The last shopping Saturday before Christmas has dawned with warm temperatures and the promise of rain and the inevitable last minute dash to finalize plans for the coming holiday.
Coupled with this it is also the solstice. The shortest amount of daylight in the northern hemisphere of the year. I remember a few years ago traveling to the Tropic of Capricorn and straddling it for a few minutes thinking of the solstice, one day per year when the sun makes it southernmost journey and is directly overhead. I wish I were there today--enjoying warmth and daylight. The local weather station is reporting 9 hours and 24 minutes of expected sunlight today. All, of course, obscured by heavy gray rain-laden clouds. Today will have three more minutes of sunlight--we have officially turned the corner on the darkness. And then, after saying the official good-bye to autumn, we gather ourselves and joining the newly dawned winter season soar into Christmas. It should be a busy week. And it will be lighter, longer every day. Spring is just about 91 days away! The grass will return, the leaves with blanket the trees and flowers will bloom. But first, Christmas! Ho, ho, ho. -- Bob Doan, Elkridge, MD
Winter's cold wind blew through my room leaving its frost on the lampshade by my bed as I slept. Where had the heat gone? I could only wonder as I rose from my slumber and my feet touched the snow cold floor. Where were my slippers? I thought, not remembering as I padded across the wooden floors to flip the light switch and illuminate the still dark scene that was my room only to find that the reason for the frost on my lamp might be tied to the unresponsive light meaning that the electricity was off and my attempt to drive out the lingering darkness was a failure. Where is the dog, I wondered, not wanting to trip over her slumbering form and then I heard her stirring from her bed to join me in my pursuit of warmth. A lone ember still glowed in the fireplace and seemed my only hope of driving out the cold before I succumbed to hypothermia I needed my cell--to report the untimely outage and hopefully ease my distress. But, looking out the window into the faint cold dawn's gathering light I could see the likely cause of my current powerless state might be related to the heavy snow which fell overnight and blanketed everything in sight with its cleansing, but freezing whiteness unspoiled as it was just now predawn I found my shoes and coat and struggled outside against the cold wind blown drifts trudging across the yard making a trail across then ubiquitous whiteness that seemed too bright even by the faint glow of the morning sky. Arriving at the neatly stacked pile of logs which held the promise of fire and heat to drive away the intense cold, I loaded and armful in the orange-hued dawn which was brightening against the black sky driving the darkness away by each moment. My breath seemed to freeze to my nose as I exhaled thinking of walking back to my house with the wood and to create warmth from cold. It was as clear a morning as I could remember. The cold gripped me, shaking me from my momentary dream reminding me of my mission to find heat. Shuffling back through the snow and into the house I could not tell which was colder--the house? or the outside? I had forgotten my gloves and my hands were numb as I laid the logs into the fireplace and tried to start a fire. I wonder if the water pipes would burst when the heat returned? Had they frozen? I went to the sink and turned the knob hoping to start a small stream running to save the pipes And I did. Perhaps they would survive. In a few minutes the fire was blazing driving away the cold and returning the room to a livable temperature. Coffee. I needed coffee, and decided to heat water in a pan on the fire. Three quick successes improved my mood-- the fire, the water, and the coffee. I looked at my pathetically under decorated Christmas tree, remembering the trees of my youth but thankful for the one that now, in darkness adorned my room. Dawn had finally broken and light poured into the room with it, the promise of the day reminded me that this cold, winter morning was but another step in the journey and that with each obstacle comes the opportunity for success. I was kidding myself. I should have stayed in bed and waited for the power to return. Oh--I still hadn't called the outage in. The dog joined me on the couch after the call, I sipped my coffee and we both marveled at the gift that we had been given that morning. The gift of life and of each other the promise of another day even in the middle of Winter's cruel cold grip. -- Bob Doan, Elkridge, MD
On a cold Sunday afternoon, when most of the football teams we care about weren't playing, it turned into an impromptu Christmas cookie baking and decorating day. Cookie baking and decorating day is a family holiday tradition, however, the day is becoming parts of many days as the cookie production line seems to be operating more often this year than usual. I love the cookies, but I need to be mindful of how many I enjoy. I'm not sure I could play enough racquetball to maintain my weight if I consumed as many of the delicious cookies as I desired. I also get enjoyment watching others as they debate the relative merits of one, or two, or sometimes three cookies. It is, after all the holiday season. That time of year when we make a lot of decisions that have repercussions well into the next year. Eat, enjoy, relax. It is just a few cookies. -- Bob Doan, Elkridge, MD
I ventured out last evening into the rush hour traffic and Christmas shoppers. I needed to finish up some shopping before it becomes a last minute crisis. It likely will become a last inure crisis. The traffic was crushing; I-95 was a parking lot of red tail lights stretching into the cold winter distance. The on ramps were backed up. A haze hung around the lights illuminating the parking lots making it look a lot colder than it was. But, undaunted, I continued on, although I avoided the mall. IT is Christmas time after all. The most frustrating part of holiday shopping is knowing what I want to buy, but finding that the stores don't have it, or more correctly, the last one they have looks damaged. Is there still internet ordering time? I will continue my pursuit of the perfect Christmas gift--but time is drawing short. At least I didn't wait for Christmas Eve to begin my final shopping push. Christmas Eve is my favorite shopping day of the year, why? Because it is crunch time. Now or never time. Crushing traffic really takes the fun out of the season. But, I was humming Christmas carols through all of the hustle and bustle. Today is another opportunity for success and armed with my trusty internet access, I expect to complete my Christmas shopping and begin to focus upon other aspects of the too rapidly approaching holiday. -- Bob Doan, Elkridge, MD
It was a strange feeling last evening to be returning to an elementary school for a holiday concert. It had been, get this, decades since I last experienced the joy, the terror, the not nearly enough parking in a cramped cafeteria converted to an auditorium listening to motivated students demonstrating their newly discovered instrumental skills playing holiday music. And better yet, this was a joint band and orchestra concert. Ethan was our star. He was one of two cellists in the beginning orchestra! How awesome is that? I'm a band person myself and I played the trumpet (not very well) for a number of years until football got in the way. It was fun to see all of the children take their places with their instruments and begin searching the assembled masses for their families. They are too young to care about not being seeing trying to see and be seen. The music was enthusiastic. I loved the introduction to one of the band pieces: "This piece is difficult because it uses all six of the notes we know how to play." How cute is that?
Ethan on the cello! Enjoy it and remember when we were all younger and maybe, just maybe, we were sitting there terrified and proud! -- Bob Doan, Elkridge, MD
1. Nine precious shopping days remain until Christmas. Ten days until the after Christmas blow-out sales start meaning you get less value for your return than the person who bought it paid for it. Eleven days until the checkbook balance hits zero! 2. Nothing shows how much you care, like being there. This was one of the themes of the message in church on Sunday based upon Luke 2:10-12. 3. I dislike the Christmas song "I'll Be Home for Christmas." It is the most depressing Christmas song ever conceived. 4. I wonder what 2014 will bring? 5. Freaky football Sunday again. 6. It was weird. I wasn't really in the Christmas spirit until I began singing some Christmas songs in church yesterday. 7. The world was changed because of a baby born in a barn. -- Bob Doan, Elkridge, MD
A local news story highlighted the downside of holiday on line shopping. Thieves! In a story reported by the local ABC News channel, It seems that an enterprising thief decided to steal Santa's gifts right off the front porch shortly after the UPS delivery. Unfortunately, even though caught on home video security, the perpetrator of this crime is still at large. I love shopping from the convenience of my easy chair with a click, but actions like this put a downer on the holiday season. It also reminds us that we need to be careful out there--and not just while away from our homes shopping, but even in our own yard. A related story reports that a couple was robbed while filling their car with gas. Be aware and be wary. Oh yeah-- and have a very Merry and safe Christmas. -- Bob Doan, Elkridge, MD
I love olives and olive oil and many things related to olives. I have a hard time staying away from the olives once that are open and on the table in preparation for dinner. During Thanksgiving this year, I rediscovered that most of my family also shares the love of olives--we consumed five containers of olives--green and black; stuffed and whole with the pit. It was during the final preparations for Thanksgiving dinner, however, that Ethan demonstrated a new use for olives. He discovered that they fit perfectly on the ends of his fingers. While they probably are no longer useful as a supplemental food source for anyone, except Ethan, after this experience it certainly was creative. RECOMMENDATION: Do not try this at your table! Maybe he can become a new super hero-- Olive Man! -- Bob Doan, Elkridge, MD
I attended my first ever Straight No Chaser concert at the Joseph Meyerhoff Symphony Hall in Baltimore last evening and had great time. The Meyerhoff is a fantastic music hall and the group, in their third visit to Baltimore, knew the facility well enough to make use of it. Straight No Chaser is an a cappella group which attests to their musical prowess in being able to fill the evening air with wholly produced vocal music. Their harmonies were tight and the music widely varied from their own writing to covering and changing many songs including seasonal ones. They were funny and did not seem to take themselves too seriously, although music is a serious business.
The group demonstrated wide ranging talents, but they were best when taking known songs or music and adding words and feeling to them. Their Nutcracker Medley and their signature 12 Days of Christmas are funny, entertaining, and demonstrate a musical ability not often seen on the stage.
RECOMMENDATION: I enjoyed the concert and definitely recommend them to people looking for a great evening of entertainment. DETRACTOR: The City of Baltimore needs to figure out how to improve traffic flow around the Meyerhoff. The traffic lights are not optimized to bring traffic either into or out of the venue. Driving to the Meyerhoff, I spent 30 minutes traveling the last 900 feet due to poor traffic flow and as I departed last evening I sat at no less than four three minute traffic lights with no traffic coming across the side streets. I think they make computers that can optimize traffic flow. -- Bob Doan, Elkridge, MD
There it is--Major League Baseball has decreed that there will be no more home place collisions in the future. The home plate collision is one of the most exciting plays in baseball, but in the future all runners trying for the contested plate must slide. That is going to be funny when the runner thinks he is crossing the plate uncontested suddenly finds the ball waiting for him and it is too late to slide. But wait, there is more.
It is rumored that the National Football League is considering outlawing tackling below the waist. That coupled with no tackling above the neck and no horse collar tackles transforms football from a game of hard hits into a laughable version version of ballroom dancing as the players must tackle each other, or dance, between the waist and the neck. This may be the result of last Sunday's hit by T.J. Ward on Rob Gronkowski. Ward reports his thought process in the referenced article: There used to be an unwritten rule among players never to hit an opponent in the knee or from behind. But those unwritten rules have been trumped by the new ones from the league. Ward predicted last season that the emphasis on eliminating hits to the head would result in more low tackles and knee injuries. He repeated that position on Sunday.
“When they set the rules, everyone knew what was going to happen,” he said. “This can happen if you have those type of situations. It’s pretty much inevitable. And they force our hand with this.”
Ward could have tried to hit Gronkowski at the waist, but he’s giving up seven inches and 65 pounds to the tight end. If he tries to make a high tackle and misses it, he loses his job.
Finally, I have heard that the National Hockey League is looking to take the fight out of hockey because of concussions. On Saturday the Pittsburgh Penguins and the Boston Bruins played a brawl filled game that highlights the need for change. Although I do enjoy a good hockey fight, even I have to admit that things got out of control at the game on Saturday. Maybe the games for all three sports will improve, after all we really don't need these highly paid and talented players reenacting the death matches of the Roman coliseum. -- Bob Doan, Elkridge, MD
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