The Diverse Faces of September

The last day of the month has arrived. September 2014 is about to checkout and October is waiting to take its place.

As I reflected upon September, I realized that it was a very diverse  and busy month.

The month began, most fittingly, on the beach! It was my only trip to the beach during 2014. I enjoyed basking in the warmth and sun at Ocean City, Maryland. It was a rare month, because other than the Labor Day trip to Ocean City, I did not travel during the entire month. But, it was a full month, nonetheless.

From a sports perspective, I attended three Orioles, one Ravens football and four youth football games during the month. I also golfed on five occasions for a total of 63 holes. Just in the past couple of weeks, my 18 hole score dropped from 133 to 116. So instead of being horrible, I am just a terrible golfer. But I am having fun and I can't think of a better way to get 10,000 steps in a morning on my Fit Bit.  I have been playing racquetball regularly, too. I can't even begin to count the number of games I played during September.

As for the Orioles, I am poised to attend post-season baseball at Orioles Park at Camden Yards beginning this week--but that is October and I expect rain and cold as the weather changes from summer to autumnal.


Around the house, the pool is closed for the season, but the grass continues to grow and be mowed weekly. The family birthday season began and I am glad mine is the second in the series of eleven birthdays which do not end until April.

On successive days during the month, Chris and I found time to attend a fantastic wine dinner in Frederick and a show at the Hippodrome theater, which may be the worst venue in America for live performances. My review of the Hippodrome can be found at the link. 

I am sitting here looking out the window and it is dark outside. During September, the daylight begins to steadily disappear. Sunrise today is at 7:02 AM and it will set 11 hours and 49 minutes later at 6:51 PM. On September 1st, the times were very different, sunrise was at 6:35 AM and sunset at 7:37 PM for 13 hours and 2 minutes of sunlight.

September is the official end of summer and the beginning of autumn. I am embracing autumn--I really am! (trying). 

I know that the nice weather isn't over, it certainly won't be beach weather, but outdoor activities will continue. The outdoor activities will transition to leaf raking and preparing the yards for winter.

-- Bob Doan, Elkridge, MD

Monday Musings - September 29, 2014

1. It is the lull before the playoffs, there is no Major League Baseball today. The post-season begins tomorrow with the first of two Wild Card games.

2. Writing of baseball--I cannot believe that they have not decided on the starting time of the games beginning on Thursday--fans need to plan too!

Jax, #60

3. September is effectively over, with only two days remaining. Wow. The month seemed to cruise by and now October is looming.

4. Happy New Year--The Federal Government's new year begins October 1st. Welcome to the land of the continuing resolution.

5. Football is becoming a Saturday morning event. Jax is playing and keeping us involved. He is becoming a very good football player. He recovered three fumbles and made three tackles on Saturday. 

6. What a fabulous last weekend in September we enjoyed in this area. Temperatures were in or near 80, the skies were clear and sunny. It was awesome. Next up? Cold and dark as the seasons continue to churn.

7. I can tell that winter is approaching. The deer have decided that our plants and remaining flowers are delicacies to be enjoyed before the first frost. 

8. There is something mystical about the view at dawn when the mist is still rising from the grass in the fields and the light is golden from the just rising sun.

9. I noticed that the constellation Orion has returned to the pre-dawn sky. Another sign of the changing seasons.

-- Bob Doan, Elkridge, MD

The Most Depressing Day of the Year

A View of the Covered Pool at the
End of the 2014 Season

My annual trek around the sun on this planet we call Earth can be divided into two seasons: Pool and Not Pool season.

The happiest day of the year is the day when the pool is opened and the anticipation of the summer ahead is very real and close. 

The most depressing day of the year is, of course, the day the pool is closed for the season of darkness and cold.

That day was yesterday. 

We closed our pool in anticipation of the cold weather ahead. The day was, however, glorious. God blessed me with one of the best days we have had during the entire month of September to ease the pain of covering the pool. 

And the day was fantastic. Crystal clear blue skies and temperatures that reminded me of summer days and fun playing in the pool. The memory of my entire family gathered to celebrate my parents 60th Wedding Anniversary was perhaps the highlight of the entire season. But this season also saw the pool receive much needed maintenance in new coping and tile--readying it for many more seasons ahead. 

The beautiful day eased the pain of pool closing and helped me to stay ready for the season ahead--the leaves and then the snow and the cold. By the end of April--in seven short months, the pool will be open again!

Next up? Autumn's leaves will begin to fall. And need to be raked!

-- Bob Doan, Elkridge, MD

Birthday Blow-out!

My Favorite Birthday Cake

OK, so it wasn't a blow-out in the classic sense of the word for my birthday, but it was a great day! I want to thank everyone who sent me greetings via cards, phone, Facebook, text, or even in person.

I was surprised and awed by the love everyone showed to me.

I also, have to admit that the surprise party at work was truly a surprise! Thanks. I was humbled.

Cedar Planked Salmon

I had my favorite birthday cake for the evening celebration with my friends. And we had a celebration. The weather was fantastic. Did I say fantastic? The dinner menu was varied with planked salmon, a multitude of delicious side dishes and wine! Yes a wide selection and variety of wines. 

It was a celebration to remember.

Thank you everyone for a great birthday and memories. You are all awesome!

The cake was a hit with my friends--Here is all that is left.

-- Bob Doan, Elkridge, MD

Orioles Playoffs Dreaming

They arrived the other day--my Orioles post-season tickets which include two seats to the American League Division Series (ALDS), the American League Championship Series (ALCS), and the World Series. I also got parking!

The excitement is building. This is now the third consecutive year that I have had tickets like these in my possession. So far, I have not been able to use any of them. Even though the Orioles went to the ALDS in 2012, the tickets I got were for home game three, but the Orioles hosted only two of the five games at home, ultimately losing to the team that shall remain nameless from up north.

This year, I know that I will be able to use one pair of the tickets--to game 2 of the ALDS, since the best of 5 series is a 2-2-1 format and the first two games are going to be in Baltimore.

The last time the Orioles won the American League East Division was during the 1997 season--17 years ago. Before that, they won the division during the 1983 season AND the World Series as well. 

I really want to be able to use all of the tickets and celebrate an Orioles World Series championship which has not happened since 1983. 

I'm Dreaming. 

Dreaming of winning baseball and a championship.

And to think, I saw the team play during Spring Training in Florida. It has been a long season and now the Spring Training dreams have turned into post-season dreams reality.

It is all magical. Orioles Magic!

-- Bob Doan, Elkridge, MD

Autumn Began

I resolved not to go into mourning for the passing of summer this year.

Autumn's first full day was yesterday and I embraced it by wearing orange and brown.

Secretly, the orange was for the Orioles.

But, I did pull off the autumnal look.

The leaves are beginning to fall in earnest--even though most have not yet transitioned into there Fall glory.  I am pulling them out of the as yet unclosed pool in greater numbers. 

The pool will be closed Saturday! It is time--I need to move on and embrace the season and not hang onto the days which have already passed. It is, after all, September. And soon it will be October with its harvest holidays and celebrations. 

Time to move on!  Time does, after all.

-- Bob Doan, Elkridge, MD

Three-pound Weekend

For our family, late September marks the beginning of the birthday season. Add in the holiday celebrations and the festivities are nearly endless. During the next six months nearly everyone in the family will celebrate their birthday, with only a few out layers.

While birthdays and celebrations are a lot of fun--there are pitfalls.

The "tail end charlie" for birthdays is Ethan, his special day is in April. It is hard to keep the same level of enthusiasm when celebrating the last of an overwhelming number of birthdays. It is almost, sadly, a relief when his birthday arrives and the celebrating eases. 

The real problem with our birthday celebrations, however, I rediscovered last weekend.  Once the celebrating was over, I was disturbed to find out that it had been a three-pound weekend. 

What is a three-pound weekend? It is the realization that the partying was a bit too intense and when I stepped on the scale at the gym on Monday morning after my racquetball match,  I was three pounds heavier than I was on Friday morning before the weekend..

Reflecting on the weekend's activities, I understood why. There was a lot of eating and partying. Three pounds worth! Fortunately, when I stepped on the scale at the gym last night after racquetball, the additional pounds had gone away--whew!

With all of the celebrating ahead, I don't need another three-pound weekend! The end result would be very bad for both my waistline and my budget as I would have to replace my wardrobe. 

Apparently, I will have to use better self-control to ensure my celebrating does not get out of hand and that I do not experience anymore three-pound weekends!

-- Bob Doan, Elkridge, MD

Golf Thoughts

Eisenhower Golf Course

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

Monday Musings - September 22, 2014

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.

- Bob Doan, Elkridge, MD

Flowers on Deck

The Deck Greeting Autumn

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