So there we were last evening.
Enjoying the first evening of Spring by having dinner on the pool deck under the darkening evening sky. Steaks that were a bit over cooked and a nice bottle of wine were on the table as we reflected on the day.
We had the propane heated going to help us to enjoy the evening and not be too cold. Watching the dog and the cat wander around the pool area. We also had music blaring on the radio kind of as a foretaste of the celebrations to come this summer.
Talking about the day and the hard work we did to get the house ready for the coming season. And to make everything look good. Removing the dead branches and plants and replacing them with new life. Pruning our lives too of the dead pieces left over from the winter.
The grass is already green and our lawn service has put down the first treatment of the year to make it green so I have to mow it more.
It was nice to look into the darkening sky and to see the stars through the trees which soon will be clothed in green leaves. And to imagine forward into the summer and splashing on the pool.
What a great ending to the first day of a new season!
Sunday, March 21, 2010
Saturday, March 20, 2010
How Can You Tell it is Spring?
We had a growing pile of limbs and tree related refuse sitting off the yard in the woods. We were going to rent a chipper last year to get rid of it. But with the rain and the summer we never quite got to it.
Well in penance for that travesty I have been sitting in a huge line of vehicles for the last 30 minutes waiting to access the landfill to drop the stuff off. The first of probably two runs that will be required. My truck is full to overloaded.
My trusty dog is at my side and she keeps looking at me wondering why we are not going anywhere.
It appears everyone in Howard County has the same idea. And so we are all idling here and getting frustrated about not getting anything done.
The vehicles are all loaded full with broken trees and limbs which will be recycled into mulch.
But right now we are trapped in a line more suited for leaving a parking lot after a sporting event.
Without the thrill of victory. Just the waiting for my turn.
Bob Doan
Elkridge, MD
Sent from My Blackberry
Well in penance for that travesty I have been sitting in a huge line of vehicles for the last 30 minutes waiting to access the landfill to drop the stuff off. The first of probably two runs that will be required. My truck is full to overloaded.
My trusty dog is at my side and she keeps looking at me wondering why we are not going anywhere.
It appears everyone in Howard County has the same idea. And so we are all idling here and getting frustrated about not getting anything done.
The vehicles are all loaded full with broken trees and limbs which will be recycled into mulch.
But right now we are trapped in a line more suited for leaving a parking lot after a sporting event.
Without the thrill of victory. Just the waiting for my turn.
Bob Doan
Elkridge, MD
Sent from My Blackberry
Cars and Relationships
You don't really think about them--cars, that is, until they break.
For instance, we just go out, get in, turn the key and expect them to start and take us safely where we want to go.
But what happens when the second most expensive purchase we make decides not to work?
Mayhem!
We went through the accident/broken car situation with Patrick and Tina a few months back and now it is our turn--the Lexus navigation system decided to break. And the Lexus dealer had it for three days. Lexus is great in that we get a loaner. But still--waiting to spend large sums of money at the car dealer! How much fun is that!
But is really makes you appreciate when vehicles work and redouble efforts to do preventive maintenance.
Kinda like relationships. Sometimes you don't really think about them until they get broken and need repair.
It would be a lot better if we took time to care for and do preventive maintenance on our relationships--just like we do for our cars.
Hmm. An interesting thought. Maybe go out to dinner or a show or a ballgame, just because! Reconnect, much like an oil change for relationships.
I'll have to give it a try.
For instance, we just go out, get in, turn the key and expect them to start and take us safely where we want to go.
But what happens when the second most expensive purchase we make decides not to work?
Mayhem!
We went through the accident/broken car situation with Patrick and Tina a few months back and now it is our turn--the Lexus navigation system decided to break. And the Lexus dealer had it for three days. Lexus is great in that we get a loaner. But still--waiting to spend large sums of money at the car dealer! How much fun is that!
But is really makes you appreciate when vehicles work and redouble efforts to do preventive maintenance.
Kinda like relationships. Sometimes you don't really think about them until they get broken and need repair.
It would be a lot better if we took time to care for and do preventive maintenance on our relationships--just like we do for our cars.
Hmm. An interesting thought. Maybe go out to dinner or a show or a ballgame, just because! Reconnect, much like an oil change for relationships.
I'll have to give it a try.
Friday, March 19, 2010
He Got It Right!
This week I heard something in church that one doesn't often hear being uttered from the minister's mouth.
"He got it right!" And I was in shock. Really. Because we, humans, never get it right. It is just the way we are.
Of course, the one who got it right was Job--my old friend and it was no one other than God who made the statement that Job got it right! Wow--
Check this out:
After the Lord had spoken these things to Job, he said to Eliphaz the Temanite, “My anger is stirred up against you and your two friends, because you have not spoken about me what is right, as my servant Job has. (Job 42:7 - NET Bible)
Job's friends, who were trying to give him advice had it all wrong--and God told them so in no uncertain terms.
The lesson here?
When your friends start preaching to you about what they think God would want you to do/believe. Don't listen. Be true and honest with yourself and God. That's what he wants. It is OK to be bewildered, frustrated, mad, grief striken--just be honest in your heart!
Sometimes bad things happen for no reason at all!
It is how we respond that is important to our relationship with God.
"He got it right!" And I was in shock. Really. Because we, humans, never get it right. It is just the way we are.
Of course, the one who got it right was Job--my old friend and it was no one other than God who made the statement that Job got it right! Wow--
Check this out:
After the Lord had spoken these things to Job, he said to Eliphaz the Temanite, “My anger is stirred up against you and your two friends, because you have not spoken about me what is right, as my servant Job has. (Job 42:7 - NET Bible)
Job's friends, who were trying to give him advice had it all wrong--and God told them so in no uncertain terms.
The lesson here?
When your friends start preaching to you about what they think God would want you to do/believe. Don't listen. Be true and honest with yourself and God. That's what he wants. It is OK to be bewildered, frustrated, mad, grief striken--just be honest in your heart!
Sometimes bad things happen for no reason at all!
It is how we respond that is important to our relationship with God.
Thursday, March 18, 2010
For the Love of My Dog--Keeping Life in Perspective
I had a really humorous thought this morning as I was walking Makayla in the darkness which is now upon me as a result of Daylight Savings Time.
There I was--as my beloved keeshond Makayla was happily running up the drive to my neighbors yard to do her morning bowel movement (a/k/a poop).
I just know she waits all morning for this moment--as I eat and get ready for work. She knows that the last thing I do is take her out for this quick walk--and she is always quick. I usually pick-up my newspaper at the same time--but the paper person has been very unreliable lately--so no paper at the end of the drive.
Makalya runs into the neighbors lawn and squats--as she does every morning--only it was really dark. I was looking intently at the spot on the ground as I opened the doggie poop bag in preparation to clean the spot. As she moved away I realized that the only way I was going to be able to find the poop was by its warmth. Yuck!
And so I did--my hand went down pretty close to the spot, but nonetheless, I was reduced to finding and removing her poop not by sight or smell--but by the feel of the warmth.
We used to have a small flashlight on the end of the leash--but it broke some time ago. And with all of the snow--it was relatively easy to find the dark poop on the white snow--so the flashlight wasn't replaced. And even after the snow melted, the dawn was close enough at 6:15am that the light in the sky was enough to identify the spot of the foul.
But not now! And especially when she goes in a location where the spotlight on the neighbor's house does not reach.
I am reduced to finding and retrieving my dog's poop by feel.
And I laughed at the humor of it all. Here I am humbled by cleaning up Makayla's poop just before climbing into my car and motoring away, dressed in my sport coat and power tie ready to for work.
Just keeping it all in perspective!
There I was--as my beloved keeshond Makayla was happily running up the drive to my neighbors yard to do her morning bowel movement (a/k/a poop).
I just know she waits all morning for this moment--as I eat and get ready for work. She knows that the last thing I do is take her out for this quick walk--and she is always quick. I usually pick-up my newspaper at the same time--but the paper person has been very unreliable lately--so no paper at the end of the drive.
Makalya runs into the neighbors lawn and squats--as she does every morning--only it was really dark. I was looking intently at the spot on the ground as I opened the doggie poop bag in preparation to clean the spot. As she moved away I realized that the only way I was going to be able to find the poop was by its warmth. Yuck!
And so I did--my hand went down pretty close to the spot, but nonetheless, I was reduced to finding and removing her poop not by sight or smell--but by the feel of the warmth.
We used to have a small flashlight on the end of the leash--but it broke some time ago. And with all of the snow--it was relatively easy to find the dark poop on the white snow--so the flashlight wasn't replaced. And even after the snow melted, the dawn was close enough at 6:15am that the light in the sky was enough to identify the spot of the foul.
But not now! And especially when she goes in a location where the spotlight on the neighbor's house does not reach.
I am reduced to finding and retrieving my dog's poop by feel.
And I laughed at the humor of it all. Here I am humbled by cleaning up Makayla's poop just before climbing into my car and motoring away, dressed in my sport coat and power tie ready to for work.
Just keeping it all in perspective!
Wednesday, March 17, 2010
Government Adrift
I hate to do it--but I have an axe to grind this morning. With our elected representatives.
And the first is with Congress---yes our U.S. Congress which is so embattled with trying to salvage an ill-advised health care situation that the business of running the country is failing.
The second is with the Maryland legislature which has been bought off by the liquor lobby and is poised not to act on wine shipping bills which are supported by the people of the State of Maryland and over half the delegates and senators in the state.
Bottom line: Our governments are out of touch with the electorate.
Most of the the people I know do not want "big" government health care and frankly are scared by it. What program has the government ever run well?
And most of the people in Maryland want to be able to ship wine to their houses off the Internet and to become members of wine clubs. We can ship guns, but we can't ship wine? Go figure. And it is the liquor lobby that is standing in the way promoting Abolitionist Era laws that are out of touch with reality.
For Congress--the representatives and senators are walking a very fine line of legality as compared with the Constitution of the United States. A bill may actually be enacted which has not been ratified by both houses of Congress. All through slight of hand! The Director of the Stanford Law School's Constitutional Law Center quoted in this morning's Washington post said "I feel pretty confident it is unconstitutional. What a court would do about it is a murkier problem."
These are exciting times. And frustrating times. At one level of government, they are not acting on legislation that the people want and at the other, they are enacting legislation that few people want!
And the first is with Congress---yes our U.S. Congress which is so embattled with trying to salvage an ill-advised health care situation that the business of running the country is failing.
The second is with the Maryland legislature which has been bought off by the liquor lobby and is poised not to act on wine shipping bills which are supported by the people of the State of Maryland and over half the delegates and senators in the state.
Bottom line: Our governments are out of touch with the electorate.
Most of the the people I know do not want "big" government health care and frankly are scared by it. What program has the government ever run well?
And most of the people in Maryland want to be able to ship wine to their houses off the Internet and to become members of wine clubs. We can ship guns, but we can't ship wine? Go figure. And it is the liquor lobby that is standing in the way promoting Abolitionist Era laws that are out of touch with reality.
For Congress--the representatives and senators are walking a very fine line of legality as compared with the Constitution of the United States. A bill may actually be enacted which has not been ratified by both houses of Congress. All through slight of hand! The Director of the Stanford Law School's Constitutional Law Center quoted in this morning's Washington post said "I feel pretty confident it is unconstitutional. What a court would do about it is a murkier problem."
These are exciting times. And frustrating times. At one level of government, they are not acting on legislation that the people want and at the other, they are enacting legislation that few people want!
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