Everywhere you turn there are signs expressing deep appreciation for the firefighters, police and first responders whose heroic efforts saved many homes and many lives. Although something like 80 homes were lost, it was apparent to me that many hundreds more were saved. I often saw one house leveled to the ground with another standing 200 feet away without a hint of damage.
Today, I worked for 14 hours. That is nothing compared to this fire crew from Pasedena who has been on the scene for 5 days working around the clock. They informed me that the fire was well under control and that the weather was cooperating.
What you see here are the melted remains of the magnesium alloy wheels from this truck.
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Volunteers have left a pair of gloves and a sifting screen for the family. Can you imagine having your entire home reduced to ash that will pass through a 1/4 inch wire mesh?
The family that lived here lost everything. Their house, in the background, has burned to the ground and their truck is nothing but a carcass. It was very sobering to view this scene and I can only begin to imagine the total sense of loss they must feel. Fortunately, despite the massive destruction, no one lost their life to the fire.
Another monthly trip to Santa Barbara today. Wake up at 4:30am, in the air by day break, land in LA at 10:30am (Pacific Time), drive to Santa Barbara, and then start an 8 hour work day. Still plenty of energy and almost an hour of sunlight to head up into the foothills to see first hand the aftermath of the Jesusita wildfire. It does not take long before I encounter the first signs. The fire is now largely contained due to favorable weather conditions but fire crews remain on site in the event hot spots reignite.
Nico scored in his match today to help his team to a 4-2 win. He did complain of knee pain after the game so we will have to monitor this as the season progresses. Kyle’s team won all four of their matches aggregating 19 goals for with only 2 goals against. I am still sidelined while my knee recuperates. I leave for Santa Barbara tomorrow and will not post again for a few days.
Overcast skies and light rain made for interesting light and with my long lens already out I decided to do a little birding.
While waiting for Kyle’s soccer tournament to begin I happened upon this pair of turtles in a nearby pond. The boys played well and opened the first of 4 games this weekend with a decisive 5-0 win.
1 Tennis Ball = 1 Happy Dog + 1 Happy Girl
Mother and daughter enjoying nature in their own ways.
Maya left this note for her brother Kyle and I could not stop laughing when I came across it. She chooses a happy penguin motif, leads with a guilt trip and closes with a demand for restitution. Gotta admire her style. I will have to follow the story to see if and how her brother responds.
Over a dozen aircraft and 1500 firefighters have been deployed to battle the Jesusita wildfire. Santa Barbara, an otherwise idyllic setting is unfortunately subject to these fires and this is the second major one in the last 6 months. Everyone here is concerned over the welfare of our California colleauges.
Sonos west coast headquarters is located in Santa Barbara less than 2 miles from wildfires which have destroyed several homes and caused the mandatory evacuation of 13,500 residents including many of our employees. A slight shift in wind direction or speed can dramatically change the course of the fire and we are watching it carefully given our office lies within the recommended evacuation area. I am traveling to Santa Barbara next Monday and hope the rain we are having here will follow me there.
Work and family demands left no time for a photo today so I dipped into the archive. Nico in his first tuxedo taken while the family was in France attending a wedding. He balanced atop a pedestal in front of the chateau where we spent the week.
This morning a colleague and I visited with a Sonos customer to observe and take notes as they unpacked and setup one of our new systems. Seeing this first hand is invaluable as we fine tune our products to maximize out of the box satisfaction. We walked and took local transit to the downtown Boston location and I grabbed this shot along the way.
Kyle’s church youth group and the chaperons who will be traveling with them to Transylvania this summer to visit our sister church there. Kyle’s soccer team suffered a very disappointing 2-1 loss, Nicolai scored a header to help his team to a 2-0 win, and I was on the sidelines this week nursing my injured knee.
Jeanine and I also cleaned up for a neighborhood social event. Photo courtesy of Maya.
Neither Kyle nor Chloe seemed very interested in being photographed, but I do rather like this shot which I caught between poses.
Kyle and Chloe just before leaving for the CCHS Sophmore Semi-Formal Dance.
Maya helped her team to a 5-2 win today showing fine form throughout the hard fought match. Pound for pound she may be the toughest of the Calabria’s on a soccer pitch.
Jeanine poses with her new beds. Later on we fill them with compost and top soil. Tomorrow they will be ready to plant.
The entire family pitched in to complete Jeanine’s new vegetble garden. I started by leveling three pads for the raised beds which Jeanine helped me to set in place. The kids transported and installed wood chips around the beds to create a three foot wide path on all sides.
As an early Mother’s Day present I built three raised garden beds for Jeanine. Tomorrow I will install them in the rototilled soil in the background. Each bed is 6ft x 3ft x 1ft tall. She would also like me to make her a new composting bin. I am trying to talk her into an elevated drum based design but she seems to be leaning towards a more traditional multiple bin approach.
Jeanine’s dear friend Aliza (center) celebrates her 50th birthday with a potluck dinner. Jeanine prepared an almond espresso chocolate cake which was simply out of this world (we got to sample the left overs).
I changed up my commute this evening and took Memorial Drive which follows the Charles River. While stopped in traffic I grabbed a quick shot of two women crew teams training on the water. Telephoto compression makes it appear that they are very close and that the river is very narrow. Just the opposite is true.
Although we get four distinct seasons here in New England, spring is by far the shortest. In a matter of a few weeks we enjoy an explosion of color before everything turns green. This scene is of the horse farm that is across the street from our house.
My favorite piece of art was without a doubt Renoir’s, Dance at Bougival. The woman in the painting reminds me of a young Jeanine.
Strategically placed throughout the museum were some 50 magnificent floral arrangements created by local designers to complement their surroundings.
With Jeanine and the kids returning from Minnesota this evening I elected to stay in Boston until their 10pm flight arrived. The Museum of Fine Arts was celebrating Arts in Bloom with a special evening open house and I am really glad I took advantage of the opportunity to visit the museum for the first time.
Last week, we both scored goals for our teams. This week, we both left our games with injuries. Late in his match, Kyle went down after being kicked in the shin. He blocked a hard shot on goal but got tagged by the shooter’s foot on the follow-through. He wears flimsy, lightweight shin pads, believing he has better touch with them. I may have to enforce his use of a more protective guard in the future.