Sunday, March 31, 2019

Dog vs. Sofa


Rex Under the Sofa 1
March 26, 2019
The other evening, before we departed Maryland as as we were dropping Makayla off at Patrick's, we were treated to a welcome diversion of Rex looking for a ball. 

Rex Under the Sofa 2
March 26, 2019
As we were sitting together chatting about the cares of the day and the impending trip, Rex lost his ball under a sofa and we were able to watch his problem-solving skills. 

It was creative watching Rex, the Bull Terrier, try to retrieve the ball from under a sofa.

He twisted and turned every which-way bring to get small enough to get under the sofa. At one point I though he was going to raise the sofa up off its feet to get enough room to get the ball. 

Rex Under the Sofa 3
March 26, 2019
It was fun to watch the antics continue for quite a while as we were chatting and preparing to leave to begin our journey south. 

Rex is a very cute dog. 

He is much like a wrecking crew sometimes. In this instance, however, the sofa won and finally a human had to intervene to retrieve the lost ball.

I am sure that Makayla, my Keeshond, is enjoying her mini-vacation with Rex and Patrick's other dog, Chewie. 

-- Bob Doan, Tequesta, FL


Saturday, March 30, 2019

Home Near the Beach


Bob on the Beach
Intracoastal Waterway, Jupiter, Florida
March 30, 2019
OK, so it is true, and a dream come to reality.

Bob and Chris finally, after more than 20 years of visiting the Jupiter/Tequesta area have purchased their dream vacation and potential future retirement home in Tequesta, Florida.

Housewarming Gift
Where is Tequesta, you may ask? It is sandwiched between Jupiter, Florida, where many famous golf pros live, and the northern boundary of Palm Beach Country. If you click on the link, you will see that Tequesta is a small village with fairly irregular boundaries and a population just over 6,000 people. 

But, enough of the location and the town. Chris and I, along with Finnegan who is also here with us, are having a great time playing house and moving nearly every piece of furniture that we now own. We were fortunate to buy a place mostly furnished. That is good because we only need to buy a few things to complete our new home. Finnegan still hasn't figured out all of the good places for him to do his thing outside, but he is continuing to explore.

What is the most important thing about the new home?

Well, I have a palm tree in my front yard! I was going to take a picture, but it is raining. I'm kidding, of course. The most important thing is location, location, location in a place that I love to visit and long to live.

-- Bob Doan, Tequesta, FL

Friday, March 29, 2019

As the Trip Finally Ends


Finnegan Thinking: "Are We There Yet?"
Somewhere on I-95 in Florida
March 28, 2019
Day 2 of the trip to Florida dawned with us heading our from Hilton Head Island headed for Tequesta, Florida. Call it an early Spring get away.

Georgia Line
I-95
March 28, 2019
For some reason, day 2 of the trip seemed longer than day 1. even though it was three hours shorter. We had the constant thought on our minds of, "Are we there, yet?" But we were not there. I was a full six hour travel day and we started a bit later.

The day started by quickly crossing into Georgia from South Carolina and following I-95 south. After about an hour and a half in Georgia, it was onto Florida. Fortunately, the road work in Georgia was not too significant. I wonder who decided to put the road work sign right in front of the "Welcome to Georgia" sign? The hardest part of the trip is Florida. While cruising through the other states takes just a couple hours, Florida goes on forever--almost four hours. "Are we there, yet" becomes a real statement.


We finally pulled into Tequesta about 2:30 PM and put an exclamation point on the trip. I am very happy that I will be flying home as we are leaving the car at our new home--which we settle on today. 

The walk through yesterday went well with only some minor things that are nothing more than annoyances as the sellers did not fully uphold to the agreement on which items which were to be left behind. Minor stuff, but annoyances. The place, however, is clean and we actually wound up with a brand spanking new, never used, dishwasher because the one that was there broke as they were clearing out. There is a silver lining in almost every rain cloud. 

-- Bob Doan, Tequesta, FL

Thursday, March 28, 2019

Hilton Head Island

Hilton Head Island Beach
March 26, 2019
The trip south continues this morning after a fantastic visit with friends on Hilton Head Island. It was our first visit to the island and we now understand why it is so popular.

I was impressed with the beach, even though I only briefly viewed the broad expanse of sand running to the ocean from a distance. It was a beautiful vista that stretched out in front of me. I do so enjoy beaches and sand and of course palm trees.

The area is beautiful and, well, full of golf courses. I kept wishing that I had brought my clubs with me, but then there would not have been enough time to play a round. But the courses were beautiful. As was the area.

We enjoyed a great wine dinner at Michael Anthony's where we experienced some very creative wine pairings. The most interesting was a Chardonnay paired with an eggplant and tomato-based sauce dish. I marveled that the Chardonnay held up against the tomato sauce.

We also ran across a Pinot Noir from a Willamette Valley winery that we visited a couple years ago, Elizabeth Chambers on their opening weekend. They were hanging the sign on the door as we walked into the tasting room. We ordered a glass to share, and it was every bit as good as we remembered.

And now, we are back on the road for Tequesta. We will arrive this early afternoon. I will be ready for some beach time and sunshine.

— Bob Doan, from I-95 somewhere in Georgia

Wednesday, March 27, 2019

North Carolina by 7:20am

Travel by car. Sometimes you just have to do it. We are headed to Florida with a car full of supplies and household items and of course Finnegan.

We left early to miss traffic in the bigger cities along the way and are making a stop in Hilton Head for the evening.

It was fun to see the sunrise from the highway this morning. We. Made it almost three hours before our first coffee/fuel/ bio stop. Yay!

— Bob Doan, writing from somewhere on I-95 in North Carolina

Tuesday, March 26, 2019

The Seven P's


5 of the 7 P's
Preparing to travel is an event that relies upon proper application of the 7 P's to ensure success..

Lists become critical. There are lists of things to take, lists of actions to accomplish, lists of appliances to turn off before leaving the house. What are we doing with the dog and the cats?

And then there is loading the car! Or, packing the suitcases. Did I remember the pillows?

All 7 of the P's
I wish I could just have a "ready bag" sitting in a closet somewhere that could just grab and go. It would reduce the packing part of the preparation.

Buy as the phrase correctly says, proper prior planing prevents piss poor performance! Some have apparently tried to gentrify the 7P's of life, but it loses something in the translation. 

When preparing for a trip, all seven of the planning "P's" come into play.

The worst part is the poor performance if proper prior planning is not accomplished. 

I hate getting lost along the way or arriving at my destination to discover that something critical has been forgotten. 

And so, in addition to dreaming of palm trees in the sand, I am running checklists through my head to ensure success and most of all, happiness at the conclusion of the adventure!

Wait, don't forget the chargers for the electronics!

-- Bob Doan, Elkridge, MD

Monday, March 25, 2019

Monday Musings - March 25, 2019




Willow Springs Golf Course Hole #3
From the Tee Box
March 24, 2019
1. It is, believe it or not, the last Monday of March 2019. Where has the month gone? The first quarter of calendar year 2019 is about to come to a close.

2. Chris and I managed to break away yesterday for a 9 hole round of golf. It was nice to get out in the warm afternoon weather and enjoy some time not the golf course. Some of the holes were very soggy from the rains, almost swamp-like.

Blue Sky up the Drive
Elkridge, MD
March 23, 2019
3. Chris and I are packing and preparing for our trip. We depart Wednesday for Florida with a stop along the way to see friends. We are actually driving this time! The last time we drove was during 2017.

4. Blue skies! I want to live somewhere that I grow tired of seeing a blue sky every day. They happen so infrequently that i take pictures looking up my driveway of the blue sky to remind me what it looks like on a typical gray and rainy day. We were lucky in that there were blue skies for both Saturday and Sunday this weekend. Sadly, though, Sunday ended with the typical gray overcast.

Lowering the Pool Water Level
Elkridge, MD
March 23, 2019
5. We have received so much rain that I had to remove water from the pool for the second time this year.I lowered the water level a good seven inches in preparation of April's showers.

6. The temperatures finally warmed into the 60's yesterday and Chris and I were able to celebrate the weekend and the ending of the day around the fire pit with our trusty dogs in attendance.

7. I am finding that I enjoy watching the news less and less lately. The same themes keep coming up: murder in Baltimore, ineffectiveness in Washington, fires and flooding, and the Mueller investigation. Well, maybe the Mueller Investigation will fall out of the top three finally. 

8. Traffic in this region on Sunday's is more noxious that traffic on a normal weekday. At least on a normal weekday everyone seems to know where they are headed and how to get there. On Sundays everyone seems lost on the highway. 

9. Today in HistoryIn one of the darkest moments of America’s industrial history, the Triangle Shirtwaist Company factory in New York City burns down, killing 146 workers, on this day in 1911. The tragedy led to the development of a series of laws and regulations that better protected the safety of factory workers.
The Triangle factory, owned by Max Blanck and Isaac Harris, was located in the top three floors of the 10-story Asch Building in downtown Manhattan. It was a sweatshop in every sense of the word: a cramped space lined with work stations and packed with poor immigrant workers, mostly teenaged women who did not speak English. At the time of the fire, there were four elevators with access to the factory floors, but only one was fully operational and it could hold only 12 people at a time. There were two stairways down to the street, but one was locked from the outside to prevent theft by the workers and the other opened inward only. The fire escape, as all would come to see, was shoddily constructed, and could not support the weight of more than a few women at a time.


Headlines


Mueller Finds No Trump-Russia Conspiracy, but Stops Short of Exonerating President on Obstruction - The New York Times
‘A State of Emergency’: Native Americans Stranded for Days by Flooding - The New York Times


'Flashing amber': Global stocks tumble, bonds rally on U.S. recession risk - Reuters


Ronald Reagan Quote for the Week

    Government is like a baby. An alimentary canal with a big appetite at one end and no sense of responsibility at the other.

  • (Reagan during his gubernatorial campaign in 1965)



-- Bob Doan, Elkridge, MD 

Sunday, March 24, 2019

Leaving it Blank


Driving home from baseball practice yesterday, I passed a sign in front of a in church in Odenton that caught my eye and made me think.

Usually the sign has some interesting statement or Bible verse on it which I believe relates to the weekly activities or the message for the Sunday services. 

I wish I had stopped to take a picture of yesterday's sign. 

I typically look at the sign,  note what it is trying to tell me and drive on thinking no more about the message.

Yesterday, however, it was very different. 

The sign said: "This space intentionally left blank."

That got me thinking. I have seen that phrase, or a similar one, "This page intentionally left blank" in a lot of places.

Here's the rub--if it says that it was intentionally left blank, and the words are written there, is it really blank?

I think not!


If it were really blank, then the page or sign would have not words on it. It would be, well, blank.

What a concept.

So the sign if the sign in front of the church was trying to be blank, but wasn't really blank, then what was the sign really saying? 

Perhaps it was trying to tell me that nothing is really ever blank as there is always something there, we need only to discover the substance. 

Deep. Very deep.

-- Bob Doan, Elkridge, MD


Saturday, March 23, 2019

Blue Skies and Cold Giving Way to Political Heat


The weekend dawned clear, bright, cold and windy!

It sounds like a recipe for fun. But, I will shortly sojourn outside to begin work around the house. I actually need to drain the pool again. The water level has become critical due to the continuing excessive rain. Yes, excessive. We received another roughly two inches this week alone. 

The excitement in the country has risen with the completion of the Mueller Report. It is nice to have that behind us and ready to move forward, finally. We will see, finally what are the true contents of this much expected report. I anticipate the volume of political rhetoric will increase to drown out the sound of jet engines before the weekend is through.

I wish we could get past the election behind us and get on with running the country. There are too many hanging "chad" issues out there. We are, as a nation, rapidly becoming irrelevant in the ever changing world because of our political logjam. 

So the blue skies and cold to start the weekend may give way to excessive political heat!

Ride the wave and let the fun begin!

-- Bob Doan, Elkridge, MD

Friday, March 22, 2019

Spring Training Update


I freely admit that my excitement level for the upcoming Orioles season is far below usual for this time of year. I am one of those people who enjoy the start of the MLB season because anything can happen and there is always a World Series in the possibility as the umpires call "play ball" for the first time.

The Orioles have done well this Spring Training season. They are currently in the middle of the pack with wins and losses at  12-13. I've long since lost track of the ties, I know there were at least two. But their record is very respectable for a Spring Training campaign. The team has shown moments of excitement--but there are still some glaring problems, also known as elephants in the room. 

Chris Davis has picked up where he left off the regular season last year by posting a .148 Spring Training batting average and Mark Trombo is not far behind with a .200 average. Davis is the most egregious with 27 at bats while posting 4 hits, 6 walks, and 15 strike outs! Ouch!!

On the pitching side, Dylan Bundy has posted a 7.98 ERA in 17 innings pitched.

The highest paid players are definitely the bottom feeders of the club right now. It must be nice to have guaranteed contracts so high that the club can neither trade nor cut the lowest performers. 

The one encouraging statistic is stealing. The Orioles have 35 attempts for better than one attempt per game. They had 103 stolen base attempts during all of the 2018 campaign for less than one attempt per game.

Well, opening day is next Thursday in New York City. As I predicted, the Orioles will either arrive on Baltimore for the home opener on April 4th at 0-6 or the best could be 2-4.

Let the season begin!

-- Bob Doan, Elkridge, MD

Thursday, March 21, 2019

Bright Spots in a Dreary World


Tete-a-tete Daffodils
Ellicott City, MD
March 20, 2019
Happy first full day of Spring! The world is about to undergo a transformation.

The dreary colors of the Winter are about to give way to rebirth and the colors of life. 

Chris and I were out last evening celebrating the arrival of Spring and we came across this small group of Tete-a-tete Daffodils in a garden. We had just ushered in Spring's official arrival at a local wine bar when we came across these small, bright flowers. They were celebrating in their own manner the arrival of the season of rebirth.

There are many things happening right now that celebrate the season's arrival--baseball has begun, daylight saving time has arrived, temperatures are warmer--although still cooler than we desire. There are still many milestones to come such as MLB Opening Day which is next week and pool opening day which is now only 47 short days away. 

It is time to enjoy the transformation of the world as the sun's return warms the earth and the colors of springtime arrive.

Enjoy the day despite the rain!

-- Bob Doan, Elkridge, MD

Wednesday, March 20, 2019

Jeep Mudding


Jeep on the Street
Elkridge, MD
March 18, 2019
While out walking the other day, I spied an older Jeep that looked as if it had been involved in a lot of fun over the weekend.

Yes, it is covered in mud! I remember a few years ago Jeremy and Patrick took their Jeeps, which were new at the time to a Jeep weekend near Ocean City. We had a blast and their Jeeps looked very similar to the one on the street the other day after the weekend of riding through mud pits and traversing an obstacle course. 

Unlike my neighbor, however, we took those Jeeps to a car wash to remove the layers of mud. My neighbor washed his Jeep in his driveway yesterday. I am convinced the mud that came off the Jeep will be slowly going making its way down the street and into the storm sewer system that runs near my backyard for a very long time. 

There is something freeing about getting out and doing some mudding!

-- Bob Doan, Elkridge, MD

Tuesday, March 19, 2019

Signs of Spring


Signs of Spring - Leaf Buds
Elkridge, MD
March 18, 2019
After working yesterday, Chris greeted me with the offer to go for a walk with the dogs.

It was a much cooler day, but the sun was shining and the sky was blue. We were treated to a police helicopter circling the neighborhood for most of the walk. We have no idea what was happening, but the helicopter orbited above us for some 20 minutes before flying off. We never heard sirens or any corresponding commotion so we continued our walk with the dogs.

The nice thing about the day was that the signs of Spring were everywhere. The trees are budding, the daffodils are about to bloom and there may even be a hint of color on the forsythia. 

Spring begins at 5:58 PM EDT tomorrow!!!!! 

Today is the last full day of Winter. We will finally be able to throw off the shackles of the dark season and enjoy life outside--of which we have already had a taste.

We actually crossed over 12 hours per day of sunshine on St Patrick's Day. Bring on the season!

Cue the sunshine and flowers. 


-- Bob Doan, Elkridge, MD

Monday, March 18, 2019

Monday Musings - March 18, 2019




1. It is now one week since Daylight Saving Time began. I think I have fully recovered from the loss of the hour of sleep. I hope that everyone else has similarly recovered. There were some pretty groggy people last Monday.

Golf Carts at the Ready
Crofton country Club
March 17, 2019
2. What a fantastic weekend. I played golf for the first time in Maryland this year. It was 18 holes in Crofton and the exciting part is that I made a pretty neat birdie on a 30 yard chip shot during the round! I don't get that many birdies so I got pretty excited. OK, so that was the highlight of an otherwise average round, but I got to play!

3. The 78 degree temperatures of Friday really spoiled me for the weekend when the temperatures just crested 50. I am longing for the return of warmer weather. It is coming. I can feel it.

3rd Fairway
Crofton Country Club
March 17, 2019
4. The baseball team I coach posted six hours of practice last week. I don't think that happened at all during last year's season due to the rains. Here's hoping for another good week of practice this week.

5. Who knew that you can get sunburned during March in Baltimore? Well, you can!

6. Traffic is an amazing thing, a trip that takes 20 minutes early on a Sunday morning can take 35 minutes or more on a Friday afternoon.

7. My chainsaw is enjoying the Springtime weather. It is sawing as much wood as I can feed it. 

8. The blue skies and sun are encouraging me to be outside more and more. It is awesome to be in the sun after such a gloomy stretch of weather.  Next, cue the warmer temperatures.

9. Today in History. Nearly 300 students in Texas are killed by an explosion of natural gas at their school on this day in 1937. The Consolidated School of New London, Texas, sat in the middle of a large oil and natural gas field. The area was dominated by 10,000 oil derricks, 11 of which stood right on school grounds. The school was newly built in the 1930s for close to $1 million and, from its inception, bought natural gas from Union Gas to supply its energy needs. The school’s natural gas bill averaged about $300 a month. Eventually, officials at Consolidated School were persuaded to save money by tapping into the wet-gas lines operated by Parade Oil Company that ran near the school. Wet gas is a type of waste gas that is less stable and has more impurities than typical natural gas. At the time, it was not completely uncommon for consumers living near oil fields to use this gas.

Headlines


Trade Fight With China Enters Overtime, With Tariffs a Costly Sticking Point - The New York Times



No sign of imminent North Korea missile launch: South Korea defence chief - Reuters


Ronald Reagan Quote for the Week


I believe we can embark on a new age of reform in this country and an era of national renewal. An era that will reorder the relationship between citizen and government, that will make government again responsive to people, that will revitalize the values of family, work, and neighborhood and that will restore our private and independent social institutions. These institutions always have served as both buffer and bridge between the individual and the state and these institutions, not government, are the real sources of our economic and social progress as a people.

  -- Election Eve Address A Vision for America, November 3, 1980


-- Bob Doan, Elkridge, MD

Sunday, March 17, 2019

And the Streak is Broken




Happy St. Patrick's Day

May all of your days be green and warm!

Always remember to forget
The things that made you sad. 
But never forget to remember 
The things that made you glad

It was much colder yesterday, but despite the weather, which saw temperatures about 25 degrees below Friday, the day was spent mostly outside.

There were many lawn chores to accomplish, gardens to clear, rubbish to remove, and yes, even the tractor made its first appearance on the yard for 2019! I used it to help remove the winter debris and get the yard greening up a bit as warmer temperatures continue to be expected for the remainder of the month. The yard really looked good after the small sticks and leaves were removed. 

At the Batting Cage
GORC Wildcats (Haslup)
March 15, 2019
I also was able to do some car maintenance and changed the cabin air filter in our new (used) 2006 Camry. It looked as if it had not been changed in many years. The new filter will definitely contribute to a cleaner in car air environment.

And then, of course, there was baseball practice. Another almost three hours of fun in the sun. Despite the colder weather, the sun shone brightly and I got a bit of a sunburn, believe it or not, in March! The boys on team Wildcats worked hard and we are getting them ready to begin the spring campaign, which could be in as early as two weeks!

As the day came to an end, the temperatures dropped into the 40's and the wind picked up. We decided to forego sitting by the fire pit and remain in the warmth of our home to watch the sunset. That meant that our streak of consecutive days celebrating around the fire pit was broken. And so the day ended.

It was a full Saturday of activity! And now, onto Sunday! 

-- Bob Doan, Elkridge, MD

Saturday, March 16, 2019

Portending Summer


Jackson at Baseball Practice
Odenton, MD
March 15, 2019
As I walked though the workplace yesterday morning, I noticed something different, most everyone seemed a bit more enthused about the approaching weekend. Of course it probably helped that I wore an extremely bright Aloha shirt to help get into the weekend mindset, but I am convinced that the positive energy and mood due to more than my shirt. I believe that it may have been the favorable weather forecast coupled with the great week that was rapidly moving behind us.
Chris at Jeremy's Fire Pit
Elkridge, MD
March 15, 2019

Yesterday the temperature soared to about 78 degrees. Although rain had been predicted for the afternoon, none arrived until almost 9 PM. It was a great evening. I coached Jackson's baseball team practice until about 8:00 PM. It was glorious afternoon and the boys turned in a great practice. 

And then a magical thing happened. When I arrived home, I suggested that we enjoy head into the yard to enjoy the fire pit and the warm temperatures.  Chris and I decided that it was a bit late to start a fire, but Jeremy must have been reading my mind and invited us over to enjoy some fire pit time with him. So, we drove to Jeremy's and made it six days in a row around a fire pit. Although the rains arrived shortly after we settled in, we did enjoy some quality time with Jeremy. 

Friday portended the arrival of summer. Cue the sun and heat! Pool opening is a mere 52 days away!

-- Bob Doan, Elkridge, MD

Friday, March 15, 2019

Five Times in a Week



Fire Pit Warming-up for a Pi Day Celebration
Elkridge, MD
March 14, 2019
It is hard to believe, but the weather has been fantastic now for a week and Chris and I have managed to enjoy our fire pits now for five nights in a row. Even more, we have enjoyed fabulous late-Winter weather that is allowing us outside after being cooped up for most of the winter.
The Wood Pile
March 14, 2019

The best weather of the week was last evening and the fire pit was warming our life until well after dark. The wood pile remains huge, waiting toe be converted into fire pit sized fuel. 

The day was spectacular, in fact, it was a Jaguar day and I drove Cat to work and enjoyed the ride home with the convertible top down enjoying the warm weather and sunshine on my face. It was the first top-down day of 2019 as the temperatures crested 70 degrees for the first time this year, I think!

It was a great celebration for Pi Day!

-- Bob Doan, Elkridge, MD

Thursday, March 14, 2019

Four? Four in a row?


Chris at the Fire Pit
Elkridge, MD
March 13, 2019
Chris and I continued our pre-Spring streak of nights around a fire pit although the sky was not nearly as blue, actually it was cloud covered. The temperature was a bit warmer than the night before which contributed to the ambiance of the evening.

Yes, it is now four nights in a row! A truly amazing statistic given the weather of the past months. To have found four evenings in a row when we could enjoy the fire pit seems amazing? And, truth be told, we are expecting to make it five in a row tonight.

The lawn certainly has that Springtime look to it--mottled green with leaves and debris. It is only now drying enough to think of getting the tractor out on it to begin the post-Winter recovery process. We have been focusing our efforts thus far on reducing the piles of limbs from the trees we had felled during the latter part of last year. The clean-up process is providing a lot of very burnable fuel for the fire pit.

I didn't say it was warm outside, just that the hot fire in the pit made the evening enjoyable. And, as an added benefit, we made it an early evening so I still got to watch the later edition of Jeopardy!

Maybe, just maybe Spring is getting closer! Let's keep the streak going!

BTW, 

Happy Pi Day!

-- Bob Doan, Elkridge, MD

Wednesday, March 13, 2019

Three in a Row


It has been a great week thus far.

For three nights in a row, Chris and I have enjoyed happy hour around a fire pit. We have had a "three-peat."

Notice that I did not write, "the" fire pit. Last evening we sat around the propane-fired pit on the pool deck dreaming of summer, pool, fun, and of course warmer temperatures. 

It was cooler than the previous two nights, but the sky remained crystal blue and the Sun is beginning to grace the Earth with its warming rays more regularly. Hopefully, today will bring more of the same, but even a bit warmer.

Yesterday also marked the official beginning of Spring Training for the GORC Wildcat team that Mike and I are coaching. Even though the temperatures were in the 40's, we conducted our inaugural practice and got to put eyes on the boys on our team on the baseball field.

The field was nicely graded and it was a perfect evening under the lights getting back into the swing of my favorite summertime sport. We have to get used to 70 foot bases, however. It is a longer throw for the boys.

Fire pits, baseball, Happy Hour, blue skies. What could be better? Oh yea, palm trees on . . . 

This champagne shore watchin' over me
It's a sweet sweet life livin' by the salty sea
                            -- Lyrics from Knee Deep by Zach Brown Band

-- Bob Doan, Elkridge, MD

Tuesday, March 12, 2019

Last Light of a Really Good Day


Tops of the Trees in the Setting Sunlight
Elkridge, MD
March 11, 2019
Last evening Chris and I sat outside, again for the second night in a row. around the fire pit and watched the evening fall. It was warmer, in the 50's and for a change the skies cleared and blue was the color of the evening. 

It was a nice evening. I was able to get my chainsaw out and begin transforming the wood pile from downed trees into pieces of wood suitable for burning. We had about 5 dead ash trees felled before winter because we were concerned that they might fall on their own and do some damage. Now I get to cut them into logs suitable for burning in a fireplace or our outdoor fire pit. After cutting for a while with Chris stacking the logs, we stopped and started a nice fire around which to enjoy a bottle of wine. Then we ordered Chinese actually enjoyed our first meal of the year outside. Yes, it was cool--in the 50's, but very enjoyable. It actually wasn't out first meal outside as we had eaten lunches and dinners outside when we were in Florida during January--but it was the first of the year for Baltimore. It was quite an evening, we went outside to begin cutting wood about 4PM and by the time we finished dinner and talking and let the fire die, it was dark and after 8PM. 


Yesterday was also my first post prostate cancer treatment follow-up with the radiation oncologist. It was time to get the results from the tests that I had done last week. And the results are: everything looks good. It was good to see the treatment team again, we have formed a unique bond, and they were very encouraged by my results which seem to indicate a successful treatment. I get to visit with them every six months for the next five years before they will be able to certify me as cancer free. I have been participating in a study for prostate cancer patients and follow-up and I was told yesterday that I will be getting paid! Who knew! I had thought I was just a volunteer for the study. The pay is not enough to live on or anything like that, but it will buy lunch!

It was a great way to start the middle week of March!

-- Bob Doan, Elkridge, MD

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