the day, a brawl in which combatants often walk away with painful reminders of their battle. Nicolai did not appear the least bit phased by a nasty abrasion above his cheekbone suffered during practice today. His parents, however, could not help wincing at the sight of it.
Our month long visit with Kyle has come to an end all too quickly. Winter break is over and he returns to Santa Clara, minus four wisdom teeth, for a new term which begins tomorrow. He spent a good deal of time with Hannah, on her break from Emory, who we have missed as well. He also spent a good bit of time working on setting up his business for the summer. During the fall term he completed the acquisition of a company called Cheap Summer Help and is using much of what he learned from its prior owner to refine his own business model. It is fun to see him applying what he is learning in college to the real world so soon and I believe his experience with Yard Dogs has increased his appreciation for the value of what he is learning. Carrying on a long family tradition, Maya, Nico and I ran after the car waving goodbye as Jeanine drove him to the airport. We are already looking forward to visiting him in February for parents weekend.
Later in the day Jeanine assisted me as I cut a larger opening in our granite kitchen island counter top to accommodate a new gas range. She tented me with a sheet to help contain the fine dust produced by the stone saw and recharged a sponge with cold water which I used repeatedly to cool the blade. The fit was perfect and the rest of the installation went quickly. The same cannot be said for the cleanup which fell largely to Jeanine and will continue for several more days as we continue to locate more dusty surfaces.
Nicolai saw his first wrestling action of the season in a tournament at Belmont High School. He won all three of his matches by pin (each pictured here) and more importantly did not suffer any stingers. He is wrestling at the 112 pounds and looks totally ripped at this weight class. I spent more than eight hours at the tournament photographing the CCHS team for a total of 82 keepers which can be found at THIS SITE which I maintain for the club. Wrestling is an extremely challenging sport to photograph. In addition to the technical challenges of shooting fast action in low light it is physically taxing as the most interesting shots are taken from a very low angle (laying flat on your belly).
I had to miss the end of the tournament and rush home to get ready for the iRobot holiday party which was held this evening at the House of Blues adjacent to Fenway Park. Jeanine and I enjoyed dancing to the live music which was exceptionally good if a bit too loud. Jeanine also had an opportunity to finally meet my boss which she has been looking forward to for some time.
For Christmas, I received this bonsai tree from Kyle and Nicolai. It now graces the window sill in my office where I photographed it this evening as the sun was setting.
Maya is creating a board game for a school project about Greek mythology. The layout is less impressive than the rules of the game which essentially help students learn by rewarding them for remembering at the end of the game key facts they heard during the beginning and middle.
When I built the media center for the living room I imagined some of the sections would eventually be filled with artwork. This copper sculpture by my mother is now featured in one of the prominent locations.
I noticed this photo in the massive pile I retrieved from my mother’s home. Although the memory of the event has long since faded, my memory of this photo of me with my brother burns strong.
Nala’s legal address until today has been a rather unattractive crate located in the kitchen. Today she moved into a new Chinese style home in the living room. Maya, utilizing skills acquired from watching the Dog Whisperer, acclimatized Nala to her new residence in short order. It is unlikely that she will give up her preferred napping spot on the new couch but it is nice to finally be rid of the ugly crate.
Our family started the new year with a visit to the Public Garden in Boston after a late breakfast at the Paramount. The unusually mild weather made for a pleasant stroll and the tranquil setting for a good place to contemplate resolutions for the coming year.
From our family to you and yours we wish you health and happiness.
Life in the Calabria household without fire on which to cook is a very scary prospect. Jeanine cooks food from scratch every day and the microwave is nothing more than a convenience for heating left overs. It will be at least a week and possibly two before we receive and I can install a new cook top. The fear of Jeanine embarking on a homicidal rage before then inspired me to find a way, against all odds, to return our existing unit to temporary service. I will spare readers the gory details which involved the use of crow bars and a hacksaw but I managed to gain access to the interior of the unit. Once inside, I removed the damaged and no longer necessary components. When all was said and done, I was able to return 4 of the 5 burners to manual operation.
gas-tra-tion : the frustration experienced when servicing a poorly designed gas appliance
I installed this GE gas cook top seven years ago. Recently the automatic ignition system failed and we have been lighting the burners manually. Today I set out to repair the problem. What should have taken an hour or two turned into an all day affair and unresolved outcome. In order to access the electronic ignition module, the most likely source of the problem, you must first gain access to the inside of the unit. This involves removing the range from the counter top, releasing two screws and the five burner tubes. When I attempted to loosen the final burner tube it would not budge. All the others had come out easily so I continued to apply more torque. Eventually the tube began to rotate but not because it was backing out of the casting below. Instead the casting had broken free of its mount and was rotating in place, wrapping the associated gas lines around itself destroying the assembly and associated control valve. To make matters worse, with no possibility of removing the final tube, access to the interior and any hopes of a repair are out of the question. If it were just a matter of replacing the unit with a new one this story would have a happy albeit expensive ending. Even though our kitchen island counter top has a standard size cutout for the range, it is also equipped with a telescoping side draft exhaust system which sits flush along the back edge. This creates a dimensional constraint on the cook top rear flange which as luck would have it does not conform to any model currently available on the market. It will now be necessary to cut a larger opening in the one and a half inch thick slab of granite along the already narrow front edge to fit a replacement. Not a great note on which to end the year.
One of the items I retrieved from my parents home when my mother and I began preparing the house for sale was a 48 inch flat screen TV that I purchased with my father shortly before his death. As of today it hangs in our breakfast nook where it displays my photographs in a random sequence with a new picture every 30 seconds. This wall has always been used to display artwork. We painted it with magnetic paint before it was papered allowing us to use magnets to “hang” flat artwork and photos. During the holiday season it is used to display the cards we receive. This location in our home can be seen from the kitchen, living room, and my office making it the perfect spot. I completely underestimated how much joy this little project would bring me and the family.
Jeanine, Susan, her friend Jean and I decided to spend the afternoon at Plum Island. The air temperature, in the low 40s, was unusually high but this was offset by sustained high winds which easily gusted over 30 knots. Everyone was dressed for the weather but even so we all were rosy cheeked by the end of the outing. We arrived at high tide and enjoyed a massive display of power as the wind driven waves assaulted the shore. After a brief walk on the ocean side of the nature reserve we finished our excursion touring the salt water marshes where we were fortunate to see a bevy of swans. After ample fresh air and exercise we returned to Concord with a few stops along the Merrimack River in hopes of a bald eagle sighting which was not to be realized.
Maya, over the course of the day, baked and decorated a giant cupcake utilizing a special mold she received as a Christmas present from her Aunt Lauren. The resulting treat was quickly devoured by a small army of boys (friends of Kyle and Nicolai who were gathered at the house) and members of the family except for Nico who is dieting to make a target weight of 112 pounds.
Nicolai and I made an early morning visit to Emerson hospital for additional testing to confirm that it is safe for him to return to wrestling. The first series of tests passed small electric currents through his body to confirm that his muscles were properly reacting to stimulus. The second series was far more painful. A tiny metal wire was placed deep (2 inches) into his muscles while the doctor monitored the electrical signals present when he flexed the muscles. The good news is that the test appears to confirm an absence of nerve damage or muscle weakness.
