I returned to the soccer pitch this morning after missing three games due to a badly strained calf muscle. My legs felt great although my fitness level certainly was not enhanced by the one-month hiatus. It was great to be on the field again and I played fairly well. I had two chances to score, the first on a very powerful volley from the top of the 18 after intercepting the ball that was just a few inches over the bar. The second from within the 6 after beating a defender which found the keeper rather than the back of the net. The officiating was terrible and both teams had players ejected, theirs for breaking our goalie’s nose (which he reports has corrected his deviated septum). Jeanine, Maya, and a Chinese exchange student who has been staying with our family for the past few days spent the day in Salem while I did a little kayaking on the Sudbury River.

The call of autumn color drew me into a road trip to the Berkshires today. After a brief visit to Nashua, New Hampshire it was apparent that peak color would be more prevalent further south. I traveled for hours along Route 2 and as far as Shelburne Falls before I broke out my camera. I found many great photo opportunities as I slowly made my way back to Concord with additional stops in Turners Falls, the King’s Bridge at the Connecticut River, and Millers Falls.

The colors in New England this fall have been spectacular. This morning before sunrise I set out with my camera and was rewarded for skipping breakfast with this scene of the Sudbury River which I found less than 3 minutes from our house. The light was perfect and there was a thin layer of fog on the water. I am really pleased with the photograph and feel like I am finally starting to get the hang of rendering autumnal landscapes.

In the United States, soccer does not have the same following as football or basketball. Most high school soccer matches are only attended by the parents of the players. The group pictured here has attended almost every match, home or away. This is not a fair-weather fan club. These guys are hardcore. They cheer for the team, they encourage the players, and they keep the refs in line. If the team should make it into the late rounds of the state tournament again this year you can rest assured that a large contingent from the high school will come to support them. These, however, are the true fans.

I usually grab a soup or salad from the cafeteria located in our office complex and work through lunch at my desk. Today I was compelled by a perfect fall day to go outdoors. I located this rather idyllic scene less than five minutes from the office. It never ceases to amaze me what great photos I can find in my own backyard. I need to remind myself to keep looking.

Nicolai saw lots of action today in a match against Boston Latin. The 1-0 victory brought the team’s record for the season to 10-1-1. Nico was dominant in the air and made several nice passes to set up attacks on the goal. We have learned that both People Magazine and USA Today would like to do articles about his recent exploits.

The entire company attended a retirement luncheon today to bid Joe Dyer, iRobot’s Chief Strategy Officer, farewell after nine years with the company. Joe served as a three-star Vice Admiral in the US Navy, commander of the Naval Air Systems Command, and commander of the Naval Air Warfare Center. Earlier in his career he was both a naval aviation chief engineer and the Navy’s chief test pilot. Several stories were shared by colleagues. My favorite was about a sailing voyage by the iRobot executives aboard Joe’s boat destined for Bermuda from Maryland. Apparently, as they were exiting the Chesapeake Bay they were radioed by the USS Enterprise aircraft carrier to give a wide berth (any small or large vessel failing to yield to an aircraft carrier will be shot out of the water as a matter of defensive protocol). Joe got on the radio, identified himself, and stated his destination. With no further communication, the Enterprise turned from its course to make way for Joe’s sailboat.

With the deadline for CCHS senior portrait submissions around the corner, Nico and I did a photo shoot yesterday and this morning he selected this image as his favorite. While I enjoy taking these pictures I am also left with a sense of melancholy. I miss both my little boys, GaGa and NuNu (toddler Maya-speak for the names of her brothers). Nothing left now but men.

My calf strain is finally healing. I missed my third soccer game in a row but feel confident I will be ready to play next weekend. It remains to be seen, however, what kind of shape I will be in after nearly a month on the disabled list.

Despite a strained hip flexor, Maya was in fine form this morning on the soccer pitch. With minutes remaining in a game tied at 1-1, she unleashed a right-footed rocket from the top of the box. The goalie was not able to handle it cleanly and a teammate tapped it in for the win. The air temperature was as cool as the skies were free of clouds. Jeanine and I decided to head up to Maine for some leaf peeping and to have dinner with her sister Susan who had rented a house in Kennebunkport with some friends. Our initial destination was the Sebago Lake State Park. Although there is a nice sand beach there, we cut our hiking short when it became apparent there was little fall color anywhere.

Our next stop proved much more scenic, tiny Mackworth Island, home to the Baxter School for the Deaf. A 1.25-mile trail around the perimeter of the 100-acre island offers great views of the surrounding area. We completed the trail just as the sun was setting and I found many great photographic subjects making all the driving today worth it. Our dinner with my sister-in-law Susan and her friends Jean and Lea was most enjoyable and fortified us for the return leg of our journey.

We share our breakfast nook with a small lemon tree where it is bathed in light from an east facing window for most of the day. One of three lemons currently on the tree appears ready to be picked. Jeanine’s gardens supply a reasonable volume of vegetables and herbs for our consumption. At a rate of one lemon every several months, however, our tiny citrus tree would be hard pressed to supply enough juice for a couple of glasses of lemonade. Still it is very satisfying to notice how the fruit grows and then ripens from week to week.

This autumn has been stingy with clear weather days aligned to peak fall color. Shortly after arriving at work this morning, I checked both my calendar and the weather forecast. Realizing I had a light schedule and a window of ideal weather, I decided I would take a vacation day to enjoy the fall foliage, something I increasingly look forward to with each passing year. I drove north for two hours to the Franconia Notch State Park, a favorite New Hampshire destination which never fails to provide a wealth of photographic opportunities. I revisited many of my favorite locations and several new ones. My calf muscle has healed sufficiently to allow pain free walking and benefited from all the hiking I did over the course of the day. I returned to Concord by 7:30PM with a camera full of wonderful images and a happy soul.

In 7 years of maintaining this photo journal I have never devoted a post to a topic entirely unrelated to our family. Today I would like to adopt, as my own daughter, 14-year old Malala Yousafzai from the town of Mingora in the Swat District of Pakistan. She was named after Malalai of Maiwand, a Pashtun poet and warrior woman. At the age of 11, she began blogging for the BBC under a pseudonym about the atrocities of the Taliban regime and their ban on education for girls. Malala was awarded the first National Peace Award by the Pakistani government last year and was nominated for the International Children’s Peace Prize by the international children’s advocacy group KidsRights Foundation. She remains a defiant voice against religious extremist views and an outspoken champion for children’s rights.

Yesterday she was shot in the head and neck along with two of her classmates as they were returning home from school by two masked gunmen. The Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack and vowed to try again after learning she had survived. She is now in stable condition after an operation to remove the bullet from her neck.

I was reduced to tears and filled with anger when I learned of this story. Perhaps it is Malala’s nearness in age and appearance to Maya that has contributed to my profound grief and rage. I am not a man who believes in a God but I found myself praying for the full recovery of this brave young girl.

Today, I embrace Malala as my own daughter. Today, let her be your daughter as well. Tomorrow, let her be the daughter of all nations and let us all vow to protect her and to punish the cowards who attack our children.

In what will likely be the last interview Nicolai grants related to his now famous soccer goal (nearly 1.5 million YouTube hits and counting), we were visited this evening by a crew from the Fuji Television Network. They are working on a segment for a TV show called Shiritagari that will air in Japan this Friday afternoon. We have also been contacted by a South Korean network interested in doing a 20-30 minute short documentary piece to be filmed over 3-4 days. Given how time consuming each one of these interviews can be, we have decided to say no to the Korean opportunity. Nicolai is in the thick of the college application process which takes top priority. He has completed applications to 6 schools and plans to add another 6 before he is done. He is also sensitive to the distraction such interviews create to his soccer team when he is filmed at practice or during games. Hopefully life will now return to what passes for normal at the Calabria household.

I have encouraged Kyle to send the occasional photo of his life at Santa Clara University so that we can share it here with our family and friends. He is pictured in the basement of his dorm, participating in a P90X fitness workout. We are happy that he has nearly returned to his pre-snowboarding accident level of strength and flexibility. He made great progress over the summer and judging from this photo (see if you can find Waldo) it appears he is really staying on the path to full recovery. From our conversations with him it sounds like he is doing well academically and thriving socially. All of us miss him enormously and are looking forward to seeing him at Thanksgiving.