At Stay-cation's End

It is back to work this morning after completing my stay-cation. That is a hard reality to comprehend.

It had been a great respite at the end of the effective summer. Projects were accomplished around the house, movies were watched, and I even made a journey yesterday to the shooting range to fire some rifles--including my 42 year old Ithaca .22. It was good to hear the crack of a .22 round bursting forth from the barrel of my long time friend again and also for Patrick to be able to finally achieve a dream in firing that rifle.

Most of all though, I was able to spend some quality time with Chris as we worked side-by-side accomplishing the projects or watching the movies.

I saw two movies in their first days of release:
The Odd Life of Timothy Green and Hope Springs. I have not done that in a long while. I actually saw The Odd Life of Timothy Green on its premier day--which was yesterday. I also enjoyed watching Jaws with Ethan the other afternoon--so I also saw a classic from 1975.

I could not believe that Jaws was released in 1975, but it was. My how things have changed--even our understanding of Great White sharks. I saw an clip on Shark Week that suggested that the movie Jaws was instrumental in advancing our understanding of Great White sharks--even though the movie portrayed them incorrectly.

But this morning, it is back to work, albeit only two days this week. I'm glad it is a short week--but Thursdays are the busiest days of the week. Now, frankly, I am wondering why I didn't take the whole week off. And maybe next week, too.

Chris and I did a quick review of the stay-cation and decided that it is definitely a keeper! I will do it again next year. Plan a short vacation to go no where but home.

Dorothy, from the Wizard of Oz said it best: "There's no place like home!"

-- Bob Doan, Elkridge, MD

And the Tree Came Down

Although the rain in the morning made for some soggy conditions, it dried enough by early afternoon to tackle the dead tree.

It needed to come down as it was becoming green with vines and would soon come down on its own and at a time when we least needed it to wind up in the yard. So off with my chainsaw I went, assisted by Chris and Ethan to fell the tree. It seemed a simple task.

Nothing is ever as simple as it seems.

I surveyed the tree and determined which direction it should fall--not being straight there was an element of deciding the center of gravity and which direction was the natural direction for it to fall. That direction seemed good to me--so there was no need for ropes or cables to attempt to direct the tree to another location. I should have surveyed the scene a bit better.

The chainsaw started and ran better than it has in a long time. I tore into the tree making the notch to help ensure the direction of fall.

Then the chainsaw blade got dull. Ugh! I was making a lot of smoke--which had a nice sweet burning wood odor to it, but not cutting a lot of wood.  Off to the garage to change the blade. Yes, I have five blades--but after this blade change I have only one more sharp one. It is time to go off to get the group sharpened again.

After the delay--and the blade was really hot, too hot, it was back to the tree. I finished the notch and then began work on cutting the tree down.

The tree began falling--in exactly the right direction and then the upper branches became caught on another tree. Not a good situation. How to get the tree down.

Use a rope! Great idea. Off to the garage for a rope. After a few minutes the upper limb was roped and we began to pull on the limb to move the tree. Nothing.

What next?

The winch, of course! Thank goodness I have a hand winch. Off to the garage again.

The cable was too short to be of any value. Wait--the tow cable. Back to the garage.

We finally got the tow cable secured to the offending limb and hooked to the winch secured to a nearby unsuspecting tree and began to slowly pull the limb away to allow the tree to continue to fall.

Wait--another tree--a smaller one was now hanging up the entire process. The chainsaw made quick work of this obstacle and then it was back to the winch. We should have taken a picture of this incredible scene--a winch, a tow cable, a tree and a rope--but we didn't.

The three finally succumbed to the force of the winch and fell to the ground, whereupon, I began cutting it into firewood for next winter. Already seasoned, I love the smell of the wood as it is cut.

Success--I was totally drenched in sweat, but survived the project without major injury.

I am going to hire someone next time I need to fell a tree!

-- Bob Doan, Elkridge, MD

Day Off and Rain Changed Activity

I am in the middle of a three day holiday (stay-cation) to celebrate the end of summer and complete some projects around the house.

And it is raining. Really! Wet.

Although I love rain, it makes working outside problematic, especially when one of the projects I had planned on accomplishing was dropping a dead tree. The rain just makes that a bit tougher.

OK-- really dangerous.

So the tree will wait. Until tomorrow!

Yesterday the garage was cleaned--thoroughly. Until I put the lawn tractor back inside we actually could have put two cars into the two-car garage. Miraculously.

The truck is fully loaded for a trip to the dump.

I fear the rain has moved cleaning the attic into the forefront of activities planned for the day. Ugh. I despise cleaning the attic--which is why in the almost 12 years we have lived here the attic has not been thoroughly cleaned. There are boxes there untouched by human hands for a dozen years. The next time they are opened will be when they are tossed into the dumpster at the dump.

Flexibility is the key to fun and the successful completion of projects.

Rain is just an opportunity to find new ways to get things done.

-- Bob Doan, Elkridge, MD

Monday Musings - August 13, 2012

1. Olympics completed. Medals won. The world shrunk a bit for a few short weeks.

2. Completion. That is the exclamation point on the deck project with the final screw being driven into the final piece of wood.

3. Politics heats up as we head into the convention season. Less than three months to go.

4. Mars--the Red Planet seems closer again as Curiosity begins its mission. I know that Bugs Bunny's nemesis Marvin the Martian is hiding there somewhere.

5. I am taking a few days off this week to complete those summertime projects that haven't been completed yet.

6. Check out the Orioles--they are still in the play off race and it is heading into mid-August. Ya gotta believe!

7.  Olympics highlights--Michael Phelps, USA Women kicking the world's butt, USA Men's and Women's Basketball, Women's Soccer, Men's Platform Diving, Men's and Women's Swimming. Wow!

8. In 3114 BC, the Mayan calendar started on this date.

9. In 1940, The Battle of Britain begins on this date. I wonder if the Olympics ended yesterday because of this historical remembrance.

Olympic Thoughts--The End is Here

The U.S. is pulling away in the medal take at the Olympics and even has more gold medals than China.

I watched some of the Men's 10 m Platform Diving--which ended with a surprise Gold Medal for an American. Think about it--10 m platform diving is like jumping off a three-story building. I think I am too sane to even try that one. I dove off a 3 m springboard once and thought I was going to die after crashing into the water.

And then there were the track and field events. I had hope that with three Americans in the field that we would get at least one medal on the 5,000 m race. But no. It wasn't to be.

Sadly, the U.S. women--who seem set on conquering the world, settled for silver in volleyball. The men never even made it that far.

The nice thing about the Olympics--there always seemed to be something on tother than the nonsense of the regular TV programming. I mean, how many episodes of some program on HGTV can one person really watch?

We tried to find a movie to watch last evening--with over hundreds of channels we felt lucky to find Moneyball playing on one channel for some evening entertainment as the thunderstorm rained down upon us.

At least the Olympics are entertaining. And they can be mind expanding by watching events that we never even knew were in the Olympics-like mountain bike riding.

As the games close today, we will be forced to choose from the usual mind numbing shows to watch on TV again. Ugh!

Just when you think it can't get worse-it finds a way.

-- Bob Doan, Elkridge, MD

A Running Mate for Romney - Yawn

I am sitting in front of the TV, taking a break from the Olympics to focus on something important--the Presidential sweepstakes.

The pundits are gearing up for the stretch run and the Republican candidate is announcing his running mate. The scene is splashed with flags and red, white, and blue bunting. Imaginary excitement, it seems. Whipping the crowd into a political frenzy by touting the record of failures--but never spouting a vision for the future.

I wish the campaign would change into one focused on defining the future in terms other than one candidate is better than the other guy.

So, while I'm watching and listening to the candidate bashing, I wonder what is in store for the winner of the election the day after inauguration? It is like too many marriages--all of the effort is put into the wedding day and none into the day, weeks, and months after that fantastic day.

We need a President who has a vision for the four years after inauguration day.

And so, I wait. And while I listen to the bashing and the blustering, I yawn and wonder . . .

is there any substance to either of the leading candidates, one of whom is our President? Will there be any positive action as a result of the words?

I hope so, because one of them will be leading our great nation come January 2013.

-- Bob Doan, Elkridge, MD

Anniversary Number 37

Last evening--it was off to Yellowfin, near Annapolis, for a celebratory dinner.

Looking out the Window of Yellow Fin

Thirty-seven years ago at the tender age of 19, my high school sweetheart and I were married. Really. And it has been an adventure ever since.

It is fun, once a year to reflect on life together because we spend so much time living day-to-day that we often don't have the time to think about where we've been--only where we are going.

Sitting at the restaurant, looking out at the water and the boats as the sun was setting behind a cloud was a great place to reflect on where we've been and plan for the future. You can almost make out the roses in the vase in the corner--I put them in the image intentionally--but now am not so sure it worked.

Every couple needs time to reflect, away from the hassles of life in a spot isolated from iPads and iPhones. Last evening was ours.

Happy Anniversary. It has been 37 years to the same person. Cool. Sometime when asked I remark that I have been married too long, but in reality it has passed so quickly that the time seems too short. I guess it is easier when you are married to your best friend.

-- Bob Doan, Elkridge, MD

All in a Day's Work

Some days are unique just due to  diversity of the activities involved.

Yesterday was no exception.

Weirdly, I went to work for the morning, then off to the dentist, followed by the allergist for one of my twice weekly shots, and the reconnected the Wii for Ethan to play some games followed by more work on the stair railings on the deck--which, are all but complete, finally.

The balusters are all in place and I am doing some final work on the rail and topping for the railings--but it is so close to being done that I am about to say, finally, the project started during the first weekend of June is done.

Bird Sweeps-up

For an encore, it was off to see the now nine games over 500 Orioles sweep the Seattle Mariners, 9-2. It was a hot and muggy evening. Very close, I would describe it. Except for the score. I do enjoy seeing the Oriole Bird with a broom sweeping away the competition.

Muggy is an interesting word. It is of Scandinavian origin it turns out.  Who knew?

Being at Camden Yards last evening was great. The crowd was small but, about 17,000, but it was all Orioles fans and were definitely into the game. Chris and I visited Boog's Barbecue and Boog Powell himself was there signing autographs. I like seeing the great former Orioles first baseman as it reminds me of the great history that the team has, and especially the 1966 World Series sweep of the Dodgers. Maybe lightening will strike like that this year.

After the game, yes, I stayed until the last pitch was thrown, it was back home and into bed a bit past my bedtime, but at the end of an activity packed day. I sure am glad that every day is not like yesterday, but then, I am glad that some of them are!

--Bob Doan, Elkridge, MD

Football? Hall of Fame?

For the first time in many years, the NFL Football Hall of Fame game came and went with almost nothing louder than a whimper. It was played last Sunday! Another meaningless pre-season game marking the beginning of the NFL campaign.

Although a number of great football players were inducted into the Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio, we heard almost nothing about the ceremony this year.

The news coverage was drowned out by the playoff inspiring Orioles here in Baltimore.

Yeah--the Ravens, the Steelers, the Redskins and the other 29 teams in the NFL are in training camp and the NFL season opener is less than a month away.

But we are in a play off race for the first time in 14 or more years.  It's BASEBALL, baby!

The O's have a winning record and have their sights set on the evil empire, the NY Yankees, who currently sit atop the AL East. There are 52 games left and it is on, again.

Football can wait--we are extending summer this year! I even have visions of October baseball and trying to get tickets to sold out Orioles games at inflated (rather than reduced) prices.

For the first time in years, we have a contender on the diamond. And i am heading out to the ball park tonight to cheer on the Boys of Summer!

--Bob Doan, Elkridge, MD

Standing in the Throng

It happened Sunday. I was in church part of the gathered congregation singing an especially great praise song. It was dark, the band was leading and it seemed that everyone around me was singing joyously. I suddenly got lost in a vision.

I understood, just for a brief moment, these verses in Revelations Chapter 7:

7:9 After these things I looked, and here was an enormous crowd that no one could count, made up of persons from every nation, tribe, people, and language, standing before the throne and before the Lamb dressed in long white robes, and with palm branches in their hands. 7:10 They were shouting out in a loudvoice,

“Salvation belongs to our God, to the one seated on the throne, and to the Lamb!” - NET Bible

I was part of the great multitude singing, no we were shouting, to God seated on His throne. I could hear my small voice joining with thousands of others in choruses of praise. And I never tired of singing songs of praise. For a moment, I think I had a vision of heaven.

I realized that I never tire of singing praise songs.

But it was standing in the middle of a great congregation on Sunday that reminded me that I am journeying here. It is not my home.

-- Bob Doan, Elkridge, MD