It was a Party!

Chris and I with Dad
Katy, TX
August 23, 2025

 Chris and I were part of a country-wide celebration yesterday afternoon. 

It was for Dad. 

The family gathered in person and on Zoom to honor Dad and connect with him. For his part, he had a good day. 

6 Great-grandkids Together with Dad
Katy, TX
August 24, 2025

All of 4 of his children participated along with 6 of 10 grandkids and 7 of 10 great-grandkids. Even the youngest great-grand was on screen to send him greetings. (I can only hope I got the numbers correct. Public math is not my forte.)

It was a great afternoon. The dinner convened in Dad's residence and the food was catered from Olive Garden, which made it very convenient. Who doesn't love pasta comfort food

The credit for bringing the entire dinner together goes to my sister Pennie. While Chris and I provided some muscle, Pennie was the brains behind the success. 

Dad looked good and it was good to visit with him in person again as I expect to do for the next few days until we return home. The dinner lasted about an hour and a half, after which Dad was tired and we took him to his room where the staff very shortly arrived to begin the evening bed-down procedure. 

-- Bob Doan, Weston Lakes, TX

Visiting Dad

Dad
August 22, 2025

 Chris and I arrived in Houston. where we were greeted by my sister Pennie and her husband, Scott.

As I wrote yesterday, we enjoyed some good flights. That we enjoyed flying was no small miracle given some of the horror stories we have been hearing from recent travelers. 

The purpose of this visit is to see Dad and we are having a big celebration for him this afternoon. 

He was in good spirits when we surprised him with our arrival yesterday afternoon. It was good so see him. We spend some quality time with him before he was wheeled off to dinner. We are looking forward to seeing him again today and, for that matter, every day during our trip. 

It is 74 degrees this morning in Weston Lakes. I find it very refreshing as the humidity is also low. I have not enjoyed a 74 degree temperature in South Florida since about April. So I will enjoy this bit of summer while preparing for the day. 

-- Bob Doan, Weston Lakes, TX

Off to Houston

Sunrise over our Jet
Palm Beach International Airport, FL
August 22, 2025

 Chris and I are traveling, again.

Finn is off to spend time with his second family. They love him, especially Cody. 

It has, so far, been a great travel day. I know that there are lots of travel impediments right now, but we have so far been spared. And we have enjoyed the Delta Sky Lounges!

The flights have been easy and on-time. I am actually writing this from my seat on the second flight of the day. Yay! 

It has been a different kind of travel day. Chris and I are flying to Houston from Palm Beach International (PBI) on the same plane. It is one of those weird days when the plane we flew from PBI to Atlanta is the same plane that we flying to Houston from Atlanta. 

The flight deck crew is the same and we enjoyed a great landing in Atlanta, but the cabin crew changed in Atlanta. Weirdly, the new cabin crew is all guys! How often does that happen?

We are looking forward to arriving in Houston about noon and will likely get to see Dad before the sun sets today.

Another positive thing is that I am getting free WIFI on the flight! Wow. Southwest doesn't do that for me!

Well, it is really encouraging that some things work sometimes!

Chris and I were not able to get adjoining seats on today's flights due to the short notice booking, but on this flight we are across the aisle. 

Rock on!

-- Bob Doan, Airborne over the Southeast United States

#deltaairlines #traveldays

Crashing on the Shore

Waves on Jupiter Island
Tequesta, FL
August 21, 2025

 Chris and I went to the beach yesterday and experience the huge waves from Hurricane Erin. 

And they were!

Crashing on the beach and eroding the sand. Turtle nests were being destroyed and it was sad, but it was nature. The ones high up on the dunes were safe and the turtles that dug those nests were champions of evolution. 

I took a video of the waves rolling onto the beach. They were ferocious and I am very happy the storm passed us by.  

The ICW looking at Jupiter Island
Tequesta, FL
August 21, 2025

But, weirdly, on the other side of the Jupiter Island the ICW was calm.

It was such a different scene from the ocean. The protected ICW was available for pleasure boating without restrictions. 

It amazed me how such widely different conditions could be separated by only a hundred yards or so of land. 

Inland, it was a beautiful evening to enjoy dinner at Tiki52 and look out at the ICW where there were boats and people actually waterskiing. The breeze made the evening enjoyable and Chris, I, and Finn had a great time just bing there enjoying the scene, the people, and the waitstaff. 

But to think, only a few thousand feet away the ocean beach was being ravaged by Hurricane Erin's storm-tossed waves.  

-- Bob Doan, Tequesta, FL

#hurricaneerin #jupiterisland

Getting over Hump Day

Loxahatchee Bridge
Tequesta, FL
August 20, 2025

 Well we I made it to the second half of the week. I did enjoy a nice 19-mile ride yesterday around Tequesta. It was my usual route, but I still enjoy getting out and seeing the changes. 

I snapped a quick image of the day as I traversed the North Fork Loxahatchee Bridge yesterday, just to remind me of the clear beautiful day that we enjoyed. It was cooler in the morning, yes all of 78 degrees, but it made the ride enjoyable. 

Tomorrow is another travel day. Chris and I are headed to Houston, OK, Weston Lakes actually, to visit and spend some time with Dad. Yes, this trip is somewhat sudden as we only returned from Maryland a week ago, but it happens. 

Hopefully, today will be a bright and beautiful as yesterday was although the temperature is expected to top 95 degrees making it the hottest day of the year, so far. With the hurricane stoked surf, it will definitely not be a beach day. 

-- Bob Doan, Tequesta, FL

Cute Baby Wednesday

 

Beck Prepared for an Outing
Somewhere in Maryland
August 19, 2025
Image from Patrick

It is cute baby Wednesday. 

To ward off the mid-week blues, I thought I'd share one of the latest images of our youngest grandson. We received it yesterday and it really brightened my day. 

It made me smile!

He is so cute! And I love his expressive eyes. 

So as this week drones on, I am going to hold onto these bright, expressive and happy eyes for motivation and encouragement.

Happy Wednesday. 

-- Bob Doan, Tequesta, FL

Tuesday has arrived again

Antenna at the Space Force Station
Tequesta, FL
August 18, 2025

 It is good to be home in Florida. 

The weather is a bit uncomfortable because the stress index was 112 degrees yesterday, but the blue sky was awesome. 

I managed a bike ride yesterday and as I was hitting my last two mile, I saw something I rarely see. One antenna at the Space Force Station was being repositioned. The closest one was swinging almost right over me as I rode by on the sidewalk. It was fun to watch the huge antenna swinging. I don't get to see that often. 

Deer near Jonathan Dickinson State Park
Tequesta, FL
August 18, 2025

I also saw a deer during the ride. While I usually see gopher tortoises, I rarely see deer. It was near the boundary to the Jonathan Dickinson State Park. I have to write again, I really love my Meta glasses. Being able to take an image at a moment's notice is really great. 

Aside from the normal pace of life, we are preparing to head-off Friday for Houston to see Dad. That is a sudden trip due to his declining health situation. We don't normally like to travel back-to-back. It reminds me too much of traveling for work which is just exhausting.

-- Bob Doan, Tequesta, FL

Monday Musings - August 18, 2025

 

1. The third Monday of August has arrived! Wow--we are surely slipping through the month in a wild fashion. There are only 19 Mondays remaining in the year. 

2. Too little too late for the Orioles. They have had a couple of great series, including taking 2 of 3 from the Astros over the weekend. With 38 games remaining in the season the O's must win 24 (.632) just to get to .500 for the season. They are 6-4 in their last 10 games. 

NordicTrack S22i Partially Assembled
Tequesta, FL
August 17, 2025

3. One reason Chris and I drove the truck north on our recent trip was to retrieve our NordicTrack S22i Exercise Bike. We had given it to family, but it no longer fit into their exercise plan and so we brought it to Florida to ride on rainy days. It seemed to have arrived in good shape, although I have not fully reassembled it yet. It needs a new control board, which I ordered last evening. I hope to have it up and running by next week. 

4. A commentary on the republican approach to governing as evidenced by the disaster in Alaska is as follows: That’s the kakistocracy part: government by the most incompetent, ill-suited people. If kakistocracy is the shot, then kleptocracy is the chaser (though it might be the other way around; I can’t quite decide). The corruption—the willingness to pursue personal profit and political gain at the expense of principle—that now defines the former Republican Party is just jaw-dropping. (Civil Discourse with Joyce Vance)

5. I hear Putin has a bridge for sale that Trump wants to buy. It is in San Francisco. I also saw a small stand in the background of an image selling Russian Kool-aid.

6. Today in History. On August 18, 1991, Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev is placed under house arrest during a coup by high-ranking members of his own government, military and police forces.

Since becoming leader of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) in 1988, Gorbachev had pursued comprehensive reforms of the Soviet system. Combining perestroika(“restructuring”) of the economy—including a greater emphasis on free-market policies—and glasnost (“openness”) in diplomacy, he greatly improved Soviet relations with Western democracies, particularly the United States. Meanwhile, though, within the USSR, Gorbachev faced powerful critics, including conservative, hard-line politicians and military officials who thought he was driving the Soviet Union toward its downfall and making it a second-rate power. On the other side were even more radical reformers—particularly Boris Yeltsin, president of the most powerful socialist republic, Russia—who complained that Gorbachev was just not working fast enough.

Trump tells Ukraine to give up on NATO and Crimea ahead of Zelenskiy meeting - Reuters

Russian oil flows to Hungary and Slovakia halted after Ukrainian attack - Reuters

Israelis stage nationwide protests to demand end to Gaza war and release of hostages - Reuters

 After exploding in strength at a historic rate this weekend, Hurricane Erin will churn up the eastern US coastline After exploding in strength at a historic rate this weekend,  - CNN

Serbia’s populist leader vows tough response to protesters following riots - CNN

Texas Democrats may have finally cracked the best way to fight Trump - MSNBC

Rubio erupts on CBS host over 'stupid media narrative' about Trump-Putin summit - FoxNews

Russia pounds Ukraine as Zelensky, allies prepare to meet with Trump - The Washington Post

-- Bob Doan, Tequesta, FL 

Disappointed and Embarrassed

 All bluster, no follow through.

I am appalled that the U.S. is apparently setting the brave Ukrainian patriots adrift. 

internewscast.com

And I believe it is all because of dollars!

In an interview with Fox News Channel personality Sean Hannity after the meeting, Trump said he would not impose further sanctions on Russia because the meeting with Putin had gone “very well.” “Because of what happened today, I think I don’t have to think about that now,” Trump told Hannity. “I may have to think about it in two weeks or three weeks or something, but we don’t have to think about that right now.”

Trump also suggested he was backing away from trying to end the war and instead dumping the burden on Ukraine’s president. He told Hannity that “it’s really up to President Zelensky to get it done.”  (Letters from an American)

I wonder what Putin promised Trump to effectively stop negotiating for the end of the war that he promised to end on day 1 of his new term?

Maybe a Trump Tower Moscow? 

Trump always said that he would get it done, it being the end to the war. 

The President of the U.S. welcomed a war criminal with pomp and circumstance, red carpet and a warm greeting. With that single greeting, the blood of over a million dead Ukrainians and Russians was splashed onto Trump and by extension the U.S. 

It seems that our president is as bad at international affairs as he is at domestic policy. We elected him why?

-- Bob Doan, Tequesta, FL

Like a bad movie

Pyongyang

There are a lot of divisive forces at work in our country right now trying to unravel the protections of the Constitution. 

It is frightening. 

The militarization of Washington, D.C., reminds me of what I read about for cities like Pyongyang. Under strict military control and beautified to portray an unreal vision of the country. By the way, if you look closely at images of Pyongyang, there are almost no cars!

This is all like a bad movie. 

Washington, D.C. is becoming a showcase capital city for a wannabe authoritarian leader. I can't believe they tore up the Rose Garden for a convention hall. 

The targeting of the homeless is another play in the authoritarian take-over playbook. 

Adolf Hitler's regime began targeting the homeless and other marginalized groups in the early 1930s, with significant actions occurring around 1933 when the Nazis came to power. The regime implemented policies that aimed to "cleanse" cities like Berlin, often forcibly removing homeless individuals from public spaces. (Wikipedia) (ChatGPT)

And then yesterday. 

Despite all of the pre-visit bluster--TACO showed up in Anchorage yesterday and the Ukrainians are on their own because Trump met with his mentor.

Show me the money and you will see U.S. policy. There is no honor, no defense of allies only love of money. We all know where that leads. 

I've seen this movie before.

-- Bob Doan, Tequesta, FL