Sunday, May 17, 2020

Near Normal Saturday


There was a sense of rediscovered freedom yesterday as the Maryland Stay-at-Home order had been lifted by the governor. Although Chris and I wanted to go to a beach and enjoy the sand and surf on a beautiful day where the temperature reached an unexpected 87 degrees, we remained close to home and found peace in normal weekend activities. 

Chris on the 5th Tee Box
Carroll Park Golf Course
Baltimore, MD
May 16, 2020
The day began with a 9-hole golf outing to Carroll Park, a Baltimore golf course, where we met Jeremy for a round of golf. I was glad it was only 9 holes as we were behind a foursome that was clearly unfamiliar with the game and a round that should have taken less than two hours stretched to two-and-a-half hours. But it was fun and I played well as did Chris. We have become fans of walking with push-carts and Carroll Park is a good course for that activity. I do wish that was 18 holes, but 9 holes of golf is a lot better than no golf at all!

Me and Finnegan in the Pool
1st Time this Year
Elkridge, MD
May 16, 2020
Once we returned home, the question was what to do next? The temperature had climbed into the awesome range (that would be above 80 degrees) and we have this really beautiful pool just waiting to be used for the first time this year. I checked the water temperature, it was a cold 71 degrees. I have not heated the pool this year because the nights have been too cold to retain any of the heat. Despite the less than optimal temperature, I remembered that as a kid 71 degrees was considered warm water, I decided to jump in and enjoy the sunny day while catching a nap on a floatie. As I surfaced after jumping off the diving board, I remembered why I like the 84 degree waters of the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Jupiter, Florida. Seventy-one degree pool water can be described in one word--frigid! But I lounged on the floatie, Chris joined me on a floatie of her own, enjoying the hot sun, napping, and dreaming of more warm summer-like days. 

I am seriously considering installing a solar heating system for my pool so that I do not have to burn propane raise the pool water temperature. I have found an interesting system at Home Depot which looks as if it will do the job nicely and seems easy to install. 

Chris and I continue to battle the coronavirus from home, but that does not mean that we are just sitting on the sofa watching Netflix. We continue to be outside to enjoy the good days that we are given and we go for our daily walk. Yesterday's walk took over an hour because we talked to a number of our neighbors while maintaining proper personal distancing!

-- Bob Doan, Elkridge, MD

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