Monday Musings -- December 30, 2013 Images of the Year

Continuing my review of personal images of 2013, Monday Musings is devoted to some of my favorites of the year. 

1. Riordin, need I say more? He loves to lay in the space between my arm and body because it is warm. Usually when I am trying to use my laptop.

Riordin in my Arm

2. Ever wonder what it looks like to finish a marathon? Remember, the first guy who did it in history, Pheidippides, dropped dead after delivering the important message of joy. Here are Jeremy and Mike nearing the finish line after 26 miles through Baltimore.

Jeremy and Mike nearing the Baltimore Marathon Finish Line

3. OK, so it is my favorite sports mascot, but I did get to see a lot of the Orioles Bird this year and he almost always makes me smile.

Opening Day with the Orioles Bird

4. Ethan was having some fun while we were waiting for lunch at an Ocean City restaurant during our Memorial Weekend get away.

Ethan getting it on

5. Birthdays are more fun at Dave & Busters. Lucas graciously invited us out to enjoy his birthday and walked away with a giant dragon.

Lucas and Poppop Leaving Dave & Buster's

6. The horseshoe crab rescuer. Ethan returned this crab to the ocean and we think he made it out alive! There were three big crabs on the Ocean City, MD, beach that day. One was a goner already and two may have been rescued.

Ethan with a Horseshoe Crab

7. You know what I found out while fishing off the Florida coast? I've never caught anything this big! And, I didn't know how to pose it for a picture. One of my friends asked if I was trying to play this snook like an air guitar. Maybe I was.

Me with a Snook, Catch and Release!

8. Although she is pretty quiet about it, Chris does not like fans who root for the team which will remain nameless coming into our ballpark.

Chris wearing a Yankees go home shirt

9. Ethan getting some air while jumping off the dunes on the beach in Florida. A wild afternoon of fun jumping down the relatively steep slope.

Ethan Airborne

10. Jackson getting through the Christmas Eve church service. I remember when I was a kid--just a few short decades ago, the Christmas Eve church service seemed to last forever. It was standing between me and Christmas morning. We went to church during the evening, at 7pm I think, so when the service was over it was home to enjoy a few niceties and then off to bed to wait for the sounds of bells and hooves on the rooftop. I never remember hearing the bells and hooves though.

Jax Sleeping through the Message

-- Bob Doan, Elkridge, MD