If you want to visit the Boston Museum of Science you need to be very careful to avoid the T-Rex that guards the entrance. Thankfully, it is contained by the pictured fence which keeps visitors safe. As I continued my morning walk, I found another fence that served as a nice foreground for the Zakim Bridge. All totaled, I covered 4 miles which is my goal for days I do not go to the gym before work.
Kyle was our photographer this evening and consequently not shown in this photo taken as the entire family dined together for the first time in quite a while. Even though Nicolai is working at CCHS and house-sitting in Concord, we have not seen him in weeks. Kyle lives in the Seaport District only 30 minutes away but without a car, it is not easy for him to make the journey home. Maya is on spring break and we hope to hang on to her for about a week. We dined at Woods Hill Table, among the finest farm to table restaurants in New England and enjoyed their Sunday family style dinner. Later Jeanine and I mostly spectated as the kids engaged in passionate debate on a number of topics while watching golf on TV with the volume off (one of many sports improved in this manner). We are very proud of their independent thinking, articulate expression, and willingness to listen to different points of view.
Maya is back in town for spring break and so are her close friends from high school. They spent the evening chatting about school, dating, the college admission scandal to name a few subjects. Jeanine prepared a new cauliflower casserole recipe which disappeared quickly as did the girls after dinner on their search for ice cream. Upon returning they seemed determined to burn the guilty calories off in something that I can only describe as a synchronized circle-hopping routine that often ended in one of them jumping on another. I must be sure to take a video the next time this happens. It was so nice to have all this youthful energy in the house and we are looking forward to having the boys join us tomorrow.
A recent photograph of my mother and sister. Hope I age as well as these beauties.
The ratio of the circumference of a circle to its diameter, an irrational and transcendental number, pi will continue infinitely without repetition or pattern. The first three significant digits 3.14 correspond to today’s date and hence the holiday. Increasingly, mathematicians are losing out to bakers as more and more people celebrate the holiday as “pie” day including the fellow above who is feasting on a pizza pie.
I took a 90-minute lunch hour to complete a 5-mile walk to and from the Boston Naval Shipyard where the USS Constitution can be found. Had time permitted, I would have liked to also take the 30 minute tour but my work calendar dictated otherwise. Perhaps I will do this again when things are less busy (we have a big product launch coming up). I am signed up for a 10-mile Tough Mudder in June and my spring soccer season is just a few weeks away so I am trying to increase my fitness level. I should be running, but long walks are far less aggravating to my patellar tendonitis.
It seems like there is new office construction everywhere you look in Somerville, Cambridge, Boston and the Seaport District. All I see is an ever-increasing challenge for suburban commuters. Where are the roadway and rapid transit improvement projects that will support all this growth? I am thankful to live in an area where business is thriving but at what point do we decide that more development is actually a net negative?
Bunker Hill is relatively close to the Formlabs office. A 1-mile walk brought me to within flight distance and I was able to keep my altitude low enough to stay out of Logan Airport’s restricted air space. The latest update to my drone software imposes strict geo-fenced boundaries that limit where you can fly. Probably a good thing for the industry but a pain in the ass for anyone who lives near an airport.
Jeanine hosted a dinner party for her friends this evening. I have learned how to be scarce during such all-female gatherings. Not so this evening. I was invited to join in for dinner and conversation afterward. The balance of my day was spent shoveling snow, doing laundry, paying bills, and organizing camping gear.
Last night on the way home from work, I stated losing pressure from my driver side rear tire. It was dropping about 2 psi per mile. When it reached 6 psi I pulled over and used the air compressor and flat sealant provided with my car to re-inflate the tire which carried me another couple of miles. I repeated this three times before reaching home. This morning I pulled the wheel and tire and took it into the dealership for a replacement. The flat was caused by a snapped off section of a utility knife blade. I have little doubt I picked this up at work when I parked near the door where deliveries are made. Lesson learned.
I regard gambling as a form of taxation on the statistically challenged but also feel for those who are afflicted with an addiction to it. Boston’s first casino, Encore Boston Harbor, is scheduled to open in June and I had a chance to photograph it on my morning walk. It includes a 27-story hotel overlooking the Mystic River (decidedly not the Boston Harbor).
Mark, my younger brother, has defied death for the second time in as many years. Yesterday his heart went into ventricular tachycardia (beating at a rate of over 300 times per minute) while he was alone at home watching TV. Within seconds he became unconscious and would have died minutes later. Fortunately, the internal defibrillator that he had implanted after his last episode shocked his heart back into a normal rhythm. He survived with no ill effects. According to the doctors, he has an extremely healthy heart (zero plaque) but the electrical system that regulates his heartbeat is subject to the occasional death-inducing hiccup. Until now he has held on to the hope that he might return to his career as a commercial airline pilot. Now it is clear that will never happen and as if to add insult to injury he will not be able to legally drive a car again for 6 months. Our family is extremely thankful that he survived once again and we are reminded to live each day to its fullest.
Memorial Hall commemorates Harvard classmates who fought on behalf of the United States Army and Navy in the American Civil War.
It houses Sanders Theatre, Annenberg Hall, the Memorial Transept and Loker Commons, home of the Cambridge Queen’s Head pub.
Because of construction at Union Square I now take a detour which takes me past the hall everyday.
Yesterday’s snow storm made for some lovely snowscapes. Pictured above is one framing the partially frozen Concord River.
Rest in peace sweet Nala.
This afternoon Jeanine and I attended an operatic recital given by soprano Julia Massicotte at the New England Conservatory of Music. Julia is the youngest of three daughters of dear friends from our days in Indianapolis. We attended church with the Massicotte’s as well as Bayside summer family camp. We joined members of their extended family for brunch ahead of the concert and Kyle for a robotically prepared dinner at Spyce afterward. Although I am no particular fan of opera, Julia’s performance was magnificent and I have little doubt she will evolve into a future diva. I captured the range of emotions she expressed while singing in an album that can be found here.
Sadly, Nala is nearing her final days. Perhaps the dumbest dog I have ever know, she has been a beloved member of our pack since we moved to Boston. By dumbest, I mean lacking in most attributes normally associated with canines. She would make for a perfectly fine cat; aloof, unmotivated by food, indifferent to affection, can’t be bothered to come when called. Still we love her. For some time now she has had difficulty breathing and there is little doubt that we will have to intervene soon to ease her suffering. Today she spent two hours outside, barking her head off at invisible would be intruders upon her domain. She has taken to laying down in the snow, probably to make breathing easier and to long naps during the day.
This photo of Jeanine was taken by her sister while the two were on vacation together in New Mexico last month. She texted it to me while I was in Argentina with Nico and I made a mental note that I would like to post it when I returned. While we were navigating from natural wonder to natural wonder, Jeanine and Susan seemed to be following a path from restaurant to restaurant and museum to museum.
Ever since I made the wholesale switch from Canon to Sony a couple of years ago, I have not purchased a new camera lens. The one lens I have missed from my Canon collection was a 135mm prime, one of my favorite lenses of all time. After being rumored for almost a year, a Sony version was finally announced and went on sale at 10 am this morning. If not for meetings at work, I would have put my order in immediately but had to settle for getting in the queue by noon. Sigma has offered a compatible version of this lens for some time but it is something of a monster and quite heavy. While on the topic of camera equipment, an odd thing happened the other day. Jeanine asked if I would be interested in photographing an important event for her. I said yes. She then suggested that Nico be a second shooter. When I told her I no longer had a second camera body to loan him she was outraged and told me I should buy another. I thought it important to document this conversation for future reference.
Ohio is home to a company that was recently acquired by Formlabs and where I spent the day learning more about the operations here. My experience at Truevision, a small mid-west-based company that was acquired by a fast-growing high-tech company on the West Coast, was very helpful in understanding the post-acquisition dynamics present here. As is often the case in such scenarios, there is a sense of isolation and diminution of mission. I was able to suggest a number of ideas to improve the situation and gathered important feedback to take back to Boston. I also had a chance to get elbows deep in the processing work done here. I took many photos but given the proprietary nature of the work done here, I will only post this one of the entrance to our clean room.
Evidence of soccer fouls often takes the form of bruises. The one pictured above is the result of being grabbed from behind by one of the Argentinian defenders. It did not hurt when I got it and it does not hurt now but it has been interesting to watch it as it changes shape and color.
During my recent trip to Argentina, I had the distinction of being the oldest man on our team (60 years old). It was a little daunting to face opposing players who in some cases were 20 years my junior. Today, I received photos taken by one of our fans which included a nice sequence in which I dispossessed one of my opponents of the ball. Not a terribly glamorous play, but one which represents the kind of small contributions I make to my squad and an unflattering reminder that I need to drop 20 pounds before the start of the spring soccer season.
While at Laguna Torres last week, I was able to get quite close to this ?falcon? for a nice photograph. The Katabatic winds were gusting and he was happier on the ground than in the air. While I was stalking him, our hiking partner, Ray, was stalking me. Having both photos tells the whole story.
I was delighted to receive this photo today from our fellow Patagonia hiker, Ray Himenez. We exchanged pictures from our respective cameras and I think he may well be the better photographer. The introvert in me enjoys solo trekking and communing with nature by myself. I must admit, that I had an even better time sharing this climbing adventure with Nico and Ray. None of us were big talkers and we could go for hours without saying anything. Once we got to camp, however, it was nice to have the conversation and companionship.
Jeanine was invited to speak to the Concord Rotary Club this evening. She choose to speak about “What it means to be open,” in the context of Open Table. I was not there to hear her but happy to receive this picture of her while speaking. One of the things I admire most about Jeanine is her ability to speak from the heart and connect with her audience. She has a gift for relating to people in a very deep way through her stories.
As if my commute was not bad enough already, Union Square has been closed for what looks to be several days if not weeks of construction. The detour adds another 10 minutes during times of congestion, in other words, most of the time. I once gave some thought to buying a helicopter for commuting. I think I am going to look into this once again.
Given all the challenges we have experienced with air travel on this trip, there was little surprise that our return flights were cancelled and we had the choice of rebooking a day earlier or a day later. The former choice would have meant missing our second soccer match, the latter missing an additional day of work. Our new itinerary had a connection through Bogata. In my extensive travels, it is the only airport I have ever flown into that features machine gun nests lining the runway. Not exactly the most welcoming sight. Of the 8 flight segments planned for this vacation, only one was taken on the originally booked flight. Despite all the canceled and delayed flights, the unavailability of gasoline for the rental car, and a flat tire, this has still been a wonderful vacation. Perfect weather at all the key moments, an opportunity to hike with and play on the same soccer squad as Nico, and a great team effort to deliver what we are proudly touting as an undefeated record in South America (1 win, 1 tie; this is the way fat, old soccer players embellish their story).
Colonia del Sacramento, located in southwestern Uruguay is one of the countries oldest with a population of 27,000. Between Portugal, Spain, Brazil and the UK, it has changed hands a dozen times. It is renowned for its historic quarter, a World Heritage Site. Nicolai and I took the ferry from Buenos Aires for a brief visit this afternoon. It was a nice departure from the hustle and bustle of BA if not the heat and humidity. We made a leisurely walking tour of the tree lined streets and enjoyed a late lunch/early dinner on the waterfront.
This evening we faced the Abril Football Club. Our Concord United team consisted of 13 over-50 players and 2 twenty-somethings (both sons of team members). The Abril club looked to be an over-40 squad of 18 members with one or two old dudes thrown in to maintain appearances. Their goalie was an ex-professional Independiente player named, Gustavo Moriconi. Despite the age mismatch and some very one-sided officiating, we managed a 1:1 tie which felt like a victory. Nico had the lone US goal, a blistering full volley from the top of the box. The game ended a few minutes early when one of their players was ejected for an extremely violent tackle which nearly provoked a brawl. Despite the inelegant conclusion to the match, we dined with several of the Argentine players and parted on excellent terms and with a nice trophy in hand. Playing on the same team with Nico in a highly charged and competitive match will be one of my fondest memories and the highlight of this trip.
The Argentine first division Boca Juniors beat Lanús at the famous Bombonera stadium this evening. Said to have the most enthusiastic sports fans in the world of soccer, the non-stop singing and chanting throughout the match would support that reputation. Our attendance at the game was bracketed by two very memorable meals. We lunched at Napolese in San Telmo, an eclectic Italian restaurant / museum featuring a collection of antique racing cars, clothing, artifacts and motorcycles, all for sale. I had the Malfatti in a lamb stew (being freshly made as we walked in) and Nico had the Gnocchi. Delizioso!
We spent several hours walking about the San Telmo neighborhood taking in all the sights and sounds. I found the people and artwork to be more interesting than the famous market of this area.
Diner after the game started at 10 and ended at midnight. It was a fancy affair at La Brigada. The fixed menu included all manner of meat (kidney, intestines, sweat breads, short ribs, skirt steak, and plain old steak). Argentinian’s are crazy for their meats. I would be content to stick with a vegetarian diet for the next month just by way of recuperation.
The motivation for our trip to Argentina was an international friendly soccer match between Concord United and two teams from Buenos Aires. Our team, pictured above in traditional Argentine jerseys, includes a mix of our over 50 and over 56 teams with the addition of Nico and the son of another teammate. We are pictured below with our first opponents, wearing USA jerseys, after the match which we won by a score of 4-2. Nico had two assists and played very well. I had a single blocked shot on frame, a nice mid-air volley off a corner kick. Once again I skipped dinner to try and rest my vocal cords which have not improved at all.
