Kyle and Hannah are attending their senior prom this evening. They joined 15 other couples for group photographs and to share a bus which will take them to the Copley Square Hotel in downtown Boston for the gala.
Kyle’s aunt Lauren and cousin Luke arrived today from Indianapolis for his graduation party on Friday. There will be a steady flow of arrivals until then and we are looking forward to a house full of family.
As I left the house for my 6AM soccer game I paused to enjoy the fog lingering over our field which invariably lends itself to a nice image. Temperatures are heading up this week and we have our fingers crossed that the weather will remain nice through Friday when we are planning to celebrate Kyle’s graduation.
I have been trying to get exercise everyday and often that comes in the form of a lunch hour walk. I often take a trail through a local wetland and today I encountered this spider who had spanned the path with her web. Between the mosquitoes and ever encroaching vegetation I may have to seek another course until fall arrives. Another alternative would be to start riding my bike to work. Something to consider!
It has taken three weekends to complete construction and finishing of this media center for the living room. The design has the TV situated at optimal viewing height. Most commercial consoles are far too tall. The muscles which control eye motion are in their relaxed state when looking slightly down and forward (makes sense if you think of them as optimized for watching where you are walking). The muscles must work to lift your gaze and the higher your TV viewing height the more fatiguing it is. Commercial consoles also place the media equipment below the TV which means you have to bend over every time you want to make an adjustment or insert a DVD. I have placed these devices above the set for easy access. The face frame and interior is all black to match the speakers and equipment. The sides and TV recess are veneered in book matched spalted beech.
Earlier in the day I scored my first header of the season after my last six attempts all hit the crossbar (statistically almost impossible). We came from a one goal deficit at the half to win 3-1. I had a second header which the keeper bobbled leading to another goal.
Jeanine attended a special service at our church to celebrate the final sermon of Gary Smith who is retiring after a long and distinguished career of service at First Parish.
Maya was in action on the soccer pitch this morning and played very well despite a losing effort. She demonstrates a real tenacity in her defensive role and plays her position extremely well. Given her size and speed, however, I suspect over time she may migrate up to midfield following in the footsteps of her older brothers.
Kyle leaving the house for his final day of high school classes. The last four years have passed by at the speed of light and I thought the motion blur captured in this photograph was in keeping with the sentiment I was feeling at the moment. We will celebrate his graduation next week as family and friends converge on Concord to wish him well as he turns his focus to college and sunny California.
The media center project I have been working on has come together much faster than I expected. Usually, I plan such work in great detail. In this case, I started with a simple hand-drawn sketch and built one section of the 5 piece design at a time. The console will be shouldered by two bookcases connected by a bridge. The glue up shown here is of the crown molding top which will span both bookcases and the bridge.
For several years I have tried to photograph lightning with little success. This evening it was striking almost every minute as severe weather moved quickly through Concord. The storm was responsible for at least four deaths in the state, knocked our power out for several hours and took down a huge tree section in our neighbors yard. Despite their potential for destruction, it was hard not to admire the beauty of the lightning strikes as they bridged heaven and earth with electricity. Nala did not care for the ensuing thunder and sought refuge in the basement.
While climbing in Peru my trekking watch finally bit the dust and I just replaced it with a new one. The watch includes all the standard timing functions (stop watch, alarm clock, dual time zone, count down timer), a compass, altimeter, thermometer, and barometer which is shown here indicating a massive pressure drop signaling approaching severe weather. My favorite feature is a built in sunrise/sunset calculator which is very handy for photography.
We received this photo today from Maya’s point class teacher with compliments on her form. I am looking forward with great anticipation to her next recital. Her joy for dance is apparent and I am pleased to see that she has interest in so many different styles.
Kyle and I returned to Concord last night leaving the rest of the family to enjoy the full Ferry Beach weekend. Kyle had work obligations and I had an important soccer match for which my team was short handed. To make matters worse, our goalie suffered a very severe dislocation of his thumb during warm ups and had to be rushed to the hospital. Another player was disabled during the first half with a torn calf muscle and is lost for the remainder of the season. Despite a lack of subs and the warm weather, we were able to secure a narrow 1-0 win over Lexington and in doing so secured a first place finish in our league with two games still remaining in the season. This also means we will be promoted to Division 3 in the fall. I spent the remainder of the day making good progress on the media center I am building completing all of the veneer work (spalted beech) and face frames.
With little time for photography, I am including photos from yesterday of my own children.
Ferry Beach offers our family an escape from our daily routines and an opportunity to socialize with new and old friends while participating in loosely organized activities including kayaking, birdwatching, volleyball, biking, sand castle building, beach combing, and a talent show to name a few. In years past I have taken candid portraits of all of the children and shared them with their families. This year I was greeted with many compliments and heart felt thanks for my prior work and needed little more encouragement to extend the tradition. A candid portrait seeks to capture a spontaneous moment that offers a glimpse into the spirit of a person. I do not claim to have achieved this goal but I believe my efforts are getting better. Here are some of my favorites. the complete set can be seen by following the Ferry Beach Portraits 2011 link to the right.
After work Kyle and I drove to Maine where we caught up with Jeanine, Maya and Nico who had driven up earlier in the day. Each year we make the journey to Ferry Beach (near Saco, ME) where we join members of the Concord and Lexington Unitarian Universalist churches for a family weekend retreat. We arrived just in time for a late dinner and were joined by Maya Rose Pedula (pictured here with our very own Maya Rose Calabria in front of an alfresco painting adjacent to the restaurant) and her mom. In addition to daughters who share the same first and middle names, the Pedula’s have three children identical in ages to ours and an Italian father.
This morning before work, Jeanine and I went for a short walk. She has been wanting to show me a local rookery where over 30 Blue Heron have made their nests. Swarming mosquitoes prevented any real photography but I plan to return with a long lens and proper repellent in the very near future. I am constantly amazed by the proximity of such wonderful animal habitats and am thrilled to have another photo destination to add to my list.