As this special weekend comes to a close we would like to express our appreciation to our family who traveled from afar to share in Kyle’s graduation festivities. Not only did we get to enjoy their company, they all worked extremely hard to help us prepare for the party. Jeanine made an airport run to Boston as Mayela, Stephen, and Erica had return flights this afternoon and followed that with a visit to the Museum of Fine Arts for the Chihuly display of blown glass with our remaining guests. I had a soccer game in Canton where we lost 2-1 in a cold rain. I had a nice 25 yard shot on frame which the goalie mishandled and one of our strikers tapped in for our only goal. Having already secured a first place standing, this game was of little consequence to the season but it would have been nice to enter next week’s playoffs with a win.

This afternoon Jeanine and I attended Kyle’s high school graduation while the rest of our family watched the live telecast from home. Threatening rain forced the ceremony indoors and limited the number of guests to two. Kyle has been accepted to the Business School at Santa Clara University where he will attend classes in the fall. Until then he plans to continue managing his landscaping business to help fund his education.

It is hard to believe that our first born will graduate from high school tomorrow. We are filled with a combination of pride and joy, tempered with a measure of sadness as a chapter of his life comes to a close. Tonight we celebrate his journey joining together with the Silverman and Lishansky families to honor our graduates; Kyle, Jamie, and Dave.

The party started at 5PM for adults with students arriving around 7:30 after returning from their senior class outing to Six Flags. We set the yard up for volleyball, croquet, ping pong, and a seating area around a fire pit.

Volleyball seemed to be the most popular activity. Between games everyone enjoyed a simple summer feast with wonderful foods prepared by each family. A very large cake featuring an edible picture of the three boys in their thinkers pose, an assortment of Maya’s miniature cupcakes, and customized graduation fortune cookies provided the decadent balance to an otherwise healthy array of foods.

Jeanine’s sister Lauren and her nephew and niece, Luke and Erica have traveled from the Midwest to join us for Kyle’s graduation party and ceremony. Jeanine’s other sister Susan and my mother also arrived today. This group has been like an army helping Jeanine and I ready the house and prepare for the big party tomorrow.

Kyle and Hannah are attending their senior prom this evening. They joined 15 other couples for group photographs and to share a bus which will take them to the Copley Square Hotel in downtown Boston for the gala.

Kyle’s aunt Lauren and cousin Luke arrived today from Indianapolis for his graduation party on Friday. There will be a steady flow of arrivals until then and we are looking forward to a house full of family.

As I left the house for my 6AM soccer game I paused to enjoy the fog lingering over our field which invariably lends itself to a nice image. Temperatures are heading up this week and we have our fingers crossed that the weather will remain nice through Friday when we are planning to celebrate Kyle’s graduation.

I have been trying to get exercise everyday and often that comes in the form of a lunch hour walk. I often take a trail through a local wetland and today I encountered this spider who had spanned the path with her web. Between the mosquitoes and ever encroaching vegetation I may have to seek another course until fall arrives. Another alternative would be to start riding my bike to work. Something to consider!

It has taken three weekends to complete construction and finishing of this media center for the living room. The design has the TV situated at optimal viewing height. Most commercial consoles are far too tall. The muscles which control eye motion are in their relaxed state when looking slightly down and forward (makes sense if you think of them as optimized for watching where you are walking). The muscles must work to lift your gaze and the higher your TV viewing height the more fatiguing it is. Commercial consoles also place the media equipment below the TV which means you have to bend over every time you want to make an adjustment or insert a DVD. I have placed these devices above the set for easy access. The face frame and interior is all black to match the speakers and equipment. The sides and TV recess are veneered in book matched spalted beech.

Earlier in the day I scored my first header of the season after my last six attempts all hit the crossbar (statistically almost impossible). We came from a one goal deficit at the half to win 3-1. I had a second header which the keeper bobbled leading to another goal.

Jeanine attended a special service at our church to celebrate the final sermon of Gary Smith who is retiring after a long and distinguished career of service at First Parish.

Maya was in action on the soccer pitch this morning and played very well despite a losing effort. She demonstrates a real tenacity in her defensive role and plays her position extremely well. Given her size and speed, however, I suspect over time she may migrate up to midfield following in the footsteps of her older brothers.

Kyle leaving the house for his final day of high school classes. The last four years have passed by at the speed of light and I thought the motion blur captured in this photograph was in keeping with the sentiment I was feeling at the moment. We will celebrate his graduation next week as family and friends converge on Concord to wish him well as he turns his focus to college and sunny California.

The media center project I have been working on has come together much faster than I expected. Usually, I plan such work in great detail. In this case, I started with a simple hand-drawn sketch and built one section of the 5 piece design at a time. The console will be shouldered by two bookcases connected by a bridge. The glue up shown here is of the crown molding top which will span both bookcases and the bridge.

For several years I have tried to photograph lightning with little success. This evening it was striking almost every minute as severe weather moved quickly through Concord. The storm was responsible for at least four deaths in the state, knocked our power out for several hours and took down a huge tree section in our neighbors yard. Despite their potential for destruction, it was hard not to admire the beauty of the lightning strikes as they bridged heaven and earth with electricity. Nala did not care for the ensuing thunder and sought refuge in the basement.

While climbing in Peru my trekking watch finally bit the dust and I just replaced it with a new one. The watch includes all the standard timing functions (stop watch, alarm clock, dual time zone, count down timer), a compass, altimeter, thermometer, and barometer which is shown here indicating a massive pressure drop signaling approaching severe weather. My favorite feature is a built in sunrise/sunset calculator which is very handy for photography.

We received this photo today from Maya’s point class teacher with compliments on her form. I am looking forward with great anticipation to her next recital. Her joy for dance is apparent and I am pleased to see that she has interest in so many different styles.

Kyle and I returned to Concord last night leaving the rest of the family to enjoy the full Ferry Beach weekend. Kyle had work obligations and I had an important soccer match for which my team was short handed. To make matters worse, our goalie suffered a very severe dislocation of his thumb during warm ups and had to be rushed to the hospital. Another player was disabled during the first half with a torn calf muscle and is lost for the remainder of the season. Despite a lack of subs and the warm weather, we were able to secure a narrow 1-0 win over Lexington and in doing so secured a first place finish in our league with two games still remaining in the season. This also means we will be promoted to Division 3 in the fall. I spent the remainder of the day making good progress on the media center I am building completing all of the veneer work (spalted beech) and face frames.

With little time for photography, I am including photos from yesterday of my own children.

Ferry Beach offers our family an escape from our daily routines and an opportunity to socialize with new and old friends while participating in loosely organized activities including kayaking, birdwatching, volleyball, biking, sand castle building, beach combing, and a talent show to name a few. In years past I have taken candid portraits of all of the children and shared them with their families. This year I was greeted with many compliments and heart felt thanks for my prior work and needed little more encouragement to extend the tradition. A candid portrait seeks to capture a spontaneous moment that offers a glimpse into the spirit of a person. I do not claim to have achieved this goal but I believe my efforts are getting better. Here are some of my favorites. the complete set can be seen by following the Ferry Beach Portraits 2011 link to the right.

After work Kyle and I drove to Maine where we caught up with Jeanine, Maya and Nico who had driven up earlier in the day. Each year we make the journey to Ferry Beach (near Saco, ME) where we join members of the Concord and Lexington Unitarian Universalist churches for a family weekend retreat. We arrived just in time for a late dinner and were joined by Maya Rose Pedula (pictured here with our very own Maya Rose Calabria in front of an alfresco painting adjacent to the restaurant) and her mom. In addition to daughters who share the same first and middle names, the Pedula’s have three children identical in ages to ours and an Italian father.

This morning before work, Jeanine and I went for a short walk. She has been wanting to show me a local rookery where over 30 Blue Heron have made their nests. Swarming mosquitoes prevented any real photography but I plan to return with a long lens and proper repellent in the very near future. I am constantly amazed by the proximity of such wonderful animal habitats and am thrilled to have another photo destination to add to my list.

When I returned from work this evening I found Maya and Nico playing a little Frisbee. More often than not they will choose to hang out with their respective friends but occasionally, perhaps when other options are exhausted, they will play with each other and they invariably have a lot of fun doing so.

It has been 6 weeks since I joined a group of my colleagues at work on a voluntary weight loss plan. My start weight was 186 and my goal was 166. Today, after a 6am soccer scrimmage I weighed in below my target for the first time. Losing 3 pounds per week has taken its toll on my muscle mass so now I will shift to strength training with a slight increase to my calorie intake. It is amazing how much speed I have gained on the soccer pitch by shedding 12% of my weight.

Each year the Boston Globe ranks the top 100 public companies in New England in terms of business achievement. iRobot moved from 45th position last year to 4th place. From the Globe: As a group, they matter because they are leading the state out of a painful recession and slowly putting the Massachusetts economy back on its feet. They are selling more, earning more, and becoming more powerful engines for economic revival in a time of need.

My last woodworking project was a kayak and before that the finishing of our basement. This weekend I started a furniture project when all attempts to find an entertainment center of the proper size and proportions failed. The unit will be composed of four sections, a console, two flanking bookshelves and a bridge. I am on pace to complete construction of the carcasses by this evening. Next weekend I will start on trim and veneer work (assuming we can decide on a wood species by then). This morning my soccer team played Wayland and came away with a 2-1 win. I played very well in my leaner form factor and just missed two headers. Jeanine and Kyle are taking advantage of the weather to work outside.

Our friend Doug Yoder celebrated his 50th birthday this evening with a culinary gala at his home. Guests were treated to passed hors d’oeuvres (Maya was one of the passers) followed by a sit down dinner and dessert. The food was out of this world and it was fun catching up with friends I have not seen in some time.

After our Harbor cruise yesterday, as I was waiting to board the bus back to iRobot, about a dozen race cars accompanied by police escorts zoomed through the streets of Boston. Not your every day scene. After work I headed to REI for the start of their big annual sale where I took advantage of the savings to upgrade my tent and sleeping pad which will yield a most welcome 2 pound weight reduction in my overnight pack weight.

In celebration of the production start on two major iRobot products, contributing members of our product development and marketing teams were treated to a cruise of Boston Harbor and an exquisite lunch served on board. Despite a forecast for continued rain, the weather cooperated and we got to enjoy the views without getting wet although the grey skies did little to enhance the quality of the photographs.

After work the family was joined for dinner by Nora, who is about to complete her Master’s Degree at MIT. I have been her Gordon Leadership Program Mentor for the past two years and she will be leaving for Seattle to join Microsoft as a Program Manager when she completes her thesis. It was great having the opportunity to introduce her to the entire family and the kids really enjoyed meeting her. I hope to remain in touch and am expecting great things in her future.

While I was in Peru, Nicolai attended the Sophomore Semi (semi-formal ball at the high school) with his friend Chloe and we just received this photo of them together at her house. I hate missing an opportunity to photograph the kids when they are all dressed up and I am simply going to have to wait until the junior prom for my next chance.

My Audi was in for its first scheduled service today. While waiting, it was hard not to admire the R8s on the showroom floor. While I appreciate the beauty and awesome engineering, I no longer find myself coveting such cars. Now that I can afford one my priorities have shifted to a car that can carry the whole family, a couple of kayaks, and never be stranded in the snow. The thought of a second car just for tooling around is simply too wasteful to consider.

Sporting the alpaca sweater I purchased for him while in Peru, Kyle does internet research on a company which has a very similar business model to Yard Dogs. He is trying to decide if it makes sense to expand his general landscaping business to include lawn mowing. Doing so would mean buying mowers for each of his crews. I enjoy discussing the various options with Kyle and watching the mind of a true businessman at work. There is little doubt in my mind that his career is destined to follow a very entrepreneurial path.

A team photo I took earlier in the season was missing a couple of players so we took another today after our match with Ashland. Spirits were high as we avenged our only loss of the season and moved solidly into first place. We scored twice, late in the first half and held them scoreless for the 2-0 win. I have lost ten pounds in the two weeks since I last played and was feeling down right speedy.I had one shot on goal, a chest trap to a left foot volley which was just wide of the net. Jeanine and I went out for lunch and then spent the afternoon shopping for furniture, something we do about once every five years. We were unable to find what we were looking for and agreed that it made more sense to complete our shopping on the internet. Poor excuse for a date, but I was happy for the time together.

Occasionally I am presented with a photo opportunity which defies my own imagination. This afternoon Maya and a group of her friends created this human collage and I was actually requested to take a photo so they could see the results of their artistic endeavor. Earlier in the day, during her soccer match, Maya scored a very nice goal off a full volley and I enjoyed listening to her retelling of the story.

After work this evening I met Jeanine and our friend Carolyn Haney at the CCHS soccer fields where Maya has practice until 7PM. We did some power walking on the course used by the cross country team. It was a very healthy way to pass the time. We also paused to watch the high school students attending the Junior Prom emerge from the school, dressed to the 9’s, promenading in pairs to the buses which would take them to the gala. I found it both entertaining and a little sad to watch all the young girls struggling to walk in their ultra high heel shoes and have made a note to discuss the insanity of these foot torture devices with Maya before she is brain washed into thinking that fashion trumps comfort.