We often enjoy spectacular sunrises and sunsets here in Concord.  This morning was particularly enchanting.  Click on the image for a more detailed view.

When we redecorated our kitchen shortly after moving in some 14 years ago we had the foresight to paint one of the walls in our breakfast nook with a base layer of magnetic paint before covering it with wallpaper. Each year we use magnets to affix holiday cards from our friends and family where they remain for the entire year.  In the sea of cards is a 4K television which serves as a display and picture frame for my photography.  Each slide show contains 1000 images which change every 20 seconds.

I found myself in Auburndale late this afternoon and had to pause to photograph the Woodland Golf Club illuminated by golden light. Earlier in the day I was also motivated to stop for a shot of the Sudbury River.  Relatively warm temperatures have melted much of our recent snow and the river is rising accordingly.

Kyle received news today that he passed the CFA Level 1 exam that he took in December.  Only 43% of the people taking the exam passed.  We are very proud of and thrilled for him. There are two more levels to pass before he will obtain his CFA (Chartered Financial Analyst) credential, a highly regarded certification in his field. 

When I woke up this morning, I discovered that my right leg was no longer working properly.  Attempts to lift my right foot were met with non-compliance and acute pain.  It is probably safe to say that I overdid things yesterday. A very hot shower and large dose of Vitamin-I (Ibuprofen) made walking marginally possible but stair climbing and getting in or out of the car remained a painful exercise. Fortunately, today’s cooking and cleaning responsibilities were largely borne by the students.  I only had to worry about packing the BMW with what remained of the food and driving back to Concord. Once there, I did little more than operate the TV remote control from the couch and post-process the photos I took over the weekend (which can be found here). Fortunately, my fingers were among the few body parts that were neither sore nor damaged. Pictured above is the Ellis River which I paused to photograph as we left Jackson.

Yesterday, the priority for Jeanine and I, as chaperones for the ski weekend retreat, was to ensure that all the food needed for the next six meals was staged and ready for the athletes to prepare. Today, we had time to do a little skiing ourselves.  Jeanine has her own cross country skis and a modest amount of experience. I rented a pair for my first attempt at the sport.  Maya switched to classic style skis and coached us during the morning. Jeanine and I covered 4 miles in a little under 2 hours.  I fell 8 times but looked fairly competent by the time we finished. Jeanine fell twice, both times caused by me (as was the case during my initial attempt at alpine skiing, going was far easier than stopping). In the afternoon, Jeanine returned to the condos to get dinner started while I switched to skate style skis and logged another 3.5 miles.  I lost count of how many times I fell but not the number of bruises I sustained (approximately 2 per mile).  By the end of the afternoon I had progressed from totally spastic to moderately spastic.  I may have even accidentally strung together two to three proper strides.  At the very least, I came away with a deep appreciation for the difficulty of skate style skiing and new admiration for what Maya has accomplished over a relatively short period of time.

Hard to imagine a more beautiful setting for a long weekend of Nordic skiing than Jackson, NH where 150 kilometers of trails are maintained by the Jackson Ski Touring Foundation. Considered by many to be the finest cross-country ski trails in the Eastern United States, they include covered bridges, tunnels, and the on trail Cocoa Café. Jeanine and I drove up with food supplies and rendezvoused with the CCHS Nordic Ski team which arrived by school bus for an extended training and team bonding retreat.

Following an afternoon on the trails, the team moved on to a group of 9 connected condos which will be home during our three-day visit.

Jeanine and I have volunteered to chaperone the CCHS Nordic Ski Team Retreat to Jackson, NH this weekend.  Gathering and transporting three days worth of food for 35 athletes is no small undertaking.  With the rear seats folded flat, the entire cargo area of the BMW from floor to ceiling is packed with food.

During my recent travels, I took several sequential sets of photographs from which to generate wide-angle panoramas.  Today I spent some time stitching them together.  If you would like to see them in all their glory you will need to click on the image once to open in a new window and then click on it again to zoom in allowing you pan around the scene.

As much as I enjoyed my recent travel to Nevada, California, Utah, and Arizona, I regretted not being able to attend Maya’s first Nordic ski race. Fortunately, one of the other parents did a great job documenting the competition and shared these photos taken last week. Despite being relatively new to the sport, Maya was elected a co-captain of the team.

When you mention Las Vegas and wildlife in the same sentence one does not generally conjure up images of the type in today’s post.  My red-eye flight to Boston did not leave until 10PM giving me the better part of the day to go on a wildlife safari.

I had planned to be playing soccer today but with yesterday’s elimination from the King’s Cup I found myself with an unexpected free day.  I decided to head over to the Mojave National Preserve, about a 90 minute drive from Vegas. At 1,600,000 acres it is the third largest unit of the National Park System in the contiguous United States. It contains the largest and densest Joshua Tree forest in the world, the Kelso Sand Dunes, and numerous volcanic formations.

Failure to path plan before arriving caused me to hike an additional 4 miles in search of the lava tube pictured below. The first image is of the entrance which is a rather tight fit and requires some scrambling to gain entry.  It eventually opens up into a main chamber which is partially illuminated by light entering through holes in the ceiling. The final image is of one of those openings viewed from the outside looking down. Stepping into one of these would not end well and hiking in this area needs to be done carefully.

The winning outcomes Boston United experienced yesterday were not to be duplicated today.  Our first game ended in a 1-1 tie and our second in a 0-1 loss which eliminated us from the tournament before tomorrow’s semi-finals.  The torture I endured during my massage yesterday appears to have been worthwhile.  I was able to play in both matches and did not do any further damage to my hamstring. I have little doubt that the team we lost to will go on to win the tournament.  They were last year’s champions and simply a more skillful side than ours.  Despite the loss, it is very satisfying to be competing in soccer of this caliber and to be doing so on a perfect day on a pitch nestled at the base of the mountains which surround Las Vegas.

The motivating reason for my trip to Las Vegas was to compete in the King’s Cup soccer tournament with a team of fellow Bostonians. In addition to a couple of guys that I normally play with on Concord United, the team includes members from teams I normally compete against. Although we have a nice collection of talent, we lack the cohesiveness on display from teams who have played together for years.  Nonetheless, we managed two come-from-behind wins (2-1 and 2-1) to end the first day of bracket play in very good standing. I tweaked my left hamstring and decided to sit out the second half of the second game.  Later, I joined several teammates for a Thai massage (masseuse walks on you with her feet) after the game. My massage was customized to help rejuvenate my hamstring.  I had never experienced such pain and was so nauseous afterward that I threw up when I returned to the hotel. Time will tell whether the “muscle therapy” was worth the pain.