Image of the Year

5th Place (Tie) Going to the Game with E-Dawg

At the end of every year, I like to review the images (pictures) that were taken to both remember the events and to select the image of the year. 

5th Place (Tie)
Taking Pictures of Poppies in Oregon

There were over 1300 images in the running this year and I narrowed them to 17. I was surprised that 11 of the images were collected during the July trip to Oregon. Well, Oregon is a stunning place and the forests, wineries, and waterfalls are truly sights that must be visited and enjoyed.

5th Place (Tie)
Sasquatch Hunting in Oregon

Every image has a story behind it--and that is truly the interesting part. It is not the artistic value of the images, but rather the memories they recall that make them truly special to me. 

I wanted to show the top 5, but it turns out that there was a three-way tie for 5th place and so there are 7 images. 

Even culling them down, 5 images from Oregon made the top 5 (or is that 7) for the year. 

4th Place
Chris on Her Morning Walk through the Willamette Valley Vineyards vineyard

Chris and I thoroughly enjoyed wandering through the vineyard every morning during our stay at the Willamette Valley Vineyards. There is something just relaxing and idyllic about starting the morning walking through the grapes on the vines. Every morning was different and enjoyable.

3rd Place
Sunset Across the Willamette Valley

Watching the stunning sunsets across the valley in the evenings was  the perfect way to end the day. Of course, sipping on a glass of wine on the veranda of the guest house is a great addition to the view.

Runner-up
Standing Above the Pacific Ocean on the Trail

After hiking a short mile or so to get to the overlook, the reward was a fabulous view of the Pacific Ocean from a spot, which potentially, Lewis and Clark stood to get a view of the ocean. Stunning, awesome, and expansive are the words that come to mind.

Image of 2014
Looking Over Cayuga Lake

This image was captured during June on a beautiful summer afternoon. This is one of those images that just calls to me through the water and the empty adirondack chairs that just say--come and sit for a while. The scent of the summer was hanging in the air and the lake called to the primal instinct to come down and play in the water.

There they are--my top five (OK--7) images of 2014 and the memories they recall.

-- Bob Doan, Elkridge, MD

Kitty Leaves the Nest

Kitty Departs

It finally happened. On the last day of 2014, Kitty, my Jaguar, left the nest and was donated to the National Kidney Foundation. 

There is a huge space in my driveway where it was parked, and a hole in my heart. Kitty was, after all, my first Jaguar. I had tried selling the car for the past almost eight months--but there were no serious buyers. In the end, it just made better sense to donate Kitty to a foundation that works to make lives better for people.

As I was going through the paperwork, I realized that I had owned the car for just over seven years and in that entire time put only about 6,000 miles on it. 

So, good bye to Kitty--I begin the new year with one less vehicle.

-- Bob Doan, Elkridge, MD

2015 Begins

A page turned and completed another chapter in the book of the years last night when 2014 became 2015.

The final period on the year occurred as we shouted 3..2..1 just before we said

First Dawn of 2015

Happy New Year!

I find it interesting that the years arrive and depart under the cover of darkness. In some places, the darkness is short as opposed to the Northern Hemisphere where the hours of light seem brief. For instance, Sydney, Australia had about 14 hours and 22 minutes of daylight to celebrate the first day of the new year. Here in Elkridge, we are expecting a mere 9 hours and 28 minutes of sunlight.

The new year dawned clear and cold in Elkridge. I awoke to 17 degrees, a clear sky, and a subdued sunrise due to the lack of moisture in the air.

But, it is the new year and it is full of hope and promise.

Happy New Year to all! May the blessings and happiness of the new year not be overlooked amidst the dirt and disappointment of life. Let's plan to meet back here in 365 days to celebrate again the changing of the year and the promise of the new one.

-- Bob Doan, Elkridge, MD

And so it Passes

Pikes Peak during January 2014

2014 ends tonight. What a year it has been. I am at the same time happy and sad to see it pass.

It is the turning of the year that helps me take a moment and review the year.

One of the high points was the trip to Oregon during July. Wow, what a beautiful place. I highly recommend it as a place to visit. It may be too rainy and cold to live there.

Consensus Blending: The Mad Scientist Lives

I had forgotten how much I traveled during the year: to Colorado a bunch of times and to Alaska during February. Then there was also the Consensus Wine Blending at Keswick--which is always a great weekend in Charlottesville, VA. Spring Training to Sarasota got me out of the cold for a few days and into a baseball state of mind.

Alaska in February: Who Travels There Then?

And there were also trips to Ithaca and wineries. I lost count of how many wineries were visited this year--but I know they were in five states: Maryland, Virginia, New York, Pennsylvania, and Oregon. 

There were wine dinners and wine evenings throughout the year the kept me busy and helped me to enjoy life to the fullest. 

Sarasota with the Orioles Bird

Spring finally arrived, and with it Opening Day and the fantastic Orioles baseball season which saw my team come just short in the League Championship Game. OK, so they were swept. But the Orioles proved themselves as one of the best teams in baseball. 

There were celebrations during the year: I officiated at two weddings during the year and celebrated my parents 60th anniversary and a host of birthdays. But, there was also the mind-numbing loss of our nephew, Troy,  that will never be fully overcome or understood.

Mom and Dad do 60

Out of the loss though, I began learning a new sport: golf! I played in a tournament and discovered that golf is enjoyable, frustrating, more frustrating, and a life sport to compliment racquetball as something that I do and not something that I only watch others do.

Tracks in the Hail Stones after the Storm

During the year, I survived a horrific tornado-infested hail storm in Denver. I have never seen hail fall from the sky in the volume or size that I witnessed during one afternoon in the Mile High City. 

Beach time was very limited and I was able to make it to Ocean City for Labor Day--my only beach trip of the year. For the first year I can remember in a long time, I did not snorkel or dive into the waters of an ocean. I barely got my feet wet in Ocean City as the surf was rough and cold.

Chris Enjoying a Late-October Evening fire

An October evening fire and wine began capping the year's events. As the mosquitos finally went away we were able to reclaim the backyard. From there there was the succession of holidays: Halloween, Veteran's Day, Thanksgiving, and Christmas--all great and all special.

As I reflect upon the year, there are so many events that occurred that is it hard to recap them all and I know I have missed a few great ones. But that is the point--even with the numbing loss we experienced, 2014 was a great year. New vistas achieved, new places visited, and friends and family were at the center of all of it. 

On the Beach
My Preferred View of the World

Who knows what 2015 will bring. I already know that will have a new experience before January plays out--and I am looking forward to the Caribbean warmth that goes along with it.

Another Consensus Blending trip is on tap in an effort to repeat as the champions--and if not, at least have a lot of fun.


--Bob Doan, Elkridge, MD

Monday Musings - On Tuesday December 30, 2014

1. I've been having so much fun being off from work that I forgot yesterday was Monday!

2. 360 shopping days until Christmas!

3. 2014 is winding down rapidly. I have to admit, I will be happy to see this year end, there have been some great times, but some really down times, too.

4. Got health care? 2015 is the year we need to declare or pay penalties.

5. Winter has returned after a great respite. 

6. Pitchers and catchers report in about 52 days signaling the end of winter--at least in my mind.

7. NFL playoffs are in swing and the Ravens miraculously made the cut. For at least a week anyway, I'm afraid they are headed into a steel curtain ambush.

8. New Year's is upon us. Drive safe, be smart, and party responsively.

-- Bob Doan, Elkridge, MD

Bullseye!

It is a beautiful sight in my backyard. The bullseye!

It is a Christmas gift purchased with the gift cards that I received form a local golf store.

I admit, the bullseye may be a bit excessive, but having my own driving range in the backyard is really neat. I even acquired a bag of about 100 used golf balls to launch at the target. 

And it makes a really nice, and loud, sound when it gets hit right in the center--which is not that often. 

Hopefully the mat will save my yard a bit of wear and tear.

I wandered out a few times yesterday to launch balls and frustrations at the target. It is a lot more satisfying hitting real golf balls than the spongy ones that I have been hitting.

The other nice thing is that i don't have to worry about hitting any houses if I mishit a ball--which I do pretty often.

I wonder if I will actually get any better?

-- Bob Doan, Elkridge, MD

Good and Evil through the Eyes of a 14-year old

Usaid Barho  Reenacting His Surrender

There is an international story circulating about a 14-year old Syrian boy who was seduced into service with ISIL (or ISIS, IS) and figured out that by volunteering to become a suicide bomber he could escape from the radically, fanatic militant group.

Usaid Barho, 14, is the latest in a string of children who are victims and heroes in the barbaric conflict being waged across the Levant. The article in the New York Times titled, How a Syrian Boy, Sheathed in Explosives, Escaped the Islamic State's Hold, details how Usaid left his home in Syria and eventually wound up in Iraq with a vest bomb strapped around his body in from of a mosque that the ISIL fighters wanted him to bomb.

There are so many things wrong with this situation:

1. A 14-year old being used as a suicide bomber

2. Religious persecution

3. The target was a house of worship

4. The threat of abuse of his Mother and Sister if he did not fight for ISIL

But, there are a few things right with this tory:

1. A boy who knows right from wrong

2. A daring plan that saved not only himself but many other innocents

3. A security officer not afraid to separate the bomb vest from the boy.

I urge you to read the New York Times story to get a sense of what is happening in the region. 

Here is an excerpt:

Usaid said he still planned to become a doctor, and hoped to study in Turkey. He said that he missed his mother, and that the Iraqis had promised to return him to his parents one day.

Before the war, he said: "We were a normal family. It was just a normal life."

Whether he has a chance at a normal life again depends, in part, on how the Iraqis treat him: as a terrorist or as an exploited child.

We need to be aware that the pain, persecution, and suffering being experienced by the people of the region is real and we need to be reminded that life there is very different than life here.

-- Bob Doan, Elkridge, MD

Warmer Weather and High Spirits are not just for the Birds

The temperatures for the holiday period have been unseasonably warm. Today the temperature is supposed to top out near 53 degrees, and of course that means a trip to the golf course for a bit more frustration and jubilation. 

But, the fun part of the weather has been playing with one of my gifts of Christmas. I got a GoPro and am still learning about it. It has a lot of really exciting features--like its small size and ability to ride in places that allow for continual imaging of situations allowing for unique views.

Earlier this year, Patrick took his GoPro diving in the Bahamas. Not just diving, but diving with sharks and obtained some stunning video. I was sold right then and there. The GoPro is a versatile as any camera I have ever come across. 

I have created my first GoPro movie: Birds at My Feeder. It isn't too exciting, but the weather was awesome and the birds were anxious to get some food before the colder weather arrives. 

Even the birds are happy about the warmer weather.

Go forth and celebrate before winter decides to resume its grip on the land.

-- Bob Doan, Elkridge, MD

What did You Get?

Weirdest Gift if Christmas

Isn't that the question that we get asked the most in the days after Christmas?

While we are still trying to come to grips with the idea that Christmas is over and the gifts are opened we try to extend the magic just a bit by talking about the great gifts of Christmas.

Of course, it is not all about the gifts. Really. And I think our family proved that yesterday. Christmas is about being together and enjoying each other during the celebration of life and gifting. What took center stage yesterday? Was it the food? Or was it the games we played until after dark? Was it the conversation or the wine? Was it the gifting? 

No--it was all of it together. Even the couple of minutes I took before noon to whack a golf ball around my yard. It was a complex and fantastic day that began about 5:30 AM and didn't end until after 10PM when I slipped under the covers on my bed and fell almost instantly asleep.

Earthworm on Christmas Eve

So, what did you get? Well, in the weirdest gift of Christmas category was the book about the Hittites received in a gift exchange. Really? Hittites?

The most interesting gift was seeing the earthworm in the driveway during the Christmas Eve rainstorm. We never see earthworms that late into December.

But the best gift of Christmas was not just a gift. It was a collaboration! A group and and event. It is our clan all gathered together again to celebrate. Together! 

Christmas 2014

And the dogs, too!

-- Bob Doan, Elkridge, MD

Christmas Isn't Joy for Everyone

I am reminded this morning as I am celebrating the birth of the Savior of the World: the Son of God who became man, so that men could become son's of God; that many people are in pain and cannot fully accept or appreciate the gifts or even the simple greeting: Merry Christmas!

My heart grieves for them because they are grieving. They are grieving the loss of loved ones, or health, or jobs, or something equally as tragic and important. They look at those of us who are celebrating and wonder why? Why did someone have to be taken from them or why did they get cancer or some other terrible disease. 

It is hard, no it may be impossible to accept the simple Merry Christmas greeting of others without being hurt and cynical and saying under their breath, "If you only knew," or "What's so Merry about it?"

I know people who are hurting today. And it hurts more today because they want to be happy, but they cannot. They withdraw.

What can I say to them? Nothing. 

I am reminded of verses from Job 2:12-13 where some friends came upon Job who was suffering a tragedy.

2:12 But when they gazed intently from a distance but did not recognize him, they began to weep loudly. Each of them tore his robes, and they threw dust into the air over their heads. 2:13 Then they sat down with him on the ground for seven days and seven nights, yet no one spoke a word to him, for they saw that his pain was very great. (NET Bible)

No one said a thing. Sometimes the right thing to say is nothing at all. But the most important thing was being together, they were there, even in the silence.

That is what we need to do to help our friends and family who are suffering during this season--be with them and help them to know, not through words but through actions, that they are loved and supported. 

I pray that those who mourn will be comforted, those who suffer illnesses will find relief, and those who are facing the worst that life can dish out will find the strength to wake up tomorrow and say to themselves: today is the first day of the rest of my life and I am not going to waste it!

-- Bob Doan, Elkridge, MD