Frequent visitors will recognize this Japanese inspired bridge as one of my favorite seasonal subjects on my old Avid commute. This afternoon I returned to Avid to celebrate the on-time release of the companies largest ever software release. The team was in really good spirits and it was great to share in the celebration with them. I also felt a sense of closure seeing this project out the door after more than a year of effort by an extremely dedicated team which I was proud to lead.
With Jeanine in Indianapolis taking care of her father’s estate and me working dawn to dusk on the new job I have not had a spare moment to shoot any photography this week. This evening, however, Kyle was working on his photography assignment for school and I took this shot over his shoulder. He is shooting film, I am shooting digital. The entire concept and execution is Kyle’s. He hung the watering can from the stairs with fishing line, positioned the flowers and his sister. We used a white sheet for the background and this was the result. I think it is safe to say that Kyle has a very creative mind and keen eye.
During the closing song of Maya’s Bridging ceremony, Jeanine called to say that her father had passed away at 6:35pm. She sounded at peace and it is comforting to know that Larry was surrounded by his entire family during his last hours. Larry was a generous and kind soul who will be missed by all who knew him. Maya believes he is going to join Jeanine’s mother and will be happy when he sees her again. No words of mine can match that image.
Kyle did not return from his tournament in time, but Nicolai attended and bore witness to his sister’s right of passage.
When you live in Concord, the only bridge that will do is the Old North Bridge and here Maya crosses with her friend Allison.
Today was a very special day for Maya who graduated from being a Brownie to being a Junior in the Girl Scouts program during a Bridging Ceremony. Crossing the bridge signifies that a girl has become aware of her achievements and is ready for new adventures and responsibilities. Jeanine was very much looking forward to sharing this with Maya so I took many photos and video so that she can relive the experience when she returns from Indianapolis. Here the girls gather in anticipation of the ceremeony.
This morning I drove for an hour and a half before 7:30am to deliver Kyle to his soccer tournament and me to my match. Kyle’s team won one and lost one. My team came from behind to win 2-1 and I had a great game scoring both goals. On the first, I slipped a nice pass through to one of our forwards, he took a strong shot on the goalie who bobbled the ball. I zoomed in to take the ball off his hands for the score. On the second, I received a great chip from the midfield and beat my defender for a 1 on 1 with the goalie. He guessed left and I shot right. When I returned home I found our fields being mowed and Nala nearly horse barking at the intruders. Fortunately for everyone, her electric fence keeps her out of harms way.
Maya goes up for her first header in a game. She executed perfectly and was quite proud of herself afterwards. Jeanine’s father, Larry, has taken a turn for the worse after emergency surgery earlier in the week revealed a large tumor in his bladder. After learning of the developments she decided to leave right away for Indianapolis and was able to make it in time for a brief visit this evening.
Without a doubt my favorite. Great light and phenomenal colors. I think I may have to print this one at poster size. Click on the image for a higher resolution view.
My window seat on the return flight offered up many gems for my collection of aerial photographs.
Despite the beauty and wealth everywhere, my 6am walks to the office took me past many homeless people. It is hard to reconcile the gross inequity between the rich and the poor here. I know there are homeless people in every city, but to see the degree of contrast in this community was very sobering.
I really enjoy the colors, textures, and architecture to be found in the city. Everyone here seems to be very health concious and it was nice to be afforded such an array of organic and natural cuisine.
Located adjacent to the wharf is Santa Barbara’s museum of natural history, the Ty Warner Sea Center. On a future trip I will have to make time to visit.
After work I went down to Stearns Wharf just as the sun was setting. I like the fact that the hotel I am staying at is walking distance from both the office and the ocean. The weather has been delightful and one can see why many have fallen in love with this part of the country. Unlike much of the California coast, the beach here runs East/West rather than North/South providing morning and evening light similar to the Mediteranean coast.
Today I woke up at 5am to catch a flight for Santa Barbara where I will spend the remainder of the week meeting my colleagues there. This unusual bit of architecture was located adjacent to the hotel I was staying in. Travel included it was an 18 hour day.
I returned from Ferry Beach early to ensure I would make my soccer game against Lexington, currently our main challenger for the top spot in our division. I received a nice pass at the top of the 18, turned and released a very strong low shot that found the right side of the net to give us a 1-0 victory.
The talent show featured a man who could stand on one leg, hold his big toe, and then jump through the opening.
One of the cornerstones of Ferry Beach weekend is the annual croquet tournament and the intense competition for the coveted Elephant Trophy. This year I am proud to say that my partner Adrian and I were able to claim the trophy after fending off the field of thirty two. The semi-finals had us pitted against Nicolai (a former champion) and his partner. There was quite a bit of trash talking and this only sweetened the victory over the perennial favorite who eliminated me in last year’s competition. Adrian and I will have our names engraved onto the elephant and will keep the trophy until next Memorial Day when it will be the subject of another contest. Serious crouquet actually involves a lot of skill and strategy. Tough matches can go on for hours.
Maya spends most of her time on the beach with friends. She has become very independent and if not for refueling breaks we would scarcely see her. Jeanine and I agree that this totally unstructured time is something we need to provide more of for her.
Nicolai would play until he was positively starving and then return to the cafeteria for a quick recharge before returning to his friends.
One of my favorite portraits from the weekend. It took several attempts to catch the hulla hopp in exactly this position.
Maya has become the families most consistent marshmallow roaster. After attending to her own nutritional needs, she offers to roast marshmallows for anyone in need.
I love this Glossy Ibis. Last year I was lucky to get a couple of shots of a single bird. This year I was able to locate a large group by searching for their favorite habitat. They like a combination of 4 inch deep water with plenty of adjacent mud banks and short grass.
This landscape was taken at the Scarborough Nature Preserve where I spent a good bit of time.
Every Memorial Day weekend we drive up to Ferry Beach in Maine where we join members of our church and the neighboring Lexington congregation for a family retreat. This year we took two cars so Jeanine and the kids could get an early start and I could put in an extended day in on the new job. Each morning I woke up with the sun (5:30am) and treated myself to two hours of nature photography. I was able to get very close to this heron and captured a very nice series including this shot as he took flight.
Jeanine had another healthy cooking class this evening featuring her own creation which Maya has named the Highly Nutritious and Very Delicious Veggie Wrap. During class I am banned from the kitchen but waited patiently like a vulture for the tasty leftovers.
I decided to try the train for my commute today. I boarded at the West Concord station and switched to the T at Porter Square. Nothing could be easier, but even with the express train, the trip took about 70 minutes. I think my final solution will be to use the car and avoid rush hour.
This morning Maya was intrigued by the these shadows and asked if she could borrow my camera for this shot.
I was hoping to get a picture of the Charles River during sunset but it was already dark when I left work. I decided to grab this shot of the lobby of our building.
Although I liked my office at Avid, I do enjoy having a big window and lots of sunlight. I bought myself a plant and will try to keep it alive for more than a week.
Today was a 15 hour work day. I left home at 6:30AM to beat the traffic and returned home by 9:30PM. I was introduced to the Sonos Board of Directors and invited to attend their meeting this morning. I was extremely imppressed by the group and saw even greater potential for the company than I did when I made my decision to join. I snapped this photo of the building as I drove by in my car on the way in.