I found myself at Lechmere Canal Park this morning before meetings I had in the neighborhood. This circular basin forms the terminus of a 750-foot-long canal which was created by walling off an existing portion of the Charles River around which it was filled with landfill. It is used primarily by the Charles River Boat Company, which operates pleasure trips from a mooring in front of the Galleria. Private boats can also use the moorings there for mall access.
It has been 6 years since I visited Argentina with Kyle, a trip I will never forget. I will be visiting again in February when my soccer team travels to Buenos Aires to play two international friendly matches. This evening I began making my travel plans. I will definitely be visiting the Iguazu Falls area which I was not able to reach last time. I am torn between visiting several other new areas or returning to the Patagonia region which has some of the most amazing landscapes on the planet. I would like to give myself about a week ahead of the matches for hiking and photography.
This afternoon I shot a couple more headshots of new and old Superpedestrian employees. The guy above works in the software department as if you couldn’t guess. Below are some of my favorite shots of the day.
Several times a year, the grass in the field behind our house is mowed and collected for hay. The timing of the process is very important. Cutting in the afternoon results in the highest sugar content of the grass. Cutting and gathering in dry conditions prevents mold. This picture was taken yesterday as the farmer worked feverishly to “make hay while the sun shines.” Today we are experiencing torrential rain which would have ruined the hay crop had it been left for one more day. While waiting for the tractor to line up for the shot I wanted, I photographed the flowers below out of boredom. Turns out I rather liked the image. It makes me feel like the end of summer is approaching.
Today my over-56 soccer team faced Medfield, one of the better teams in division one. I scored my first goal of the season and it proved to be enough to secure a 1-0 win. I ran onto a beautiful pass across the top of the box and just behind the defense, controlled it with my left foot, and finished with the outside of my right. I am not known for my finishing finesse but this goal enhanced my reputation in that regard. Later we celebrated at the home of our goalie. I had beer duty by virtue of the yellow card I earned during our last match. As a non-drinker, I felt entirely intimidated by the beer selection process and have been worrying about this for the entire week. The consequences of a poor selection would have been unmitigated torment. Fortunately, my pre-purchase research proved to be well informed and many on the squad are looking forward to my next card infraction.
Last week I purchased a new drone, a larger and higher resolution version of the one I have been using for the past year. It sports a 1-inch 20MP sensor that is a big step up from the 12MP version on its baby brother. Unexpectedly, it is also quieter in the air, a welcome bonus. It is more sophisticated in every way and will be my primary aerial camera from here on out. The smaller one will be my go-to choice for travel and hiking.
Over the years I have photographed this bridge on several occasions. The Japanese inspired design has always appealed to me as does the serene setting. It is a great place to visit for serenity and on this day for introspection and contemplation. When faced with important decisions or the need to relax, I am able to find great clarity and peace in such places.
For some time now I have been wanting to photograph Boston’s iconic CITGO sign from a unique perspective. Famous as a backdrop to Kenmore Square and Fenway Park, I used a new drone that arrived yesterday for the project. The radio range is incredible and I piloted this mission from the other side of the Charles River during a lunch-hour stroll to Magazine Beach Park. I also got some nice shots on the return flight.
Taken during our visit with her last weekend, this is a photo of Maya’s dorm room at Olin. She and her roommate, Lauren, have erected a self-standing sleeping loft and access stairs (permissible if not attached to the room in any way) where their beds and dressers are located. This creates a massive lounge-like area underneath, apparently advantageous for hosting parties. While I admire the project, I can not say I am thrilled by the motive.
We have been doing a good bit of hiring at Superpedestrian lately and I am quick to volunteer when new headshots are needed for our website. Here are two of the eight. If I had more time I would have varied the background but there was a lot going on at work today so I just set up a production line.
It has been wonderful having Kyle live with us while he completed his career transition from financial analyst to data scientist. He now works at Cengage in the Seaport District of Boston. Today he began moving into an apartment at Pier 4 which is walking distance from his office. The building is brand new and features several wonderful amenities.
Pulling teeth is how I would describe the process of obtaining photos of the athletes and coaching staff that will represent the United States at the 2018 Amputee Soccer World Cup. These photos are required in order to obtain credentials in advance of the tournament to be held in Guadalajara, Mexico in late October. Since we do not have our uniforms yet, we asked everyone to provide a headshot with a white t-shirt in front of a white wall. My job has been to post-process the photos so that they appear as uniform as possible.
News of Nico’s naming to the US National Amputee Soccer Team made it into the Concord Journal newspaper this week. Earlier it was posted on their Wicked Local website but seeing the article and photo in print is somehow much more satisfying.
Creating reflections off a white foreground proved harder than I would have expected while I did some product photography for Superpedestrian today. Normally, I do not work on Friday’s, but I was in the area when a request went out for assistance. It does’t take much to get me interested in a photography project.
Boston has been miserably hot all week. Today a new record high was set (98F) and we are on track for the hottest August in history. Humidity is also through the roof so any outdoor activity is guaranteed to produce a sweat. Fortunately, the air conditioning at work is extremely efficient.
Maya moved back into her dormitory on the campus of Olin College yesterday. She and her new roommate Lauren are constructing a loft in their room to create more gathering space in their room. Such construction projects are encouraged at Olin. Jeanine helped the girls with lumber transportation and general nest building. I would have loved to help with this effort but was otherwise tied up at the office with a very busy schedule.
A colleague brought this homemade car to work today. It was built by his father in 1982 with 50-year-old parts from an MGB GT. He will be driving it in the British Reliability Run, a 580-mile road trip to benefit charity. For more information on the Reliability Run, you can go to https://www.ctbrr.org/
The task: Deliver an important set of documents to an office within the tallest building in New England and get a receipt. Simple, right? Not so much!
As I approached Back Bay in my car, traffic was snarled because a movie was being filmed on location a few blocks away. No problem. I found a parking spot on the street and filled the meter with every quarter I could lay my hands on in exchange for a 32 minute reprieve from being towed. I then walked six or seven blocks past the film crew and traffic jam to my destination, pausing for the photo above as I approached. I checked in at the security desk, offered my license as proof of ID, and identified the company I was visiting. Because my name cannot be found on an authorized visitor list, I am denied access to the building. We call up to the office but no one answers. I ask if the security people can deliver the document. Not allowed. I ask if the security people can run up to the office and ask someone to come down. Not allowed. Still no answer on the phone. I then do an internet search on my phone to find the personal phone number of the individual to whom the documents are to be delivered. Success! But not so fast. You want a receipt? “We will prepare one and send someone down right away.” Fast forward 24 minutes; more like, wait for what seems an eternity getting progressively more irritated about being made to wait while my parking meter is ticking down to zero. Finally, an assistant arrives to collect the documents and present me with a receipt. I am as cordial as my elevated blood pressure permits and then pivot for a quick jog back to my car. Time had expired but I was spared the bright orange envelope under my windshield wiper that normally punctuates a story like this.
Last year my over-50 soccer team (formerly my over-40 soccer team) entered a new team in the over-56 league. This required that we start in division two. Last spring we were undefeated, earning us promotion to division one for the fall season which commenced today. This morning we faced Raynham, the division one champions for the last three years running. We managed to beat them in a very close match by a score of 1-0. Because I was out of shape, I was only able to play for 30 minutes but made the best of them. I headed the ball off a corner kick directly at the keeper who could not hang on to it, dropping it right in front of the net. A teammate came rushing in and chested the ball in for the winning goal. My glory was short-lived when I was issued a yellow card for a dangerous play (I tried to get a boot on the ball while the goalie was bobbling it) earning me beer duty for our next match. I think this is only my second card in 37 years. I started the sport as a walk-on to my Union College team, playing JV goalie.
Bocce is the official game of Calabria family reunions. The tradition goes back as far as I can remember. Roughly two decades ago I designed and constructed this bocce ball carrier and am pleased to report it has fared quite well. A recent message from a relative reminded me about this project and I realized I had not taken a picture of it at the time. The pallino was lost some time ago and a golf ball has been substituted. Perhaps a visit to Amazon.com will rectify the situation.
I often make reference to the large field behind our house. There are numerous blog entries with photographs of it taken from that vantage point. Here is an aerial perspective taken with my drone of the field from the opposite end looking back at our home (upper right). Abutting such an open natural space is perhaps my favorite thing about our house and will certainly be a sought-after attribute when we put it on the market next year.
Every day I walk past the Cambridge Community Garden on my way to breakfast and lunch. A tiny patch of land at the corner of Brookline Avenue and Emily Street, it is not exactly photogenic. Even so, I found these sunflowers to be quite beautiful if somewhat common.
Nicolai has been named to the US National Amputee Soccer Team (USNAST) that will represent the United States at the 2018 World Cup tournament to be held in Guadalajara, Mexico later this year. Selections were made by Eric Lamberg, head coach for the US team, after watching players compete at a training camp in Chicago last weekend. This is the third time Nicolai has been named to the US national team and he is training hard for the competition which will start in late October. The US finished 12th at the 2016 World Cup and the squad is hoping to improve on that record this time around.
Link to Concord Journal coverage.
Jeanine and I made a quick run over to Great Meadows for an after-dinner stroll. There she recommended I take this photo which proved to be a wonderful suggestion. There was the slightest hint of autumn in the air and although brief, our walk was pleasantly invigorating.
While on the last 100 yards of my commute this evening I spotted this red tailed hawk and an even more magnificent owl perched on the fence of the horse farm across the street from us. They were competing over a dead carcass in the field. I raced home to grab my telephoto lens and returned only to find the owl no longer there. As much as I had hoped for an image of the owl it is hard to be unhappy with the shot I managed of the hawk. Click for a larger image and check out the talons.
My soccer team participated in a charity tournament this weekend. With the fall season set to begin next weekend, I thought it best to save my knees by sitting this one out. Last night, however, a call went out for more players to make up for those injured yesterday or unable to make the matches today. I was able to join the team for the finals match and got enough minutes to confirm how out of shape I am. Fortunately my knees held out and I made a few nice defensive plays to help my team secure a 1-1 tie which was good enough to win the tournament on points.
Later in the afternoon, Maya, Jeanine, and I attended a summer party for Olin students hosted by the same family which has generously allowed Maya to store her tiny house on their property. Maya enjoyed giving tours of her construction project to her classmates.
I found this little (could fit entirely on the head of a quarter) fellow struggling to traverse the carpet in our living room. How he got inside the house is something of a mystery although at least one house member confessed to have possibly left a door open for an extended period of time. He was extremely dehydrated and so entangled in dog hair that he could barely move. I placed him in a glass, added some water, and carefully used tweezers to remove strand after strand of hair. The procedure took 15 minutes after which I released him on our rear deck. He seemed infinitely happier and was kind enough to pose for me before hopping away.
It is hard enough to find true love once in a lifetime. It is a rare gift to find it twice. Our friends Bill and Karen both lost their first spouses to lengthy illness having endured the “for worse” half of the “for better or worse” marriage covenant. Widowed late in life they probably could not have imagined finding love again, but they did. Jeanine and I had the honor of witnessing their marriage this evening on the grounds of the Fruitland Museum.
Featured prominently in the ceremony and at the reception was Bill’s dog Beau.
When I returned home from work with a pint of ice cream in hand, Jeanine shamed me into getting some exercise to offset the caloric damage. I completed a four-mile walk along our new (although technically still not open) rail trail. I pause for some drone photography of the adjacent wetlands. When we moved to Concord some 15 years ago, this was a field. Amazing how a couple of beavers can transform the landscape.
My stroll took me past White Pond where the kids used to swim as youngsters.
Today at work I conducted a half-day Engineering Leadership Team meeting. We spent the first 2 hours doing a design and construction competition. I am very found of these kinds of projects because they allow me to gauge how well my teams works together and to spot behaviors that are unproductive. They are also a ton of fun. The second half of the morning was devoted to a series of exercises design to help clearly define roles and responsibilities. I recently added two new Directors to the engineering leadership team and experience has taught me the value of spending time early on to delineate boundaries and clarify accountability.
At the end of the business day we regrouped to see which team constructed the stronger bridge. The prize? Bragging rights for the coming year. The team with less mechanical engineering education won so there will be a lot of crow to eat.
By the time I got my camera out and adjusted the shutter speed to my liking, the torrential downpour I was trying to photograph had already subsided. I had a meeting at our contract manufacturer in Westford this morning and spent the balance of the day working from home. I am preparing to facilitate my first team-building event at Superpedestrian tomorrow and worked well into the evening to fine-tune the exercise and presentation materials I will be using.