My brother’s family is visiting for the next week although he, unfortunately, is unable to join them. Pictured here are my two sons on the left and my two nephews on the right (nieces and their mother are spending the day with Maya and Jeanine at the Willard Carnival). We are attending an end of the season soccer party for my team. This morning we had our last home game and finished in style with a 4-2 victory. My knee is still not 100% but I was able to provide two nice assists.
The guilty party was this coyote who was hunting in our newly mowed field. Nala’s electric containment fence is the only thing that spared this fellow a skirt with death. What Nala’s breed lacks in social skills it makes up for with raw speed and agility.
Nala alerted us to the presence of an intruder on our property as dusk arrived.
The perspective is highly distorted and it has been marred by careless footprints but it is easy to still appreciate the work of the skilled artist who probably worked for days on hands and knees to create this image.
After spending 14 hours in the office I raced over to the Santa Barbara Mission before the sun had set. I was surprised to find the courtyard transformed into a canvas for 100s of chaulk masterpieces. The quality of some of the paintings rivaled works I have seen in fine museums. Without a higher vantage point, none of my photos did justice to the art.
The Sonos Santa Barbara facility bathed in pre dawn light. The building is more expansive than it appears and does not lend itself to a wider angle photo.
I leave for Santa Barbara this afternoon but not without a photo of my favorite daughter. I have been asked to pick up responsibility for our Information Technology Services group in addition to Product Development and am travelling on short notice to meet all the new members of our team.
My cousin Heather and her husband Burton celebrate the gradation of their daughter Toni from Wesleyan University. Toni is now off to dance for 6 weeks at the American Dance Festival in Durham, NC. She plans to dance and choreograph as much as she can during the next few years and then go on to graduate studies.
Maya has become quite proficient and fearless about extracting her own teeth when the time comes. We spent some time examining her molar and it appears that she clenches her teeth at night (like her father) so a night guard is probably in her future.
This evening, I worked late and had dinner in Harvard Square, where I took this photo. Jeanine returned from Indianapolis near midnight, so I opted to stay downtown rather than make the trip twice in one day.
While we hold down the fort in Concord, Jeanine attends a celebration for her nephew Luke to commemorate his graduation from North Central High School in Indianapolis. Luke plans to attend the Heron Art School in the fall and his girlfriend Audrey will go on to the Pratt School of Design in New York City.
Playing soccer on crutches can’t be easy but then again, Nico is able to make shots others cannot. Here he rises up to make a perfect pass over the defense and onto the foot of a waiting forward. For what he lacks in speed he more than makes up for with deadly accuracy and thoughtful distribution. After his game we checked in with Maya who was on her way to soccer practice and then left for Lancaster to watch Kyle play in his second match of the day in the State Cup tournament. Twenty five minutes into the trip it was raining so hard that we decided to return to Concord. We were both in the mood for cow (as Nicolai describes his carnivorous craving) and satisfied that craving with a nice dinner at a local pub.
Today the family had a mere 4 soccer games and one soccer practice. Although Nico’s team lost he had a very nice assist and won several headers. I was back on the pitch for the first time in several weeks having nursed my injured knee back into service. I was only able to play at about 85% intensity and am still unable to take a shot with my right leg. Still, I was able to contribute to the team. Even though we lost, I was happy to be back in the game and to have emerged without a relapse.
Kyle played in the first round of the Massachusetts State Cup Soccer Tournament and his team came away with a decisive 6-0 win. Kyle spent several hours doing landscape work before the game so I think it was fortunate the competition was relatively weak. Tomorrow he has two more games to finish the first round and the opponents are some of the top teams in the state.