My father loved music and was a life long student of the guitar. What he lacked in natural musical talent (the gift of his brother, Ernie, a professional musician) he made up for with disciplined practice and hard work. He loved the fact that Kyle shared this interest with him.
No single theme better defined my father’s life than dance. This photo is from the the cover of his book, “Let it Be a Dance”. He financed his college education by teaching ballroom dancing, it is how he met my mother, and it has been their life long passion as a couple.
Above all else, my father loved and adored my mother. He often told me how lucky he felt to have married such a talented and beautiful woman. He was indeed lucky in love.
The first person in his family line to attend college, he went on to earn a PhD. I grew up understanding the importance of an education and working hard to achieve goals.
My father lived a passionate life. It ended peacefully this morning at his home after 87 years. To know my father was to know joy and laughter, to feel entirely loved, and to understand the beauty of a life lived well.
Maya demonstrates an articulating forearm camera mounting system I fabricated. The camera is mounted to a hinge which is attached to two straps which secure the contraption to the forearm. I am scheduled to go sky diving this week and devised this apparatus so I could take aerial photographs while under the canopy. The camera lies flat on my forearm when not deployed and can quickly be moved into a number of different shooting positions. It remains to be seen if I will be allowed to fly with this rig.
The family celebrated my 52nd birthday today. Jeanine and I were traveling to Wyoming on the actual date (September 29th). Hannah joined us for the dinner celebration which included all of my favorites prepared from scratch by my loving wife (mozzarella and homegrown tomatoes with basil, red spinach salad with pears and bacon bits, chicken pot pie, and a cheesecake topped with raspberries). A more enjoyable day I cannot remember.
A perfect fall day was enjoyed to the maximum. My soccer game this morning resulted in a 1-1 tie. I picked up our only goal by throwing my body into a rebound and playing it into the net off my abdomen (first time I have ever scored this way). Later in the day Jeanine and I drove through Groton, Pepperell and Hollis where fall color was near peak. Autumn is my favorite season and such excursions nourish my soul.
After taking care of several chores around the house I went out in search of fall color. Unfortunately the high winds and heavily overcast skies did not lend themselves to good landscape photography. I did come across a huge patch of pumpkins and was able to find a large boulder from which to photograph them
It is too cold for the sun porch so Kyle and a group of his friends retreat to the dining room for an evening of poker. As I checked in throughout the tournament the sunglasses made their way around the table doing little to enhance the fortunes of the wearer. I thought the juxtaposition of the portrait of Kyle as a child made this photo more interesting than the group shots I took.
After the conference I was able to catch the tail end of Nico’s soccer game. Skies were heavily overcast leading to very nice lighting and Nicolai played extremely well. He won virtually every ball in the air that was played into his space. I easily have a dozen photos of him heading the ball which does not include the shots that I missed. The team won a hard fought match and I was really happy I was able to see this match.
Today I attended an unconference sponsored by the Massachusetts Technology Leadership Council held at the Boston Seaport World Trade Center. The agenda for breakout sessions is created in real time by the attendees who vote with their feet. I moderated a session on Telemedicine and participated in two session focused on Robotics. I was invited as an “Expert” and had responsibility for three mentoring sessions with young entrepreneurs. I ran into Nora, my MIT mentee, who continues to explore new career opportunities and is on a path for great things.
Kyle is busy with college research and preparation but still finds time to develop his business. He contracted with his brother to develop a website which is now online. The site can be reached by following this link (Yard Dogs Landscaping).
I woke at 3 AM to complete a special project for work from this morning so I felt comfortable leaving the office early to catch one of Nicolai’s soccer matches. The team had an impressive 4-0 win and Nicolai had a very nice flip throw which set up one of their early goals.
Maya spent the better part of the day at work with me today. There is no school in observance of the Columbus Day holiday and Jeanine will not be returning from Washington, D.C. until later this evening. She is content to do her homework reading assignment, sample the free hot chocolate, and work on one of the available jigsaw puzzles while I was busy in meetings. She also requested that I show her two of my product concept proposals and proceeded to give me good ideas for improvements on both.
I insisted that the kids take advantage of the perfect fall day and the girls elected to go to the Willard playground and Nico decided to join us. Although they are rapidly becoming young women, watching Maya and Sarrinagh play together reminded me that they are still children at heart. Nico elected to work on a reading assignment and also completed a science lab (ahead of schedule). I just relaxed in the sun entirely exhausted from my earlier soccer match in which we had to settle for a 1-1 tie against a team we deserved to beat. For the first time in over a year a played with no pain in either knee which I can either attribute to the 2 week hiatus or the strength I developed from all the climbing we did in Wyoming. I just missed a lob shot over the keeper but did manage to assist on our only goal.
Maya spent last night at Sarinnagh’s house creating a Halloween costume with her. Initially, I was unable to determine the nature of the outfit. Upon further study and reflection, I concluded that she will be trick-or-treating as a Tooth Fairy.
When Jeanine envisioned a sun porch where she could relax and enjoy dining as a family during the summer months, I doubt she could have imagined how much the boys would make use of the space. Nicolai organized a poker party this evening that included a healthy meal of pizza, soda, chips, and ice cream (his guests all chipped in for food). Although I am not a big fan of gambling, I must say that hosting a bunch of teenage boys on a Saturday night for an alcohol and drug-free activity during which they enjoyed howl-out-loud fun is something I can support.
With Kyle in Washington, DC checking out colleges, Maya was invited to take his place joining Nicolai and me for our traditional weekend boy’s breakfast. She ordered a three-egg bacon omelet, breakfast potatoes, toast, and a hot chocolate demonstrating that she was in the same gastronomic league as her brothers. She also entertained us with her salt shaker balancing skills.
Twice each year our field is mowed for the hay and each time I find the scene worthy of a photograph. This season I have found what I believe to be the best composition yet. Nala is less pleased with all the activity in her domain and is barking up a storm. Early this morning I drove Jeanine and Kyle to the airport where they will be leaving for Washington, DC and Richmond, VA to visit colleges. Kyle has now seen a number of schools and the next few weeks are going to be busy for him as he narrows his choices and begins the application process.
This is a cardboard model of a French hotel created by a student in the Peabody Middle School. Jeanine and I are attending Maya’s Back to School Night where we meet all of her teachers and learn about the subjects she will be studying this year. She has switched languages from Mandarin to French, a decision I lament. On the positive side, she will have an exceptional teacher and will enjoy, as Nicolai did, the construction of a scale size French town.
Jeanine and I participated in Back to School Night at the Concord Carlisle High School during which parents attend classes, on an accelerated basis, according to their child’s actual schedule. This provides a great opportunity to meet with teachers and get a sense of what the school day actually looks like for their kids. Jeanine covered Kyle’s schedule and I covered Nicolai’s. We overlapped when one or the other had a study hall.
Jeanine has been putting the finishing touches on her professional website which is now live. I think the results are fantastic and can be found by following this link (Jeanine’s Website). Followers of this blog interested in healthy eating and/or nutritional cleanses are urged to sign up for one of her programs. I am very pleased that she selected me as her husband and photographer.
Today Jeanine and I flew back to Boston from Wyoming and found all of the children alive and well. Maya insisted on duplicating a science experiment from school for me. She carefully removed the tea from a Bigelow tea bag and formed the filter material into a hollow cylinder. She then lit the top of the paper and we watched as it burned down and then lifted off the counter sailing through the air. Not the best photo but I was a little distracted watching a flaming tea bag sail through our kitchen.
Our next destination is the top of Signal Mountain where you can see forever in all directions and get a real feel for the composition of the park. There, Jeanine learns of a bear that has been spotted eating berries in a Hawthorne tree. Naturally, we decide to check this out and are rewarded for the effort. After doing her best to avoid bears for the entire trip, it is Jeanine who has located one so that I could capture photos that have eluded me for years. After this very rewarding encounter we drive through the Teton Village to Wilson where we dine at the Stage Coach Bar which is an authentic cowboy/cowgirl hangout. The food was excellent but our attempt at the Texas Two Step to the music of the live band left something to be desired.
Our hike today takes us around String Lake with an extension out to Leigh Lake. Of the two lakes the latter was the more beautiful and we were glad we to have made the extra effort to reach it.
An anniversary getaway would not be complete without a portrait of the happy couple. This is the exact same location I chose for a self portrait when I visited Wyoming two years ago.
We are tempted to stay in our room all day enjoying the views of the mountains and pond around which the cabins are built. The weather is too perfect, however, and we are compelled to return to the GTNP for one more day of hiking and exploration.
This morning Jeanine elected to sleep in while I returned to the Oxbow Bend Overlook during the pre-dawn hour so that I could photograph at sunrise. When I returned at about 9AM we enjoyed a phenomenal breakfast at the Granary Restaurant located steps from our room. Any return to the Jackson Hole area will demand a return to the Granary.
As the sun starts to set we begin our return drive to Jackson Hole and are treated to Aspens along Jackson Lake at peak fall color in golden light. For the next two nights, we will be switching from roughing it to living large. We have reservations at the Spring Creek Ranch, a mountain resort with outstanding views of the Tetons and Jackson Hole.