As the Weeping Cherry Blooms

April 10, 2013 - The Buds Begin to Open

This springtime I documented the progression of Spring through the blossoming of the Weeping Cherry tree in my yard.

April 11, 2013 - Getting Fuller

As I reviewed the images, taken over a 12 day period, I noticed how not only did the blooms open on the tree, but how the leaves on the trees behind the Weeping Cherry began to fill in.

I guess the four images represent the 13 days of Weeping Cherry--or something corny like that.

April 13, 2013 - Full Bloom

It is fascinating to see the changes. I also noted how the lawn greened up during that two week period as well.

Springtime and rebirth are good for the soul. It reminds me that even though everything seems to be dead, life is contained within. 

The resurgence of the blooms and the green are a sign that the dark season is over.

I just wish the temperatures would start to climb, although yesterday it hit 77 degrees.

April 23, 2013 - Still Blooming but Fading Fast

Although the blossoms are fading fast, the tree is still a marvel to look at and admire. Why? Because I really have nothing to do with its beauty. God did that.

I just get to enjoy and appreciate it. 

Every day now for two weeks. And during the summer as I mow around the tree the image of its springtime beauty remains clear--until next year's image replaces it. Best yet, my Dad and Mom were here this year to enjoy the blossoming with me--and that is a memory I will never forget.

Maybe. despite Winter's best efforts Spring is really here.

What is next?

I only need to look and be ready to enjoy.

-- Bob Doan, Elkridge, MD

Springtime Fizzles

It has been unseasonably cold the past couple weeks. Spring's arrival was supposed to shake the world free from the grasp of Winter. It has not been a clean break. Blizzards and mounting snows in the mid section of the country continue on what seems like an almost daily basis. Cold temperatures continue to rock the East. Even freezing temperatures continue in my personal mecca of Florida.

I have attending baseball games wearing winter coats trying to stave off frostbite and it has been too cold to even drink beer. I think the vendors would do better offering hot chocolate and coffee as the walk through the crowd.

Summertime is on deck. Literally. The geraniums have been planted in the planers, the pool is calling to me that it is time to be open. I mowed the lawn for the first time last weekend. This is the first year I that I can recall not mowing at least once during March and then continuing weekly mowings through April. The pool deck area has been prepared for relaxation--if only the temperatures would cooperate.

I hear even the cicadas are on deck waiting for warmer weather to emerge. Although, the cold has kept the mosquitos in check--and that is a good thing.

So, in my estimation, Springtime has fizzled. I got excited yesterday morning when the pre-dawn temperature was 45 degrees. It was ten degrees warmer than the previous two days and 25 degrees colder than it should be, in my mind. This morning, however, ground was lost as the predawn temperature was only 41 degrees.

I am waiting for the warm-up to begin so that outdoor activities can get into full swing. Today's high is expected to be 75 degrees.

Waiting.

Still waiting.

-- Bob Doan, Elkridge, MD

Talking it Out

I had a talk with Makayla, my dog, last evening.

The house was quiet and I unloaded some of the cares of my day onto her. Why? Because she just loves being near me and I love looking into her big, brown eyes and seeing the trust and respect she has for me.

Confession is good for the soul. She never judges me--she just looks at me with anticipation and at just the right time, she licked my nose and made me laugh.

Of course the conversation was pretty one-sided. But, some conversations are meant to be one-sided. One party needs to talk and the other's job is to listen. She is a pretty good listener. Sometimes she even comes when I call for her.

Did I solve the great mysteries of the universe? No. Did I tease out some things which have been nagging at me? Yes.

Did she have to say a word?

Nope.

That's why dogs are man's best friend, they are short on words, long on comfort, and they are still there even after the cats have moved on to find a warmer spot in the bed.

-- Bob Doan, Elkridge, MD

Monday Musings - April 22, 2013

1. What a week. Form the Boston Marathon bombings to West, Texas fertilizer plant explain and difficult weather in the mid-west.

2. Chris and I have done a lot of plantings in the gardens. I hope we continue to dodge the freezing temperatures--even by a couple of degrees.

3. Sunday's are for family--and yesterday was especially a family day. Thanks to everyone.

4. I am still waiting for the summertime temperatures. It is very chilly. I have slipped pool opening day by a week to the first weekend in May as a result of the low temperatures.

5. Candles, dinner, a nice glass of wine coupled with good conversation as evening falls. What could be better?

6. Night falls quiet after a busy day. Monday calls to start another week. Oh, how I long for Saturday again.

7. Why do weeks always seem busier on Monday morning than they do on Friday afternoon?

-- Bob Doan, Elkridge, MD

Baseball the Purest Form of Society

Yesterday reminded me of how baseball should can be representative of a perfect society. It had been many years since I coached youth baseball and T-ball, specifically, is where the emphasis is on developing skills, learning the game, and celebrating success--for both teams.

On a cold Saturday morning, the Tigers collected with hundreds of other children and adults to march through the neighborhood and open the springs sports season. During the parade I saw a lot of resemblance between our team and the Bad News Bears. It was funny (frustrating?) to watch 4-6 year olds try to carry a large banner along the parade route and stay in line and together. But we got them all to the parade's end without incident. Later, during the early evening was the opening day game for the Tigers.

The game was exciting and perfect because everyone cheered every good play--on both sides. The game was focused on helping the kids learn the game and have fun. I thought it was especially great when the other team made a good out at first--the only one of the day, and everyone cheered. It was a good play.

The only thing that would have made the game more perfect is if Jax could have been there rather than off to Texas for his uncle's wedding. But, I 'm sure he had a lot more fun in Texas--where everything is bigger.

In this iteration of T'Ball we do not keep score and I was asked by one of our players after the game-- "Who won?" I replied to him, "everyone did." It took his six-year mind only a few seconds to say: "So it was a tie?" Which made him happy.

-- Bob Doan, Elkridge, MD

Opening Day #3 - The Excitement Continues

Yes, it is opening day, again. April, it seems, is full of new beginnings and I am about to celebrate my third opening day of the young baseball season today.

Third?

Yup.

My first was when the Orioles opened the MLB season on April 2nd in Tampa.

My second was April 5th, when the Orioles opened the season at home in Orioles Park at Camden Yards.

My third is today, when the GORC Tigers, the T-ball Team for which I am an assistant coach open their season this afternoon. The day will be full of parades and fun and I even get to imitate the coach since he is out of town. I wonder if I can keep 10 rambunctious 4-6 year olds focused upon baseball for an hour? Time will tell.

-- Bob Doan, Elkridge, MD

The Frustrating NFL--let it go!

It is still the first month of the major league baseball season and football will not go away. Even before the pennant races begin to take shape, I have to hear about the upcoming football season.

Do I really care, at this point, whether the Raven are the first Super Bowl winners to start the season on the road? No. It will be there when we get there. Football is not an everyday sport--it is an 18 week sprint that becomes all consuming. The schedule is out! There is a sense of drama for the thrill seekers in life.

If baseball players made the same money per game that league minimum rookie football players make, then the lowest paid baseball player would make $3.78 million! That is based upon the NFL leaguer rookie minimum of $420,000.

All this and football will not go away. Let baseball hold center stage fro a bit to enjoy some of the spotlight. I can actually afford to go to a few baseball games. One football game would cost more to attend than my season tickets to the Orioles!

I like football--but baseball is an everyday sport. Once a baseball game is over we spend a few hours analyzing it and then it is on to the next game. Football seemingly spends a week going over the game just played and then at the last minute turning attention to the game ahead.

There is a reason that Baseball is America's pastime!

-- Bob Doan, Elkridge, MD

Fly Away Day

I love that I am an early riser and usually get to greet the morning before the dawn. I love watching the world wake.

There are advantages to being an early riser and among them is that when family has an early morning flight to some exotic destination, like Texas, I get asked to shuttle them to the airport. I love driving in the early morning, before the traffic becomes crazy. And we are lucky in that we all live fairly close to the airport--so it is only a 15 or so minute drive.

So thins morning, I got to see some of my family and give them a send off in front of the terminal. Part of me always wished that I were flying with them to enjoy the adventure--but I know that someone has to stay behind.

And even after driving to retrieve them, and to the airport--now I am home for a moment, before beginning the crazed activities that have become my daily routine.

And they--are preparing to fly off on adventure along with my thoughts and prayers for a safe and fun trip.

-- Bob Doan, Elkridge, MD

Along the Roadside

Sometimes, as I am driving along almost mindlessly controlling the car and dreaming about things that I want to do or reflecting upon things I should have done, I get shocked back to reality about the circle of life.

No, it wasn't a particularly gruesome accident, like the one I passed last night just a mile from home in the middle of US 1.

I like birds--most of them anyway. Some of them are appointed to do jobs in nature that I would rather not think about. That is the scene I happened upon while rounding a clover leaf coming off a busy highway. Two, large, they are all large it seems, turkey vultures were alongside the off ramp, on the blind part of the curve, feasting upon the remains of some poor creature that was not able to safely cross the road.

It is a part of nature. Something needs to be there to clean up the remains of the unlucky. But to see the birds so close to the car--and they were fairly uncaring about the traffic as they tended to their job, was a sight that I don't usually witness. I see them soaring on the breeze or hanging out in a tree, but rarely if ever see them doing their jobs.

Can I fault them for doing what they were created to do? No. At least they know their jobs and they do them. They have a purpose--and they do it. Their survival depends upon being the clean-up crew of nature. Perhaps, I imagine, they even embrace their jobs.

If only people were so lucky to know their purpose and embrace their calling, no matter how it might appear to others.

-- Bob Doan, Elkridge, MD

After Tax Day Blues

Thankfully, it is over for another year. The season of taxes has come and passed. I did not have to file for an extension, although I know some people who did.

I don't like paying taxes--although as my civic duty I recognize that I must pay taxes and settle up with the governments by every April 15th.

But I am always struck by the inequity of taxes and tax season. I woke this morning and read an article published in the NY Times titled A Tax System Stacked Against the 99 Percent. I actually do not know anyone who is not in the 99 percent.

After reflecting upon the tax season I realized that tax refunds are a way that the governments (in this case the U.S. and Maryland) make paying taxes seem less painful, by collecting too much and then giving it back to the taxpayer like some great gift at the end of the tax year.

The real problem with our tax system is that corporations do not pay their fair share of taxes. According to the article, General Electric has become the symbol for multinational corporations that have their headquarters in the United States but pay almost no taxes — its effective corporate-tax rate averaged less than 2 percent from 2002 to 2012.  Think about it, if a company earning billions of dollars per year paid its fair share of taxes then personal income taxes might be reduced for all of us.

The article continues to postulate that if a majority of the people believe that the tax system is unfair, then our sense of national solidarity and cohesion will be harmed. It also postulates:

We could have a tax system that encourages good things like hard work and thrift and discourages bad things, like rent-seeking, gambling, financial speculation and pollution. Such a tax system could raise far more money than the current one — we wouldn’t have to go through all the wrangling we’ve been going through with sequestration, fiscal cliffs and threats to end Medicare and Social Security as we know it. We would be in sound fiscal position, for at least the next quarter-century.

I think I'd like to give it a try. Life during a sequestered government is bad and only getting worse.

-- Bob Doan, Elkridge, MD