I have been playing golf regularly for the past month and a half--meaning weekly. I am a terrible golfer, a true duffer, but I realized the other day that if I ever get good at the game I will have less fun every time I play a round. Why? Because I will get to swing my club less. Maybe 25-30 percent less. Let me demonstrate. Sunday, I shot a 133 on an 18 hole par 71 course. Yes, that is a miserable 62 over par. So if I get better and shoot maybe a 96--I will be having 28 percent less fun. I guess that means I will be paying more per stroke in greens fees.
Carroll Park Golf Course
Golf is a frustrating game--of my 133 shots the other day, I was happy with about four of them, but that was enough to keep me coming back for more self abuse. I am hitting practice balls in my yard every evening, for all of the good it is doing. Actually, yesterday I hit about 50 balls and by the end of the evening I was hitting about of them towards where I wanted the ball to go--and that was a dramatic improvement. Thank goodness foam golf balls that don't damage things like windows when the run into them. A few interesting thoughts about golf popped up in my email the other day:
I'm hitting the woods just great; but having a terrible time getting out of them!
-- Buddy Hackett
The only time my prayers are never answered is playing golf.
-- Billy Graham
If you think it's hard to meet new people, try picking up the wrong golf ball.
-- Jack Lemmon
I found them to be both instructive and funny. -- Bob Doan, Elkridge, MD
1. Autumn arrives today at 10:29 PM EDT. Good-bye summer! I look forward to your return next year. 2. NFL Football may be playing out its last season as king of the sports hill.
Eisenhower Golf Course
Crownsville, MD
3. I played golf again this weekend--I still am not very good but it is fun to get out with the guys. Especially on a beautiful morning. 4. The weather has been beautiful. 5. Bad news is all the news that seems to get reported these days. 6. The flowers seem to understand that the end is near as temperatures begin to plug and the first frost of the season gets closer.
It is amazing how flowers and plants add character to an area. Chris and I decided that this year we would upscale our deck and have seasonal flowers in abundance to provide a splash of color. I think we did OK. A few weeks ago we changed over the summer plants for autumn bloomers and the results have been astounding. The deck is a nice place to relax and enjoy the day. The nice part about our deck is that it gets morning sun and evening shade, which means it is a nice place to enjoy a day-ending glass of wine. We did make plans to close the pool during the coming week--that will be a sad day when the cover goes on, but it needs to be done before the leaves begin to fall. Since autumn begins on Monday and the weather seems cooler, it just needs to be done despite my reticence. At least the flowers will bloom until the first frost. -- Bob Doan, Elkridge, MD
A trip to the Orioles Park at Camden Yards (OPACY) to attend my final scheduled game of the season is usually filled with sadness as the realization that autumn has arrived and the baseball season is coming to a close hits me with the reality of a baseball bat swatting a grand slam over the fence. Walking to the stadium in the waning light of day as the rays grew long and cast a golden hue across the land the scene was almost surreal.
But, even though the Orioles lost last night AND it was my last home game of the regular season--I was excited because I know that this year there will be post-season baseball.
As the MLB American League East Division Champions, there will be October baseball. Hopes abound for a World Series crown--but being a fan for one of the ten teams which will be in the post-season and only one of eight teams which will be playing October baseball makes it all that much more fun.
It has been a long campaign from Spring Training in Sarasota, Florida, and after 153 regular season games of the 162 game season, only four teams in all of baseball have punched their tickets to the post-season and only three of those have clinched their division. With nine games to play there are still six invitations to the post-season outstanding!
Having some fun with a hat I should have bought
For their part, the Orioles have a chance to end the season with the best record in all of baseball and assure themselves of home field advantage throughout the playoffs. But first things first, they need to secure home field advantage for the first round of the playoffs by winning three more of the nine games remaining. Those can be combined with Detroit losses to help--but they need to win three more games than the Angels to secure home field for the playoffs. It is complicated--but in a good way. The Orioles are not fighting for a spot, not they are battling for a better seed in the playoffs.
It is magical for diehard Orioles baseball fans like myself. It was grand being at the stadium last night not worried about how the team that shall remain nameless from up north was doing--it doesn't matter anymore.
The fireworks display after the game was a medley of music and explosions and at one point they played Orioles Magic followed by We Won't Stop--the Orioles theme songs.
Here comes the post-season--are you ready for Orioles from Birdland? Be afraid, be very afraid! The World Series is in sight!
The American League East Champion Orioles have brought swagger back to Baltimore baseball! Winning the toughest division in baseball for the first time in 17 years will do that for a city. And crazy things are happening. Like in the manicure shops where O's are being painted on toes. Yes, I wrote that. O's on the toes! In preparation for attending the first game of the final home series of the regular season tonight against Boston, Chris had her toes painted. Unfortunately, she had a hard time explaining to the service professionals at the nail salon exactly what she was looking for and it didn't come out exactly right. I think they are cute!
And very personal. Far more temporary than the tattoo I was thinking about. I wasn't seriously thinking about getting a tattoo--but . . . A World Series ring might change the math on a tattoo. I believe this city is going to go even more crazy as the playoffs arrive. And I am going to be part of it. -- Bob Doan, Elkridge, MD
Why do we have animals? Because our children are grown and they make us smile when they do crazy stuff. Grandchildren do crazy things too, but they aren't around near as much as animals. Enter Riordin. Yup, the cat that came back and the undisputed king of the castle. The other night we received a nice gift of a wreath for our door. Riordin saw it laying in the counter and determined it to be his personal space.
Riordin Relaxing
It was pretty funny--of course being a cat, the humor was lost upon him. But, we laughed and photographed his antics. He makes us laugh. Belly laugh! That is why we have animals. -- Bob Doan, Elkridge, MD
I had the opportunity to spend most of yesterday at the Pentagon. Because I was there for the whole day, I was able to explore more of the venerable old building than I have been able to do on my many other visits. I was able to visit the America Hero's Memorial to the 184 men, women, and children who died in the attack on September 11, 2001. It was sobering to stand at the precise location where American Airlines Flight 77 impacted the Pentagon on that September morning. It was an emotional moment for me to stand there and think about that day. Although I was out of the country, the memory of the fear and the realization of the complexity of the attack washed over me as I remembered those who could not be with us today. I wonder if we have begun to forget that day and our call to duty that the memory is those who perished at the Pentagon, in the field in Pennsylvania, and in the World Trade Center calls us to remember. The memorials seemed more subdued this year on 9-11.
The new threat in the world is ISIL (a/k/a ISIS and IS). They are the new players on the stage of worldwide terrorism and oppression that needs to be stopped. I believe that if anyone thinks that terrorism will ever be defeated, they are living in a dream world. There will always be those who desire anarchy and chaos and support death and the destruction of the mechanisms of society that result in culture, peace, and prosperity.
We must never forget and we must never rest in our quest to rid the world of those who foment terror and chaos! -- Bob Doan, Elkridge, MD
The Baltimore Orioles win the American League East Division on September 16, 2014! The first Division crown in 17 years! The team, the city, the game! This team is about baseball as a team sport. Who is the hero? Every one of them and the fans. Next stop--the playoffs! -- Bob Doan, Elkridge, MD
Glasses in Waiting at my Place for the Wine Dinner
Life has been very busy since the middle of last week. Last evening was the final scheduled event of an extremely busy set that began Thursday evening at the Ravens game, continued Friday with an Orioles game, was planned to include fireworks for the Star Spangled Spectacular on Saturday, a visit to the theater on Sunday evening and closed out with friends in Frederick, Maryland, last evening for a Wine Dinner featuring wines from the Willamette Valley Vineyard. Check my wine blog Wine4YourLife for a review later of the wine dinner later in the week. Busy does not even begin to describe the past five days of events--and they were extremely diverse events. Nine holes of golf and a youth football game were interspersed in that schedule as well. Wow! And I my not be done yet! I am going to see about going to the Orioles game tonight because they can clinch the division with a win. They won't be the first team this season to clinch a playoff berth, but they would be the first to clinch a division this season. And the pace continues! But, hey, it is what makes life full and interesting. OK--I think I need a break to veggie out and watch a sappy movie or something. Oh, wait, the pool needs to be closed for the season. -- Bob Doan, Elkridge, MD
1. Magic numbers are the latest rage in Baltimore. What I find interesting is that a magic number is an elimination number viewed from the other direction. Today, the Orioles Magic Number is 3. They could clinch the MLB American Division East as early as tomorrow! 2. I stretched myself last evening and attended a musical at the Hippodrome Theater. The musical was Once--and while the music was good, the acoustics in the Hippodrome really impeded my enjoyment of the show. 3. Given the low temperatures, there is a very real prospect that the pool will be closed for the season this weekend. Evening temperatures are falling into the 40's--meaning the water is getting too cool to swim. 4. My propane company called me to tell me that they can no longer service my propane tanks used to heat the pool because their new trucks do not have hoses long enough. Really? What gives with that? I wish there was natural gas in my area. 5. Golf can be addicting if not monitored. Now I have practice balls and are whacking them and losing them in my yard. 6. It was an interesting football weekend. I'm just happy my team played on Thursday and I could watch the Red Zone Channel to stay up on all of the games. 7. Found this in history: On this day in 1978, boxer Muhammad Ali defeats Leon Spinks at the Louisiana Superdome in New Orleans to win the world heavyweight boxing title for the third time in his career, the first fighter ever to do so. 8. September 14, 1814--the morning that Francis Scott Key was aboard a British ship in Baltimore Harbor seeing the American Flag flying after a night of heavy bombardment against Fort McHenry. He penned the Star Spangled Banner. Happy 200th to our National Anthem. -- Bob Doan, Elkridge, MD
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