Return of the Hunter

I am amazed at how it sneaks up on me during September.

Hanging there in the pre-dawn sky yesterday morning Orion made his presence known to me as I was returning to the house after Makayla's morning walk.

I am always happy when Orion finally disappears after transitioning to the evening sky. It means Spring has returned. For now though Orion's return signals that the dark, cold times are on their way.

The constellation is stunning though. Besides the Big Dipper, Orion may be the most recognizable constellation, although Cassiopeia is a close second.

I enjoy the way the imaginary hunter watches over me. Some of the stars that comprise Orion are friends as well. Betelgeuse and Rigel are my favorites.

The return of Orion means pool closing is at hand. The leaves will don their autumn gaiety soon, and the snow and cold of winter are not far behind.

So much cold and darkness before the return of moderate temperatures.  And all because Orion has returned.

-- Bob Doan, Elkridge, MD

Awesome Image

Patrick took a really cool image of Camden Yards while we were at the game on Sunday.

It is a panoramic image.

It shows so much of how this season is different for the O's. This is a September game with over 46,000 people in attendance-and most of them are wearing orange! Not blue or red.

On the very right side--in the orange you can see myself and Jeremy watching the on field activity intently.

A beautiful September afternoon--puffy white clouds in a beautiful blue sky.

A perfect day for baseball. If only . . .  Sadly, the image was taken during the 8th inning when the Orioles defeat was assured and so the stands are beginning to empty.

But September isn't over yet. Good things are going to happen.

-- Bob Doan, Elkridge, MD

Monday Musings - September 10, 2012

1. It is really demoralizing to leave a baseball game after 40,000 fans showed up but the team didn't and wound up getting blown out. On top of that, the O's lost to the Yankees.

2. There is something depressing about realizing that the end of summer is as close as it is--and it was a great summer.

3. We had a loud humming noise associated with a new set of tires on Chris' car only to find out that we have a bad wheel bearing.  I have some work to do.

4. Opening Sunday of the NFL season and I was at a baseball game--how cool is that? So much for Sunday Ticket.

5. Makayla had a check-up last week--she has bad knees. Otherwise, she's healthy but still freaked out about the wood floors. They don't give dogs anti-anxiety medicine.

6. An amazing thing happened on Friday while trying to get back home after a week in Denver, I called to change my travel reservations less than six hours before the flight I wanted to got on--and they had a seat and I pulled it off, getting back a whole day early.

7. I'm not very happy with my Samsung Blu-ray player. It won't update itself and none of the special features work. It is only a year and a half old--and now all it will do is play Blu-ray's and DVDs. It was out of warranty in March. I called Samsung support for help--and they didn't.

8. I was reassured by the news that Congress is returning to work this week after their five week vacation. I wonder, will they really work?

9. Saw an interesting phrase on a greeting card: “Always aim for the Moon, even if you miss, you'll land among the stars.” -- W. Clement Stone

-- Bob Doan, Elkridge, MD

Words that Signal the End of Summer

Sitting together for breakfast this morning, Chris uttered the words that signal the end of summer to me.

The conversation went something like:

"Bob? What are we doing next weekend?"

I responded too quickly, "I think next weekend is open, why?"

And then she had me, "I think we should close the pool, the nights are in the 50's and so it is going to be too cold to swim. And the leaves are going to be falling off the trees soon."

Ugh! She had me. I had not only opened the door to the trap, but had cheerfully walked through and shut off any escape route behind me. I never saw it coming. It was a long distance kill shot. Perfectly sniped.

Closing the pool is one of the saddest weekends of my year. Not because of the work--but because of what it means.

The end of summer. Closing the book on the most joyous season of my year and ushering in the season of cold and darkness.

I need a house on the other side of the equator to escape to during the upcoming seasons. I'm thinking of perpetual summer rotating between the U.S. and maybe Chile or Australia.

In wine a wine region of course.

All of this because I have to close my pool--the site of summer fun and frolic.

-- Bob Doan, Elkridge, MD

Out the Hotel Window - Denver, September 2012

I am fascinated with the views out of hotel windows, as many of you know. And so, as I was at the Embassy Suites in Denver again for a couple of days, I decided to do something a bit different--document the breaking of the dawn--especially since I was up anyway.

I took a series of three images out of my window as the sun tried rising in the east the other morning.

In this one--the sky is uniformly lit by the sun which is still minutes below the horizon.

It was very dark and the iPad camera did a relatively good job capturing the scene.

In the next one, the sun is just below the horizon--the orange glow can be seen.

I love the way the light is reflected off the clouds. They shimmer and look silver.

The final image is of the scene in dawns light.

Or almost, anyway.


-- Bob Doan, Elkridge, MD

O's -- All in Yet?

I was reviewing the Facebook postings from family and friends about the Orioles and was reminded of a question someone asked last week--

When should we go all in for the Orioles?

My response-- two months ago!

-- Bob Doan, writing from Denver, CO

Simply O's

I was planning to do another blog on out the hotel window--but the O's played the Yankees last evening--and won what was the most important game in the past 15 years! And now tonight's game is the most important game in that same span.

OMG--it is September and the Orioles are playing to win the division for the first time since 1997.

Am I excited?

Camden Yards from Pickle's Pub

Yes. This is the first time the Orioles have been playing for the post season since I've been a season ticket holder. They are tied for the second best record in the American league.

I can't wrap my head around it. Neither can my family.

Whether they actually make the playoffs or not is almost immaterial--but I have been wishing for a beltway World Series between the National and the Orioles, just because both teams deserve the recognition.

I have some of the tickets for post season games--but I fear I will go broke supporting the resurgent O's which are arguably, one of the best teams in baseball.

How can I possibly miss a game?

I can't.

How can I not fly to Tampa for the season finale when the O's will likely secure a post season playoff spot, or not.

I saw on TV that over 46,000 people were in the Yards last night--and it made me happy that Baltimore, one of the premier baseball towns in America was back with a swagger.

I read a Yankee blog and it seems that Yankee fans know the Orioles are for real. They are panicked!

Can the O's really win the AL East? Or even wild card. Remember, at the beginning of the season they were predicted to lose more than 100 games and be worse than the Houston Astros?  The Astros have already been mathematically eliminated from post-season play--the only team in baseball with that distinction and they are on track to lose about 110 games. I feel bad for their fans--I've supported a team that has been there.

My what a few months will do.

O's.

However it ends, the ride has been great and I love baseball.

-- Bob Doan, Writing from Denver, CO

Sleeping Away from Home

Something that seems to elude me when traveling is good sleep.

I enjoy some aspects of traveling--especially changing timezones so that the end of the Orioles game is at 8PM, or the end of a nighttime football game is right at my 10PM bedtime.

But then the fun begins--finding the best way to enjoy the bed provided to me for sleep.

I think that most of the problem is that I am alone--and so I have too much space to fill. Chris is not next to me and neither is Makayla nor the cats. While this should be an advantage, it seems that it isn't.

It is too quiet and too still.

There is no reassuring breathing (or panting in the case of Makayla) to create the sounds that mean sleep to me. I can't feel me bed mates struggling to carve out their own piece of the bed.

I am alone with a lot of space to fill.

And pillows--seemingly a multitude of pillows, yet none exactly like the ones that I am comfortable wrapping my arms around or placing my head upon.

And it is too hot or too cold.

No matter where the thermostat is set--it is wrong at some time. I find I like my hotel room a bit warmer than the default temperature. But even though I set the thermostat for the same temperature as home--it is not right.

I sleep. But in spurts.

I check the clock constantly. Sometimes on the half hour hoping that I had slept and it is time to get started on the day.

But no--it usually doesn't happen.

And that brings the weird dreams. Like last night when I was riding a bicycle with a flat tire, double with Chris, and we stopped at a gas station for air where they were fishing and a some professional soccer players were having their cars fixed before heading off to soccer training camp. Someone needed a boat to go fishing in the river, where the air pump was.

Really, I can't make this stuff up--well, I guess I did.

-- Bob Doan, Writing from Denver, CO

What Does the Situation Warrant?

I committed a traffic infraction over the holiday weekend.

Yes, I admit it--I looked at the traffic situation and then did something the sign said not to do.

The situation:

About 10 AM on Monday, Labor Day near a mall outside of Williamsport, PA, we had made a quick potty and coffee stop at a Burger King off Interstate 180. At the intersection onto the road coming out of the shopping area was a sign--Right Turn Only. I, of course, needed to go left. There was no traffic on the road. Seriously, no one.

Why is this sign so absolute when there clearly are times when making a left turn is not a traffic issue. My guess is that during the busy part of the day, left turning vehicles back up into the shopping area creating congestion and fostering risky driving behaviors as people attempt to turn into tight traffic spaces. But, I don't know because we were the only car at the intersection.

Am I allowed to evaluate the situation and make a conscious decision that obeying the sign does not make sense?

The situation:

Nighttime, red traffic light. No other vehicles or headlights in sight. Anywhere!

Why am I waiting for the light to turn green? Yet, I do.





The situation:

Sitting at a red traffic light on a one way street in Ithaca, NY (Seneca and Tioga Street). Tioga does not cross Seneca at this point, the only turn is right and there, by definition cannot be any cross traffic or turning traffic--yet there is a "No Turn on Red" sign above the intersection.

Why is this turn not allowed?






The situation:

A STOP sign at an intersection with great view of the approaching vehicles when attempting a right turn.

Stop, or roll through treating the STOP more like a YIELD sign?



I confess, I am not really sure where this line of thought is headed--but I am pondering that question I heard many years ago:




Does a RED light make you STOP?


-- Bob Doan, Writing from Denver, CO

Holiday Traffic Thoughts

I experienced the Dr Jekyll and Mr. Hyde of traffic situations this weekend trying to complete the trip first to, and then from Upstate NY.

First, I am happy that we (Chris, Makayla, and I) got away for the weekend to see family. So, if this sounds like complaining, it isn't. The traffic just was.

The trip to NY on Friday afternoon was an experience. The Baltimore beltway going north to I-83 was at a crawl for much of the way--and we departed at 12:30PM to attempt to miss the crush of late holiday travelers. Undaunted we continued on as we had expected such a mess.

Traveling north on I-83 still in Maryland we encountered the first of three major accidents we would experience along the way. As traffic slowed to a stop and emergency vehicles were passing us on the right we were able to extract ourselves form the highway onto a parallel road and get around the accident. We also saw a very nice policeman giving a frustrated driver a ticket for crossing the median in an attempt to reverse course. Total delay -- about 20 minutes.

Accident number two was in PA just before Harrisburg. The traffic stopped just past an exit ramp and I thought we were doomed. But, at least for a bit as the emergency vehicles were arriving, they were allowing two lanes of traffic by. I was amazed as I watched one ambulance arrive and take up one of the lanes of traffic just after we passed the scene. Delay: 15 minutes.

By now the frustration factor was rising in the car.

Clear sailing until Selinsgrove, PA. No accident, just slow traffic causing us to wait at every traffic light along that stretch of US 15. Delay: About 10 minutes.

At this point I think I am out of the woods because from there to Corning, NY (our first stop on the trip for dinner with Tim and Stephanie and their family) is usually a fast trip. But no, along Route 11 headed to PA 147 to join Interstate 180 for the swing through Williamsport, traffic is at a stop--I can see the turn, but it is not moving. 30 minutes later after a heated discussion in the car we head over the mountain and rejoin Route 15 and head north.

Original scheduled arrival time in Corning: 5PM. Actual arrival time: 6:30 PM. Ugh!

The return trip was a breeze by comparison. There was only one accident, along the Baltimore beltway where we slowed from 60mph to 40mph. Total driving time: 5h 30min. Even with the occasional rain we made great time screaming through everywhere we had waited on the trip north.

It is hard to believe the difference a couple of days can make.

-- Bob Doan, Elkridge, MD