Spring Break Again

Although I have not been in school in over a few decades, I continue to celebrate the idea of Spring Break by taking a much needed week off from work every year.

The idea of getting out for a week and either traveling or doing work around the house is appealing. I had hoped to head off to Florida this year--but, I decided not to travel over Spring Break because I need to work around the house and Opening Week of Baseball is this week.

Some things that I have learned about Spring Break:

-- The last work day before Spring Break is longer than Christmas Eve

-- The week seems longer on Monday than on Friday when I realize that I didn't get nearly as many things done as I wanted to get done.

-- I sometimes work (or play) harder on Spring Break than I do at work

-- I look forward to springtime flowers, like these dogwoods from last year. Spring is way behind this year and only beginning to wrest itself from the grip of winter.

-- Sometimes I get to use fun equipment over Spring Break. This year I will be renting a chipper and a log splitter.

-- Enjoy the idea of the week, because it ends too soon.

-- Bob Doan, Elkridge, MD

They're Here--a Sure Sign of Spring

The FEDEX truck left a present for me the other day. Contained in the package delivered to my door was one of the sure signs of Spring.

My Orioles Season Tickets and parking passes.

No matter how cold it is outside, the arrival of these few tickets  is a harbinger of baseball, summer, and sunshine!

It is time to start planning for 90 degree days. They may not be here for a couple of months, but they are fun to plan for.

Bring on Spring and Summer.

Home Opening Day is just a week away.


-- Bob Doan, Elkridge, MD

What Happened to Springtime?

A friend sent me this.

It says it all.

Phil is no longer my friend.

-- Bob Doan, Elkridge, MD

Delivering on Promises

I ran across an article in the NY Times yesterday about the first rabbi to enter Buchenwald concentration camp and proclaim freedom to the Jews held in captivity there. Herschel Schacter died last week at the age of 95.   It was especially powerful for me to read this article during this week when Passover and Holy Week are being celebrated simultaneously. 

I re-experienced Passover and the Exodus Monday evening at a friend's home for dinner--and I was reminded about how God, through Moses, led his people to freedom after  centuries in bondage. Passover reminded me that God delivers on His promises.

And it is Holy Week as well, a period during which the ultimate sacrifice by a man provided the ultimate freedom from the slavery of sin and death for all. A price was paid for my freedom and too often I forget the price. And I also often forget about how God delivers on his promises.

The article about the first Rabbi into Buchenwald who was able to proclaim freedom to the captive Jews there reminded me of the prophesy in Isaiah 61:1: The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is on me, because the Lord has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners. (NIV)


But he did so much more, he took action. The story in the NY Times recounts the story of Schacter meeting a small boy in the Camp.  

As he passed a mound of corpses, Rabbi Schacter spied a flicker of movement. Drawing closer, he saw a small boy, Prisoner 17030, hiding in terror behind the mound.
“I was afraid of him,” the child would recall long afterward in an interview with The New York Times. “I knew all the uniforms of SS and Gestapo and Wehrmacht, and all of a sudden, a new kind of uniform. I thought, ‘A new kind of enemy.’ ”
With tears streaming down his face, Rabbi Schacter picked the boy up. “What’s your name, my child?” he asked in Yiddish.
“Lulek,” the child replied.
“How old are you?” the rabbi asked.
“What difference does it make?” Lulek, who was 7, said. “I’m older than you, anyway.”
“Why do you think you’re older?” Rabbi Schacter asked, smiling.
“Because you cry and laugh like a child,” Lulek replied. “I haven’t laughed in a long time, and I don’t even cry anymore. So which one of us is older?” 

Rabbi Schacter discovered nearly a thousand orphaned children in Buchenwald. He and a colleague, Rabbi Robert Marcus, helped arrange for their transport to France — a convoy that included Lulek and the teenage Elie Wiesel — as well as to Switzerland, a group personally conveyed by Rabbi Schacter, and to Palestine.

Isn't that really what it is all about? Being a representative for God to those around us and letting them know that He cares. It is about how we take this week of remembrance and move forward for the rest of the year in the confidence of knowing that God takes action and delivers on His promises.

-- Bob Doan, Elkridge, MD

Dishwashers and Disposers

In a modern kitchen there is a dishwasher under the counter and a disposer at the bottom of the sink.

What happens when they both break within days of each other?

Panic!

An easy thousand dollars of new appliances just waiting to be purchased.

Thankfully, with a bit of creativity and some insightful help from the internet I was able to return to service both of these critical modern appliances!  As I was adding up the dollar signs I saved through the two do-it-yourself repairs, I realized how much wine that money could buy. Or a new garage door, or some other equally as unimpressive object for the home.

But--at least I didn't have to buy a new dishwasher and a disposer.

I guess a penny (or dollar) saved is a penny available to spend elsewhere. Modern economics at work.

-- Bob Doan, Elkridge, MD

Final Snow of 2013

March 25, 2013, Baltimore Washington Parkway

Call it wishful thinking if you like, but the snow which fell in the Baltimore area yesterday may be the final snow of 2013. Yes, that means until January 2014!

The snow which snarled traffic and caused a relatively minor inconvenience in the flow of life was the last gasp of winter and now it is time for spring!

Even I had to appreciate the way the heavy wet snow clung to the trees leaving the road as a clear path through the wintery forest. It was hard not to appreciate the beauty--albeit it fleeting. The bulk of the snow has melted leaving again the brown colors of winter to reign for a few last days until the springtime can transform the landscape into a colorful palate of colors.

I know springtime is lurking out there waiting to chip out of the ice.

-- Bob Doan, Elkridge, MD

Monday Musings - March 25, 2013

1. It is snowing and many schools have a two hour delay for starting this morning. What is wrong with this picture?

2. The joys and thrills of March Madness in College Basketball are in full bloom this season.

3. I notices a hint of green in the plum trees yesterday--Springtime is trying to arrive.

4. The tee-ball season is kicking off, I'm glad we decided to wait until next week to start practices.

5. This is the first day of spring break for many school systems--and they are being greeted with snow. Time to bail for Florida.

6. Holy Week and Passover coincide this year. Yesterday was the beginning of Holy Week with Palm Sunday and tonight Passover begins.

7. Trying to shake of the lethargy of cold weather, I bought the supplies necessary to perform the annual tune-up and filter change on the lawn tractor. When we got home, Chris talked me out of beginning the process right away by observing, "You're not going to be using the tractor anytime soon."

8. I opened a bottle of the 2009 Gold Medal winning Consensus wine that Chris and I helped blend a couple of years ago. I was disappointed at first with the nose and taste, but after decanting it for over an hour--a really awesome wine emerged. Good wines need some time to develop and often are not supposed to be consumed right out of the bottle.

9. Did I write that it is snowing?  On the 25 of March? Really?  Surely we can do better. On this date last year the high was 61 degrees. That was 20 degrees cooler than the day before when it was 81 on March 24, 2012.

-- Bob Doan, Elkridge, MD

Repurposing

What an interesting word--repurposing. The online dictionary defines it as: To use or convert for use in another format or product. I prefer to think of it more as taking something useless and making useful.

Take, for instance, an old shoe factory rack that has been part of our household furniture for the past decades. This no small wheeled rack has been languishing without a well defined purpose in the basement as a collection locale for oversized dishes.

On more than one occasion it has been considered for downsizing by earning an inglorious trip to the dump in the bed of my truck--which is sad because it is not only old, but somewhat unique. It is an antique? Probably not. It, for some reason, has been spared. Probably because it is old and unique--just not overly useful.

Well, a couple of weeks ago, as the rack was again being considered for downsizing Chris had the grand idea of repurposing it as a wine rack!  What a great idea. All it would take was to construct some shelves to hold wine bottles. Best of all, the modifications would not require changes to the shoe rack--it would remain in its original configuration, in case it has any intrinsic value.

The design was fairly simple since the rack already had shelves and so, with a little bit of construction and some relatively inexpensive wood and stain, the former rack of limited usefulness was repurposed and now has a definite role within the house.

What a great word--repurposing. Taking something useless and making it useful again!

-- Bob Doan, Elkridge, MD

The Loneliest Flower

There it was--attempting to bring springtime to reality, alone in my still sleeping garden. A solitary crocus.

But, it did its job--it made me smile and think of warmer days.

What a cold early springtime we are having. I am not even really seriously counting the days until pool opening because it is so cold. (OK, 34 days).

Maybe I won't have to wear a parka for Orioles Home Opening Day on April 5th.

I hope.

-- Bob Doan, Elkridge, MD

Springtime Held Hostage

I think that winter is holding spring hostage. Someone needs to play the ransom.

Although I noticed daffodils and crocus in bloom today--temperatures in the 30's and 40's do not make for inviting springtime activities.

Some of the trees are beginning to break into leaf buds, yet there is still the threat of snow in the forecast. Last year the high temperature on March 22nd was 76 degrees. Today's high is expected to be 50 degrees. Yesterday it was 48 degrees but it felt much colder and as I write this my thermometer is showing 26 degrees.

I am getting ready for baseball practice and may need to wear a parka! I'm gonna freeze out there as the assistant coach for a Jax's t-ball team. Although I do normally wear a glove I wonder if you can play baseball while wearing mittens.

I keep looking for signs of revival and green. There is precious little green yet.

I believe that when spring actually arrives, it is going to be fantastic. But, I could really use an 80 degree day--right now! I keep thinking that I was supposed to be in Sarasota, Florida, this weekend but plans changed. It is supposed to be 80 degrees there on Saturday.

-- Bob Doan, Elkridge, MD