Monday Musings - September 21, 2009

1. Sunny and cool weekends portend Autumn's arrival even before the calendar officially says it is here. Sad isn't it.

2. I looked up into the pre-dawn sky the other morning and was shocked to see the constellation Orion--a winter constellation. While Orion is one of my favorite constellations, I really look more forward to not seeing it in the Springtime rather that its inaugural appearance during the late summer.

3. Saturday morning, 9AM --- on the soccer field with Ethan. Smiling at Jax, and talking to Mike and Nicole. If it gets much better than that, I'm not sure what it could be.

4. Do you know what it is when there are two keeshonden staying at the house? A pair-o-kees!

5. So answer me this--If I am such a crazed fool for summer, why did I attend a pre-season NHL hockey game while I was in Denver last week? I can't even skate!

6. Sports is tougher on the fans than the players I am convinced. Chris was a wreck because Dallas couldn't beat NY last night. Me, I'm used to cheering for a loser--just look at the O's who are still trying to avoid a 100 loss season (they still need 3 wins of 13 remaining games) and got swept by the Red Sox this weekend. At least the Ravens won!

7. I am still undecided about travel returning from a conference, when the conference is over late. Should I fly back the same night and get back home sometime after 1AM, or spend the night and fly home leisurely on the next day? I don't like either option. What is choice C?

People you meet along the way

I've been at a conference this week in Denver. I was reminded, as I reestablished ties with some friends and many acquaintances that each person we meet and interacts with leaves a part of themselves with you.

Likewise, we leave a part of ourselves with each person we meet.

Sometimes we leave a good part. Something witty or intelligent. But I also know that I have left some pretty scathing parts of myself with those unfortunate enough to have crossed my path in a negative way.

I'm not proud of that. It just happens sometimes and I have to work hard not to allow my emotions to boil over.

OK maybe I got a bit exercised at one point during the conference. But fortunately I stopped short of delivering a scathing fire-breathing monologue. (Yes I have been known to do that on occasion)

I asked myself: is it worth it and will I achieve my intended result. When the answer to both was no, I dismounted my stallion of "righteous intent" and began to work more calmly within the system to make my point.

I think I left those in attendance with a better, rather than worse piece of myself.


Bob Doan
Elkridge, MD
Sent from My Blackberry

Monday Musings on Thursday - September, 17, 2009

Today, since I missed Monday--some musings about traveling

1. Traveling is at the same time fun, boring, exhausting, and hard. It all depends on where you are in the trip.

2. Being there is a lot better than getting there.

3. If the journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step, how long will it take me to get to the last step?

4. Some say it's not the destination, it is the journey. Yeah, just think about it, racing to the airport--to wait. Charging down the jet ramp to get to your seat--to wait. Getting to your destination and taking the bus to the car rental counter--to wait. Heading off in the rental car to the hotel and getting stuck in rush hour traffic--to wait. Maybe it's not a journey at all but an exercise in waiting.

5. Traveling alone is the pits. Turns out, I don't like eating out alone.

6. I miss my _____________ (fill in the blank with any of the following)
a. wife
b. dog
c. morning cup of coffee
d. newspaper
e. evening wine and cheese with the wife on the back deck
f. O's game because the sling box isn't set up right on my computer
g. speed-zone pace of life
h. 0530 racquetball game

7. I'm in Denver and the mountains are pretty--but they are a long way away.

8. Why do they always have conferences when the major league baseball teams are out of town?

9. Are the Avalanche playing tonight? Turns out they are! Maybe I'll do a hockey pre-season game. Yes--it is Hockey season almost! Who needs the NFL!!!!! With their uber-expensive tickets and poor fan support and TV time-outs?

I saw an Eagle

I had never before seen a Bald Eagle, our national symbol, in the wild. I wish I had been fast enough to get a picture of it.



Yet--during our vacation to Florida driving from the Merritt's Island National Wildlife Preserve I saw one perched proudly upon a tall pole.



It was big! And I was surprised at seeing the bird--even though I knew they lived in the area.



I almost didn't believe it and for some reason I was really excited.

It is really amazing what we can begin to see when we actually open our eyes and notice the world around us. I am one of the worst at blindly walking though life--and I know I miss a lot going on around me. Call it self-absorbed or something, but essentially I just block out the part of the world I am not, at that moment interested in.

I need to be more aware of what is going on around me.

Not to zone out. Maybe life will become more interesting.

Another Rainy Day? No, not Really!

I was surprised as I woke up this morning.

It was raining. It was raining hard--and constant.

I was wholly unprepared for the rain and what it meant for the traffic and the day.

I'm still suffering over the end of summer--and I came to the realization yesterday that I probably would not be spending any more time in the pool before I closed it for the winter since the temperatures had dropped so low.

So many people hate rain. But as i was discussing with Chris on the way to work this morning--I love rain and being rained on. I guess it comes from the sense of renewal that goes with the rain.

Even the Bible speaks of rain in this way--

“I will send rain for your land in its season, the autumn and the spring rains, so that you may gather in your grain, new wine, and olive oil. I will provide pasture for your livestock and you will eat your fill.” (Deut 11:14-15 - NET Bible)

And we definitely are having the autumn rains right now.

Today, though, I also had a different and separate view of the rain. I saw it as tears falling upon our land. Tears of the martyrs of September 11th, 2001. Tears, reminding us that the fight against tyranny and chaos, and the forces of darkness is not complete, nor probably will it ever be complete.

We must constantly be on guard and against those forces that would drag us into darkness--and the rain, the tears of those who perished remind us, the ones who remain, that there is so much more to do until we can really live in peace.

So today wasn't just another rainy day. But a somber day of remembrance where we can rekindle the flames of patriotism and passion which so often become dim in our souls as we fight amongst ourselves about things like health care and the economy.

The Gator and the Dog

Ever notice how we sometimes under estimate the intelligence or capability of someone we are doing business with?

I was reading a story about a dog that was attacked by a gator in Georgia this summer--and I was reminded of a situation that happened many years ago. It was tragic, in the end.

We were living near Barksdale AFB in Bossier City, LA during the real early 1980's. The base was blessed with a wide open area and a couple of lakes which made for nice picnicking. I remember the kids used to like to throw hot dogs to the gators in the bayou--even thought they weren't supposed to and I would always yell at them for doing it.

One afternoon we were by one of the lakes and a man was throwing a stick into the water and his faithful dog was charging in to retrieve it. I heard someone tell the man that he shouldn't be doing that because there were gators in the lake. Well, of course he ignored the warnings and replied with something about his dog being faster than any gator--and he continued to throw the stick. We left the area because I was sure that something bad was going to happen, and I really didn't want the kids to witness something traumatic.

I read in the base newspaper the next week that the man's dog was in fact killed by a gator at the lake on the very day we were there. I was sad--and mad at the man for being really stupid.

Now we all know dogs are probably faster than gators--but in their own environment gators know how to maximize their abilities.

Do not under estimate people you are dealing with. Allow them to have intelligence, cunning, and even useful insight--else, like the dog, you may be on the short end of the stick.

The Wood Pile: An update

A funny thing happened yesterday after I published my blog item about the wood pile.

The wood pile got smaller!

Yup!

Something I never really imagined happened. Someone went by the house, grabbed some tools and started splitting the wood in the pile. So one of my piles of stuff got smaller.

Thanks Patrick!

How true it is--when we get those piles in our life we either are too proud to ask for help or forget to ask for help. And it is really cool when someone just helps--without being asked.

It is the same whether the pile in our life is wood, or cleaning, or vacuuming the house, or even just making dinner. When someone just shows up and helps out, without being asked, it is really heartwarming.

The piles--maybe they are an obstacle of some kind--just seem to sit there and grow in our minds. Sometimes it takes someone who doesn't carry around the same baggage to look at them and say: "It's not that big!" And then roll up their sleeves and dig in. Or start splitting!

I guess the upshot of this is, if we all work together we can accomplish a lot!

The Wood Pile

Panic is setting in.

The wood pile we created earlier this year--it is still there. Still needs to be split. It has even grown a bit larger.

Ugh! And the cold season is coming. I am going to want to burn that wood, soon.



The pile of wood waiting to be split is a lot like some of the things I have piled up in my life waiting for action.



The piles never seem to go away and I never seem to get around to working on them. They could be anything from a book I want to read, or a language I want to learn, or a vacation I want to plan. It seems that the pace of life never lets me get to them.

Or maybe it is because I don't really want to get to them.

I know, if I really wanted to, I could get to those projects just like splitting the pile of wood. When I really want to do it, it will get done. It is a matter of priority.

Until then, just like the pile of wood--these projects and tasks remain as unrealized potential--a storehouse of things to do and complete.

The wood can't be burned until it is split and the benefits I gain from addressing the piles in my life can not be realized until I apply my time and effort to them.

I guess I need to get a plan together to address them.

Oops--I think I just created another wood pile!

Monday Musings - September 7, 2009 Labor Day

1. I love holidays where we just hang around the house and get all kinds of stuff done.

2. It is amazing how much stuff needs to be done around a house just for normal maintenance.

3. Wine and cheese--what could be better than sitting on the back porch enjoying the weather and sipping and munching?

4. The movie Patton really is awesome on a Blue Ray.

5. I have been reminding all of my family that Baseball season IS NOT over yet! The O's still have games to lose.

6. Dogs that get set used to getting up at 5AM can be a problem on weekends and holidays At least she likes to go back to bed..

7. Our family football fantasy league really brings us together--and we have a lot of fun. It gives us something to discuss and have friendly competition.

Here I am Whining Again

OK--there is someplace I'd rather be, OK!

There I said (or wrote) it!

On the water and even better, under it someplace warm and tropical!

Yes, I know it is the weekend, and I know I have a lot of stuff to do. But it is Labor Day weekend and that, as everyone knows, is the true end of summer.

Clothing changes, work resumes with a vengeance, and we begin the "gathering" process of preparing for the cold, dark, bleak, desolate (did I say dark?) winter ahead.

We leave the warmth and sunlight behind.

Do we need winter to make us appreciate summer more? I say no!

Remember, I'm the crazy the decided to leave upstate New York and go to college south of Miami! The only reason I came back to graduate from Syracuse was that my class time started to interfere with my beach time.

Not a good frame of mind to be in if one actually wants to graduate from college. The snow and cold of Central New York got me straightened out, fast!

I definitely need one more diving trip before the season ends. Spend some time with the fishes. Or sailing--with the waves.

Summer--the time to live and it seems we spend the remainder of the year getting ready for it or planning for it.