Summer Green

Summer Green
Odenton, MD
August 30, 2024

 Despite the lack of rain in the region, the green of summer seems more vibrant this year than in years past. I haven't noticed many tent worms and while some trees are showing signs of heat stress, most are a vibrant green that almost blends into the background. 

Yesterday was a gray and rainy day--which was needed for the area although I am sure the wineries were not too happy since it is the middle of the harvest. Even so, the green remained vibrant. I took this image of the tree in my daughter's yard and it demonstrates how the green envelops everything. The tree is hard to distinguish against the green of the forest behind. 

This is the kind of summer that I remember as a kid growing up in Upstate New York. The heat, the humidity, and the green forest that surrounded our home. Everything during the summer seemed green, until those last days of August when color began to creep into the backdrop signaling the end of the season and the beginning of autumn. 

Color is beginning to arrive in the leaves. It is very limited at this point, but as the nights begin to cool off the color will eventually spread until only the coniferous trees remain to remind me of the summer green and excitement that the springtime brings as the green returns to fill the landscape. 

-- Bob Doan, Odenton, MD

Looking Over the Yard

Buck in the Yard
Odenton, MD
August 19, 2024

 One of the joys of visiting Maryland and staying with our daughter and her family is the abundance of wildlife around her yard. There always seem to be geese, deer, fox, woodchucks, and other assorted animals passing through, grazing in the yard, or swimming in the pond. 

It is very different from where we reside in Florida. The most abundant form of wildlife we see are lizards--of many sizes and colors. And then there are the birds which transit through or that we can watch along the shoreline. But from the windows of our house we do not get to enjoy a wide scene like that from the deck of Nicole's house in Odenton.

The Small Herd
Odenton, MD
August 19, 2024

Seeing a young buck in the yard reminded me that Autumn is arriving soon. Of course the 57 degree temperature this morning also reminded me of the same thing. Autumn is coming. I am a bit worried about golfing on Saturday in the cold morning air. I may need a gallon of coffee to get moving. 

The deer did not seem to mind our activities on the deck. They were not even spooked by the dogs, who have grown used to the deer and did not bark. They munched their way through the yard until an evening thunderstorm drove us all inside and the deer retreated to the nearby forest. 

Earlier this year the pond supported geese, although they seem to have moved on probably preparing for winter. I understand that most geese in Maryland do not migrate. I remember the huge flocks that used to transit the skies when I was growing up in Upstate New York. They were huge.

Update on Removed Facebook Posting: Still nothing heard from Facebook. Hmmm.

-- Bob Doan, Odenton, MD

Unconscious Bias?

 I had an interesting thing pointed out to me the other evening. 

We, collectively but not absolutely, seem to differentiate between men and women presidential candidates in a very important and potentially misogynistic manner. 

More often than not, we call the male candidates by their last name: Biden, Trump, Obama. 

On the other hand there appears to be a tendency to address women by their first names: Kamala or Hillary come to mind. 

Why don't we call men by their first name? How does Joe or Don sound? 

There are exceptions. I understand that the pool of women who are/were presidential nominees is small, two. And yes, the vice president candidate, Sara Paulin, was not called Sara. But even so, JD Vance is addressed by his last name.

I wonder if there is an unconscious bias at work? Or is it something more sinister and misogynistic?

Food for thought.

-- Bob Doan, Tequesta, FL

updated to clarify a confusing sentences, 3 Aug

Walking to the End of the Jetty

 

Jupiter Inlet Jetty
Jupiter, FL
July 16, 2024

A couple evenings ago Chris and I, accompanied by friends, did something we had not done before. We walked out to the end of the Jupiter Inlet Jetty located in DuBois Park. 

Although we have been coming to the Jupiter area for over 20 years and have lived here full time since 2022, this very close and convenient spot was one that we had not visited. Admittedly, we had walked to the jetty on beach walks from Carlin Park; even taking images of birds hunting along the rocky base of the jetty--but, we had never actually visited DuBois Park; got out and walked the jetty. I have boated out of the inlet more than a few times, however. 

It was a beautiful evening with the clouds in the sky and a unique dive support vessel anchored just off the jetty. We enjoyed great conversation while also appreciating the natural beauty of the scene. 

I thought the image represented the scene very well, even the trash can so conspicuously placed in the foreground. I need to do better with stuff like that. 

-- Bob Doan, Tequesta, FL

Independence Day Eve

 

For some reason, I stumbled into Hump Day this week. Perhaps it is because it is the day before Independence Day and I know that many people are calling this the last workday of the week because they are taking Friday off. Maybe it is because there has been so much happening in our country during the past week that I needed Hump Day to focus my thoughts.

Happy Independence Day, tomorrow. 

If traveling, I pray for safe and smooth travels. If not traveling, I pray for peace and contentment amid the challenges of life and the world.

Chris and I will not be traveling this year as we have been traveling a great amount lately. It is nice to be home. 

We will enjoy the 4th here in Florida.

It is a paradox that every dictator has climbed to power on the ladder of free speech.

Immediately on attaining power each dictator has suppressed all free speech except his own.

—President Herbert Hoover

-- Bob Doan, Tequesta, FL

Closing out the Week

Dinner at Cooper's Hawk
Palm Beach Gardens, FL
June 6, 2024

 I competed my last checkout ride before traveling to Maryland in preparation for riding the GAP. It was a pleasant 17-mile ride with about 60 percent of the load I expect to drag along on the impending 150-mile ride. It was a bit strange at the beginning, but after about 5 miles, I no longer noticed the additional weight. I hope the real ride is like that. 

Before Friday even began we enjoyed a great meal, and some wine, at Cooper's Hawk on Thursday evening. It was one of those spur-of-the-moment decisions and we had a great time for a couple hours of wine tasting and then eating a very nice meal. 

And then Friday arrived. 

Chris Checking Out a Hat
Tequesta, FL
June 6, 2024

We are  preparing for the upcoming roadtrip. I continued getting my bike bags packed with what I think I'll need for the trip. Jen produced a great spreadsheet which lays out the basic necessities and I have been following through dutifully getting the items I will need for the ride. Yesterday's big purchase was a $10 small, 2-pound folding stool. I got it at, of all places, Wally World (er, umm, I mean Walmart). I actually hate going to Walmart because the parking lot is a danger zone with crazy drivers and even worse, people walking who just wander behind moving cars. But I got the stool and Chris bought a small camelback water backpack for her riding. She needs a lot of liquids when we ride.

By this time tomorrow I hope to be on the road headed north. The drive weather forecast looks ominous. There is a potential for thunderstorms and rain almost all day! Ugh. Well, the truck is big and heavy. Monday looks clear, however.

I will plan on blogging from the road to advise of the actual conditions. I guess my bike, which will be on the bike rack on the back of the truck, is going to get wet! It probably will not be the last time it gets wet as rain is forecast during the GAP ride.

-- Bob Doan, Tequesta, FL

#travel #biking #GAP #GreatAlleghenyPassage #CoopersHawk

Rainy Morning Evolves into a Beach Evening

Carlin Park
Jupiter, FL
 3, 2024

Down to the ocean we went yesterday afternoon. The day which began with greatly needed rain ended with blue skies and a beach afternoon. I made a special note that with the solstice approaching, the available daylight lasts later into the evening. During the winter months we would have been in darkness long before we departed the beach last evening.

The ocean was calmer; compared with Friday. I hope that it was mimicking the mood in the country after Friday's upheaval with the weekend for things to cool off. Of course the news media will keep emotions stirred as long as possible. There needs to be some rain in the news reporting to cool things off.

Temperatures are approaching summertime levels, in or near the 90s. It is a bit of a shock after spending three weeks in relatively cooler Europe. I don't think we will see morning temperatures in the 50s again until late September. The lowest temperatures expected during the next week are in the mid-70s. The ocean was already at 81 degrees yesterday, which is perfect for swimming although the sargassum washing ashore made entering the water an exercise in caution. The sargassum can be seen in the image I took both on the beach and in the waves.

And another day dawns!

-- Bob Doan, Tequesta, FL

Life is a Beach

 

Angry Ocean
Carlin Park Beach, Jupiter, FL
May 31, 2024

Happy June!

May is now in the past and it took almost the entire month of May, but Chris and I finally made it to a beach to enjoy happy hour last evening. 

The ocean was rough and beautiful with waves crashing on the beach with authority. The waves were too rough for surfing. We watched more than a few brave souls try to ride the waves. 

We tarried on the beach for about two-and-a-half hours to enjoy the waves and conversation with friends. Well, and also to enjoy the goodies that we had brought to celebrate the end of the week. I realized that two weeks hence I would be completing day 1 of the 150 mile Greater Allegheny Passage (GAP) bike ride that I have been training for--well except for the past three weeks. And last week, Chris and I had departed our cruise ship in the morning and were in Venice, Italy. Wow, we sure are packing a lot of activity into this summer. 

But, it was Happy Hour and both of us, Chris and I, unwound from the week and travel and got back into a Florida state of mind. 

Life is a beach--that is where it comes from for me.

Like the Zac Brown Band song, Knee Deep says:

This champagne shore washing over me

It's a sweet sweet life living by the salty sea

One day you could be as lost as me

Change you're geography

Maybe you might be

-- Bob Doan, Tequesta, FL

The Walk

 

Lily in the Lead
Odenton, MD
April 26, 2024

Happy May Day

Everyday we walk the dogs. There are three of them when we are back in Maryland and they expect a walk every day. Finnegan is the worst--he starts annoying us to get a walk about 9:30, but Nicole's dogs, Lily and Arthur, are right there when we start the walk preparations. 

Lily is an alpha female and she likes to lead. She also must have some bovine DNA in her as she grazes on the grass along the path. 

The dogs walk every day, except when it is raining, and we enjoy walking the path through the wooded area with the tree canopy above us. We especially appreciate how the path changes with the seasons from the brilliant colors of fall, to the bare branches of winter and now bright green leaves. The squirrels are always busy crashing through the leaves along the path and often make for some comic relief. 

Another great day.

-- Bob Doan, Odenton, MD

The Field Where it Happened

Field 7 (now 9) GORC Park
Odenton, MD
April 26, 2024

 It was there, empty.

I walked by one of the baseball fields where I spent many hours coaching. I could still see, in my mind, the field full of boys and families cheering during games and also the many hours of practice working to transform the raw talent from players of baseball into baseball players. 

The hours I spent there were many, but rewarding and I have to admit that I miss the practices and seeing the boys develop their skills. Some days it was cold, others hot, and then there were the rainstorms which drenched everything and I caught myself wondering why was in out in the cold rain?

I know now. 

-- Bob Doan, Odenton, MD

Sign and Sayings

Sign at Unlimited Carwash
Tequesta, FL
April 24, 2024

 It was a travel day; Chris and I have returned to Maryland for a week. 

Yesterday I spent some time at the local carwash, as both my bug-covered truck, from the drive back from Tampa, and Chris's car needed cleaning. The carwash has a very important sign designed to protest the safety of the patrons, except that I'm not sure what they were really saying. It seems to lose some of its value when an important word is misspelled. I actually got a pretty good image of the sign. 

Southwest Airline Napkins
April 25, 2024

On our Southwest Airlines flight from PBI to BWI this morning, I happened to look at the napkins.

There were witty phrases on both of the napkins. Now, I have to confess that I'm not sure whether the phrases have been on the napkins of other Southwest flights, but I never noticed them before this mornings bleary-eyed flight. 

Chris and I were up early, like 4:45 AM to get out the door and to the airport to board our 7:05 scheduled departure. As an aside--it was a great flight. The aircraft lifted off the runway three minutes before our schedule gate departure time  and we arrived in Baltimore 28 minutes early. Additionally, the flight was only about 1/2 full. Why can't flying always be like that?

Well, except for the bleary-eyed part.

-- Bob Doan, Odenton, MD

Sitting in Silence

View from the Surgical Terrace
Jupiter Medical Center, Jupiter, FL
April 16, 2024

I sat a lot yesterday. In fact, I sat most of the afternoon and then the evening until bedtime. 

Chris and I sat with a friend at a hospital and then later we sat with him at our house. 

We did not talk a lot, mostly just superficial stuff to get our minds off why we were sitting together. And then we enjoyed some wine.

I was reminded of Job's three friends, from the Bible.  

Then they sat down with him on the ground for seven days and seven nights, yet no one spoke a word to him, for they saw that his pain was very great. (Job 2:13, NET Bible)

I have come to realize that there are times when just being there is what is needed and that the right thing to say is nothing at all. There is no need to fill the empty space with words.

Sometimes sitting in silence is exactly what is needed. We need to practice it more often and get past the need to fill the emptiness with noise. 

-- Bob Doan, Tequesta, FL

Monday was a Day

I donated a pint of blood yesterday. It was my fourth pint. 

It was my big event of the day, well maybe shopping with Chris at the mall was the big event. That got us out of the house and we enjoyed a nice lunch at Cooper's Hawk, where I had four bottles of wine to retrieve. 

I have not been a regular blood donor. Until a couple years ago I could not donate because of my time in Europe with the Air Force, however, the rules changed and I have been donating blood infrequently. I plan on becoming a more regular donor. But, I am now up to a half-gallon of donated blood. 

During the evening I enjoyed our homeowners association meeting--I am on the board. We have a newly energized board and I am excited about the prospects for the future. Looking back, I can see that last year we were really just marking time and keeping the aging infrastructure solid. 

And that was Monday.

-- Bob Doan, Tequesta, FL

Sometimes

Flower
Everglades Safari Park, Homestead, FL
March 27, 2024

When Chris and I are out enjoying the wilds of Florida, I see things which cause me to stop and snap an image. 

That happened a couple weeks ago when we were in the Everglades at the Safari Park. We were strolling the paths looking at the wildlife and this flower caught my eye. 

I had to take the image through a fence because it was hanging above an alligator pen. But the color and the way it was hanging spoke to me that, there is a picture here. And so I took a picture. I worked the camera to reduce the depth of field a much as I could to blur the background and I got pretty much what I saw with my eyes. 

I have to admit, I have many images of flowers from our numerous outings. I especially enjoy admiring the orchids clinging to the trees and providing the burst of color under the canopy. 

-- Bob Doan, Tequesta, FL

As the Sun Sets

As the Sun Goes Down
Tequesta, FL
March 30, 2024

During the morning as the sun rises and the evening as the sun sets, the colors of the world seem more vibrant. The golden and reddish hues accentuate the landscape and the sky becomes darker with the clouds reflecting the light of the sun to the ground. 

Even standing right outside of my door, looking towards the setting sun the scene is transformed from what I normally experience by the silhouetted and freshly trimmed palm trees which provide their own exclamation point for the scene. Even the reflected sun from the pool house seems more colorful than during the bright portion of the day. 

Last Saturday evening the sky and the sun caught my eye as I stepped outside. It was one of the evenings that I enjoy most about Florida. A late-March relatively cool evening (in the 70s) with low humidity. And the palm trees. It had been a busy and somewhat melancholy day. We had said good-bye to Luke and the dogs after a fun-filled week and the house seemed very empty and quiet. While we were happy that Luke was reunited with his Dad and Julie, there was a sense of emptiness. We have so few visitors that we truly enjoy each of them and miss them when the house returns to normal. Even the dogs were fun to have around, despite their occasional antics and the need to walk them three times a day. 

The end of the day is a time of reflection. Haha, see what I did there?

-- Bob Doan, Tequesta, FL

Can You Believe It?

 It is Friday, again!

My Electrical Panel
Tequesta, FL
March 18, 2024

The end of the week just kind of sneaked up on me and suddenly everything I had been putting off is suddenly due. 

I know, what could I possibly have to get done by the weekend? Well, I have to completely reconfigure my garage to support the installation of the car charger, for one. At least there is space in my electrical box and apparently sufficient service to the condo to support the 40 amp car charger. 

And, I am behind in getting reservations for the sights we want to see on our upcoming European cruise and vacation. The cruise is locked in, but I need to get other sights reserved in both Rome and Venice since we are doing additional days there. I hope we can get our clothes cleaned somewhere. 

The electricians will be here about 5:30 pm so I have some time. But, Jeremy, Julie (later arriving at PBI), Luke and two dogs should also be arriving about that time as well. It might be a real circus around here. 

Happy Friday to all and may your end of week Happy Hour be especially enjoyable.

-- Bob Doan, Tequesta, FL

Two Paths to the World

 

Path off Beach Road
Jupiter Island, FL
February 24, 2024

Yesterday was a travel day. I am looking at a few travel days during the next two weeks as Chris and I visit family in Weston Lakes, near Houston, and then, after a brief stop back in Tequesta head off to Maryland. 

Leading to The Concourse
Houston Hobby Airport, TX
February 27, 2024

But it was yesterday as we were leaving Hobby Airport that I turned around and snapped an image of the main hallway leading to the concourse. It reminded me of a path that I had seen during our last bike ride along Beach Road.

And so I thought about the two paths. One leading to concourses which provide a means to access the sky to travel the world and the other leading to the beach and the ocean which also allows access to the world. So very different, yet similar.

I much prefer the beach path lined with grape mangroves on either side of it to the cold and lifeless windows of the airport. 

But as travel days go, it was a great day. The Southwest flight departed the gate on-time, arrived 20 minutes early and was able to pull right into a gate at our destination. That does not happen often. There is nothing worse than arriving early and waiting on the tarmac for a gate to open. Well, maybe pulling away from the gate and waiting an hour to take-off is worse because the flight really hasn't even gotten underway and the passengers are trapped inside the plane. 

-- Bob Doan, Weston Lakes, TX

#travel #houstonhobby #southwest #flying #beach

Abrupt End for the Stairs

 

Seaglass Condos
Jupiter Island, FL
February 12, 2024

It seems that even in buildings where the starting price for condos is about $6M, there can be interesting construction issues. 

Take, for instance, these stairs. The building is supposed to have beach access. And it sorta does, except they ended the stairs about 5 feet above the beach and then had to close the access. There are two sets of stairs from the building to the beach, and both are like this. 

It is an abrupt ending. 

Blowing Rocks
Jupiter Island, FL
January 2, 2022

Now, I know what happened. When the stairs were being constructed there was actually sand at the base of the stairs. But, since then the ocean has reclaimed the beach sand and the stairs no longer reach the beach. Clearly the contractor building the stairs was not familiar with beach conditions. The stars need to be build down into the sand to account for beach erosion.

The bigger problem is that the people living in the building do not have easy beach access right now. And the building is strategically positioned right near Blowing Rocks--which is beautiful. 

Note to self: Mind the Step!

-- Bob Doan, Tequesta, FL

#blowingrocks #jupiterisland #seglassjupiterisland #dangerousstairs

Happy Hour--Outside

Chris at Happy Hour
Lenora's, Tequesta, FL
January 10, 2024

 I wore shorts, sandals, and a short-sleeve shirt to Happy Hour at a local restaurant last evening. We sat outside on the veranda and I was very comfortable.

It felt great to be back in the warm humidity of South Florida and enjoying a cool January day outside. I had spent most of the day packing Christmas decorations and transporting them to our storage room. It did not help that I forgot the key on one trip and had to go back for it. Notice the bottle is empty. 

I received a great new toy for Christmas upon returning home: Smart Glasses! I am learning them and enjoying playing with them. I took a video of the Brightline train yesterday while we were sitting at the light. It came out really nice, but trains can be boring to look at and so I won't add it here. 

We enjoyed Happy Hour; then headed back to the house for one more glass of wine with friends and then some food. What a great evening. 

Today will be filled with more packing and then onto the garage for some serious reorganization. 

-- Bob Doan, Tequesta, FL

The Last Day

 The final day of 2023 has arrived. 

Despite predictions to the contrary, it appears we will actually make it to the arrival of 2024, which should be quite a tumultuous year. 

The new year is a Leap Year and that means it is one-day longer than 2023. 

Unlike the past two years, I will be ringing-in the new year in Maryland and not Florida. It has been just two years since I retired and I am still enjoying life without the necessity of setting an alarm clock.

This week, the flexibility of my retired life was recognized as Chris and I made the decision to extend our time in Maryland by a few days. In the world before retirement that would have been a difficult, if not impossible, ask. I would have been driven, literally, to get back to work.

Chris and the Boat
Sandbar in St Lucie River
August 2, 2023

I reviewed my image archives searching for the image which best characterizes the year, but it is tough with so many memories. I think this one, of Chris next to our boat, Sea Bean, anchored on a sandbar really captures the character of the year. We joined a boat club during the year and I have found great enjoyment learning to handle a boat and exploring the Intracoastal Waterway between Ft. Pierce and Lake Worth. I am looking forward to getting back onto the water when we return to Florida. And that is the beauty Florida life--year round outdoors summertime activity!

So on this final day of 2023, I remember those who have passed this year, and for whom I shed many tears, and the new friends we have made. I also remember the travel and fun that we have enjoyed, as well as the roughly 1967 miles I rode on my bike!

Here's a toast to the past and hope for the future.

-- Bob Doan, Odenton, MD