I had ocassion to look at some of my old photos today. This one taken in 1981 documents my last visit to the Grand Tetons. My cousin Vincent and I stopped here briefly as we drove cross country from California to Indiana. I had just completed my Master’s degree at Stanford and was moving back to the Midwest. When Maya sees this photo she is going to point out that my feet should have been together and my toes more pointed. I recall that the other side of this wall was a steep cliff and will use this as my excuse for poor form.

 
Between sleep-overs and soccer practice, Jeanine and I found ourselves kid free late this afternoon. We decided to go out for ice cream and stopped along the way to buy fresh organic produce at Hutchins Farm Stand. Jeanine was stocking up for her next cooking class while I was shooting this still life. When I looked up I saw one of my soccer teammates with a couple of stems of broccoli in his hand. I let him know they would be closing any minute and he gave me a funny look. I then learned that he and his brother are the owners of the farm and stand and could not believe the synchronicity. This man who I so enjoy playing soccer with also grows the food which my wife prepares for our family and to which I am drawn as a subject for my photography.

 
This musician plays an instrument of her own design consisting of nested glass bowls of increasing diameter on a long pole connected to a crank. A member of the audience was asked to turn the crank while she moistened her fingers and applied them to the various bowls to play music using the harmonic vibration of the glass. The sound was as beuatiful as it was difficult to describe.

 
We took a brief rest on the longest sofa in the world. It stretches for a city block and measured 213 feet in length.

 
Diversity was well represented as was homogeneity. Here we have an all accordion, all male band.

 
A Honk band does not even require musicians. Chanting and dancing suffice.

 
We’re All in the Same Boat.

 
Today we had an early family night and arrived at the Harvard Square Oktoberfest and Honk Band Parade Festival by noon. What is a Honk band? Think marching band crossed with political activism combined with a healthy dose of irreverence.

 
After we find the well hidden cache, Maya leaves an entry in the log describing all the things we have discovered on our search.

 
Maya found this partially decomposed carcass but we were not able to figure out what kind of animal it was. I think it was a dog.

 
Next, Jeanine spots this snake moving in the leaves. I got as close as I dared for the photo because this snake took a very aggressive posture rather than fleeing. We theorized that it was a mother and she was protecting her nearby young.

 
Maya, Jeanine, and I went geochaching this afternoon. We selected a starting point that necessitated bushwhacking through the Lincoln Nature Conservancy Land. As a result of this unusual path we encountered many interesting things along the way. Here Maya has scampered to the top of a deer blind. Fortunately for us she is not armed with any weapons.

 
Maya spent the evening shopping with her friend for a Halloween costume which she models here in character. It is something of a Fred Astaire dance outfit compete with cane and top hat.

 
After eleven hours in the office, I had a two hour dinner with a member of my team before meeting a candidate for an interview that went almost two hours. While waiting to rendezvous for the interview I captured this image of a scene which passes for normal in Santa Barbara.