When Maya returned from her recent school field trip to Washington, D.C. I never had a chance to see the photos she took. This evening I finally retrieved her camera and downloaded the pictures. She had a nice collection of images including these two that I really liked.
My injured hamstring is healing quickly but I was not ready to return to the pitch today. My absence was of no consequence as we defeated Lexington by a margin of 6-0 and have yet to give up a goal this season. I made good use of my time on the sidelines by photographing the team in action. The better my photographs have become the more my team looks forward to me being injured. Here, I have captured one of our forwards as he dribbles past the diving keeper for a goal. It was nearly identical to the goal I scored last week during which I was injured. With any luck, I will be back on the pitch next week. This evening Jeanine and I attended a potluck dinner celebrating Maya’s graduation from the Unitarian Universalist Our Whole Lives program. OWL helps participants make informed and responsible decisions about their sexual health and behavior. I participated in the same program when I was a teenager and found it an extremely valuable learning experience.
Maya had more than her fair share of exercise today. After two players were injured, her soccer team had no subs and the remaining eleven had to play the full match. Maya made her first header attempt on goal and it was not too far off the mark. She comes from a family known for its heading prowess and she may yet prove to be another in that line. A second performance of the Ugly Duckling ballet completed her day. Meanwhile, Jeanine and I found time for a nice walk through our local fields during which we discussed life after the kids are grown. Regrettably, that is a day we can start to imagine. We ended our day with a Bring Your Own Fillings Crepe Party. In addition to sampling some really good food, we got our own workout when eating and drinking turned to dancing.
Maya performed this evening in the Ugly Duckling, a ballet adaptation choreographed by Carrie Schantz Voiland, her teacher at the School of Ballet Arts. Maya performed with great poise and grace as Jeanine, her cousin Johnnie and I looked on. Nicolai is in California visiting with Kyle in Santa Clara. I photographed the entire performance and pictures can be found here.
I spent the entire day in Wellesley attending a strategic planning offsite at the Babson Executive Conference Center. I am responsible for Engineering at iRobot and support three separate business units. Pictured here are my colleagues in our Home Business Unit. I arrived two hours earlier than the 8:30 am start time to avoid rush hour traffic and to do a little morning light photography. I had little to show for an hour spent walking along the Charles River but am happy with the reflecting pond scene below.
When Maya returned from her ballet class this evening something was distinctly different. It took me a moment to determine she was wearing makeup which is quite out of the ordinary for her. She explained that she had come from a dress rehearsal for an upcoming performance and I seized upon the occasion to have her sit for a portrait.
One of the biggest challenges in photographing birds is getting close enough. This morning that was not an issue. This robin flew into one of the windows of our sun porch and was temporarily rendered flightless on our deck. I was able to take this close-up before it regained sufficient composure to fly away.
The trees which line the driveway into iRobot are in full bloom which makes for a spectacular way to start the work day. I have yet to take a photograph that does this scene justice and hope to make another attempt tomorrow if the sun and blooms cooperate.
There are few colors I enjoy more than that of a weeping willow tree in spring. A pair of my favorite specimens are located nearby, situated in front of a coral containing a pair of white horses. Occasionally they afford me a perfect foreground as was the case this afternoon. In a matter of days all the tree blooms will have come and gone making this a time of year to spend every moment outdoors. My soccer match this morning cost me an injured left hamstring that will probably put me on the sidelines for a couple of weeks. I am prone to such muscle tears but rarely suffer one in the act of doing anything worthwhile. This morning was the exception. I tweaked my hammy as I dribbled past the opposing keeper to score a very pretty goal. I now have four goals in as many matches and am tied for leading scorer on the team, a distinction that will be short lived if I cannot get back on the pitch quickly. We have yet to give up a goal this season and the team is on a good path for promotion back up to Division 1.
Earth Day is celebrated in Concord with the Musketaquid Parade. It features a variety of participants who entertain the crowd with all manner of nature-related imagery and music. This year the band in which Nicolai plays, On the River, was invited to perform for parade watchers. They did a set of about a dozen songs which lasted for just over an hour. I recorded high-fidelity audio and video and as time permits may post to the blog.
Glorious weather today prompted me to spend my lunch hour at Great Meadows. Having photographed most of the bird species here, I turned my attention from birds to fish. Pictured here are a pair of Asian Carp, an invasive species known for their jumping abilities. Getting this shot took a lot of patience. I noticed that the carp seemed to jump in one area more than others. I trained my lens on that spot, locked focus and exposure, and waited with my finger glued to the shutter release. After 30 minutes and several hundred attempts, I was rewarded for my persistence. Nabbing this pair in mid-air was beyond my expectations and all laws of probability.
Nico graced the cover of this week’s Concord Journal in a piece related to the Boston Marathon bombings. The interview speaks for itself. The photo will be familiar to followers of this blog.
Robots played an important role in the aftermath of the Boston Marathon bombings. I am very proud that iRobot products were deployed on several occasions to help assess potential threats as bomb squad personnel meticulously cleared crime scenes. In addition, we made four employees available to law enforcement in support of their robotic missions. It is very satisfying to work on products that help save lives but depressing to see them used in your own back yard. Pictured here is one of our PackBots (left side of photo) used in Watertown to investigate the first car abandoned by the bombing suspects. The photo was taken by a local resident.
I woke up at 4:30 am this morning so that I could deliver Maya and three of her friends to the Sandborn Middle School by 5 am. There they boarded buses destined for Washington D.C. and a multi-day school field trip to the nation’s capital. The penultimate experience of their middle school education, Concord students, including both her brothers before her, look forward to this trip with great anticipation. I remained at the drop-off site for another 30 minutes so I could watch the six-bus convoy roll out.