Dark to Darker

It happened yesterday for the first time this season. It actually is the one thing I don't like about this time of year even more than the cold and snow.

It is going to work and later arriving at home during hours of darkness. 

Sunrise was 6:54AM as I was arriving at work, and sunset was 4:49PM for a grand total of 9 hours 55 minutes of sunlight upon the region. 

The darkness saps my energy. And my memory apparently,  I forgot that the Leonid meteor shower was at its peak on Tuesday night! Ugh! It was too cold to watch them anyway. 

Last evening I had to head over to do what I call, grandpa duty and be at the house when Ethan and Jax arrived home after a hard day of school. That ultimately delated my own arrival at home until well after darkness had fallen upon the land.

Frigid temperatures and increasing darkness. Yup, it is winter time no matter that the calendar tries to tell me winter does not begin for almost another month.

I now understand the concept of keeping the home fires burning.

-- Bob Doan, Elkridge, MD

Reflections of Autumn

Buffalo, NY, November 2014

I noticed yesterday, while driving home from work, that the end has arrived for the autumn leaves. I have to admit, it was a beautiful and long autumn in my area. The colors of the leaves on the trees provided many opportunities to be amazed as their hues pasted against a clear cerulean and cold sky. 

Most of the trees are now bare and ready for the onset of winter. The leaves which once adorned their branches are scattered in piles upon the land and no longer muffle the sounds of traffic on the interstate. 

Snow has even been seen falling recently and more will soon be expected. We have not seen, nor do we expect to see as much snow as some areas of Upstate New York, near Buffalo. I downloaded an image posted by a friend which made me feel better about being in Maryland. That is just too much snow! And, in case you had forgotten, it is only November!

I remember last winter just did not want to let go and allow spring to arrive. It seems that winter has been waiting for the past eight months to get revenge upon us for allowing spring to arrive at all!

Jay on the Beach

After looking at the cold and preparing for my excursion out into the 17 degree morning, according to my home thermometer, I came across an image of a Jay standing on a warm looking probable Florida beach in Facebook. Thanks for rubbing it in Jay. 

It is a really nice image. I like the sun in the background. 

I wish I was on a warm beach somewhere enjoying the afternoon sun with my dive mask and snorkel in hand. 

But I'm not! I'm lamenting the end of autumn and the cruel onset of winter.

I am encouraged that temperatures will rebound in to the 40's and 50's by weeks end. When did I ever think I'd be looking forward to temperatures of 40's and 50's?

Good-bye autumn and hello winter! Spring must not be far off!

-- Bob Doan, Elkridge, MD

Coldest Morning of the Season

It is cold out this morning. It is the coldest morning of the season, thus far. As some would read the thermometer, it is not really that cold. It is not the bone chilling frigid weather being faced by people living in the midwest where Denver saw -1 the other day. Thankfully, it is definitely not that cold.

But still, cold is cold. My local weather station reports the temperature at 23.8 degrees Fahrenheit. That qualifies as cold. A freeze, even. All of the annuals have dies with the recent spate of below freezing temperatures. It was sad to see them go, but freeing because the gardens are beginning the process of readying for revival.

A review of some of my favorite places finds temperatures ranging from 19 degrees in both Ithaca, NY,  and Denver, CO; to 75 degrees in, wait for it, Key West.

I noticed that it is 27 degrees in Charlottesville, so even the Virginia wine country is cold.

I could wish I was further south, but I'm not so I just have to deal with it.

I may even have to wear an overcoat this morning to protect myself from the chill.

As the day prepares for dawn, the temperatures will rise--but it will still be cold. 

Be careful out there!

-- Bob Doan, Elkridge, MD

Monday Musings - November 17, 2014

1. There is just over a week until Thanksgiving and the turkey's are getting fat.

2. Holiday decorations take a long time to put up. 

3. The baseball off-season is heating up. 

4. Is it possible to enjoy the holidays and not gain weight?

5. Do football and turkey have anything on common other than Thanksgiving?

6. What is your traditional Christmas Day meal? Ours is prime beef and presents.

7. I like the Penguins of Madagascar. Smile and wave, boys--smile and wave. I'm looking forward to the upcoming movie.

8.  I enjoy Sunday's when the Raven's have a bye week.

9. Wine for Thanksgiving? I'll give some suggestions this week in my wine blog.

10. My favorite Thanksgiving activity is the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. Let the floats fly!

-- Bob Doan, Elkridge, MD

The Snow Village Arrives for the Holidays

The completed display

After a year hiatus, the annual version of our Snow Village was created yesterday. It was an especially complex assembly because we decided, at the last minute, to add a train to the scene. The train was graciously loaned to us by Patrick and Tina. 

The boxes being staged

The first and most difficult decision surrounding the display was the location. Even though the Snow Village is fairly large, we actually discussed five different locations and the final location--interestingly, was not one of the initial choice. This year, the display is in our dining room.

Initial layout without train

The Snow Village is a whole day project, well almost all day, that requires multiple boxes to be retrieved from the storage area and staged. The multiple buildings and pieces which become the scene must each be checked and placed on  the underlying base which I have made configurable for what ever space we choose. 

The train is Assembled and the city placed

The train caused the base to be changed this year, which delayed assembly, but also provided some exciting creativity moments. The change is evident in the pictures I have added. We used an HO scale train, however, upon reflection, I'm not sure that is the best scale for the Snow Village. But, hey, it works and it is fun, for the first time ever, to have an operating train in the village. 

Seven hours after we began--it was complete. I believe we will continue to incorporate trains into the village and will do a better job planning in the future. It will likely become a train display with a Snow Village rather than a Snow Village with a train. 

Bring on the holidays!

Note: One observant reader asked about the Christmas lights I put on the house on Veterans Day. To clarify, the lights are in place but not illuminated. We do not begin lighting them until the day after Thanksgiving when it truly becomes the Christmas Season.

-- Bob Doan, Elkridge, MD

Big Hero 6 - Review

Lucas in front of Baymax

What are you doing this cold weekend? Getting ready for the holidays or hoping they won't come?

Here's a thought. Go to a movie! Yup. I went to see Big Hero 6 with the grandsons and I confirm--it is worth the time and money. 

The movie is well paced and has a good story with a not so obvious twist. 

The story revolves around a Hiro Hamada, a 14-year old genius whose older brother, Tadashi, motivates to achieve something higher than where he was happy being. Tadashi, who tragically dies, was a genius as well and created a personal health assistant robot, Baymax. Teaming with his older brother's friends, Hiro, accompanied by Baymax, unravel the details around Tadashi's death and begin down the road to becoming super heroes.

The story is fast paced with action to keep the younger crowd engaged, but also has an engaging story for the older audience, like me.

RECOMMENDATION: See this movie, preferably with kids or grandkids. In my case I was lucky--I went with both kids and grandkids. Have fun. Buy some popcorn and escape for a couple hours on a cold weekend's afternoon.

-- Bob Doan, Elkridge, MD

Unnamed Holiday, Holidays

What is in a name?

It seems quite a bit. Montgomery County, Maryland, has decided to omit the religious names of observances from the calendar.

So let me get this straight--if I don't call it Yom Kippur or Easter, but there is still a day off it makes it all better?

CNN reports it this way:

(CNN) -- Starting next year, the names of religious holidays like Christmas and Yom Kippur will no longer appear on the school calendar in Montgomery County, Maryland.

Instead of Christmas break, students will have winter break. And when Yom Kippur rolls around, the calendar will simply state that there will be no school.

I'm caught up in the old idea that a rose by any other name would smell as sweet. A holiday, although unnamed, is still an observance!

This sounds really petty--and all because another special interest group wanted to add another holiday to the school calendar.

I sat on the Howard County, Maryland, School Calendar committee planning the 2014 calendar and I have some observations.

First and foremost--Christmas needs to be excluded from the discussion of religious holidays with respect to school calendars. Why? Christmas is a federal holiday unlike all of the rest of the days being considered. So it is truly acceptable to say Merry Christmas and not worry about it being construed as a religious event.

Second--everybody should have seen that this situation was going to be coming soon. There are enough teacher work days built into the schedule to be able to move them around to accommodate the "religious" holidays if the school districts really wanted to account for them. 

Third--at least in Maryland, not all of the federal holidays are observed by the schools. 

Finally, the calendars in the school systems are built around the last day of school. Anything is negotiable as long as the last day of school is not too late during June. With some creative work everyone's wishes could be accommodated.

I think the final paragraph from the CNN article really sums it up:

"They're trying to be politically correct so they don't offend anybody," he said. "But let's be real here; they're going to offend a few people. People always get offended."
It is not that hard. If we, as a society, are going to be inclusive--as we say we want to be, then we need to act that way. Taking the religious names off the calendar doesn't change the fact of the observance, it only obscures it.

-- Bob Doan, Elkridge, MD

Winter's Approach and the Deer Draw Near

Deer in the Forest

During the warm days of this past weekend, I became aware that I was being watched, closely, much of the time I was working in the yard. 

As the season grows darker with the coming of winter, it seems that the four-legged critters that we share the area with lose their fear am draw closer to the house. Not only have the deer been stalking me, but the yard is full of rabbits and squirrels. Makayla loves chasing them from the yard--but it is only a temporary measure. 

There were actually five deer near me that day. Two panicked and ran as I got close to the boundary separating my yard from the wild area, but these three remained hoping for a hand out, I think.

I have watched to two smaller deer grow from fawns at the beginning of the year. I am amazed that they are still at their mother's side even as the winter draws near. 

I enjoy living on the boundary between civilization and the wild land. It is reassuring that there is so much wild space near us that it supports a thriving herd of deer--which, admittedly are a nuisance, but were more well behaved this year and did not eat the expensive flowers to the ground thinking they were a gourmet deer meal.

I also was really amazed at how close they let me approach the group before the walked--not ran, away. They were never bothered by my presence until I got about 40 feet away. I was reminded of a golf outing a few weeks ago at twilight when the deer herds were running the golf course and I actually took one shot while looking a buck in the eyes. He was only about 20 feet away and totally unconcerned that I was swinging a club at a small white ball. I remember taking another shot across and above a small grouping of deer. They were very accepting of my presence.

The frigid cold is approaching and with it winter-like weather. I'm sure I'll be seeing more of the deer and other critters in my yard seeking food.

-- Bob Doan, Elkridge, MD

What I Did on Veterans Day

I was very busy on Veterans Day. I think I would have been better off to go to work, because I worked hard around the house. 

I played some too.

Here is how the day went down.

I wrote my Veterans Day blog.

Driving Range

Then, because the morning was cold (36 degrees) and the lawn was still wet, I decided to go to a driving range and hit some balls, since I wasn't going be able to play golf. I also had one club re-gripped because it was a disaster. I hit 168 golf balls in about an hour and a half while the sun crawled higher up into the sky and the day began to get going.

Back at the house it was time to finish cutting down the grasses that form the privacy fence around the pool. I love the grasses, but every year they must be cut down and removed. It is not a hard job, but it isn't a lot of fun because they make my arms swell a bit because I am a bit allergic to them. Even though I wear a long sleeve shirt, they manage to get under the fabric around my wrists.

My Truck loaded with the Grasses

Then it was off to the landfill to recycle the grasses with my trusty dog Makayla. She loves to go for road trips and I like having her along for the ride. Speaking of the ride--wow, two delays. First, I got a mile down the read before I realized that I had a soft tire so it was back to the house for air. Then I realized I needed gas--ugh! Why didn't I fill the tank on Friday when I knew it was low?

Back at the house it was time for lunch. 

Then Christmas decorations. I do exterior decorations on Veterans Day, especially if it is a nice day, because then I don't have to worry about them later. For this event, I called in reinforcements: Patrick and Tina. The small army working together completed the task in record time and by 4:00 we were done! Yay.

But the day wasn't over yet.

I have been working to make the fire table have real flames for over two weeks. I have ordered a number of things to make this happen--and have been thwarted. Today, though, the FEDEX man delivered the final part--an adjustable regulator. With Patrick's assistance the fire table was transformed from a warming table to one with true flames and became a true place to enjoy.

But wait, there's more, it was racquetball evening. By 5:30PM I was on the racquetball court playing a match. 

I was there for a bit and then it was home, arriving about 7:30 PM. 

Dinner and a glass of wine around the refurbished fire table was the perfect exclamation point on the day. 

A great day. Very busy and full.

--Bob Doan, Elkridge, Md

Veterans Day 2014

Service, sacrifice, patriotism!

Veterans Day grew out of a President Woodrow Wilson proclamation during 1919 for a commemoration of the end of the war to end all wars, as it was known, which ended on November 11, 1918. 

I get to enjoy a holiday today and, apparently, will also be blessed with great weather.

I continue to be frustrated that public schools in Maryland are not observing the holiday. I sat on the Howard County Calendar Committee developing the calendar for this year and I just could not get the country to allow students and teachers a day off to remember the service of our Veterans. I consider it one of the failures of the process of developing a school calendar.

On the other hand, I am continually pleased to note how many businesses celebrate and honor the service of veterans by offering a military discount. The list of businesses offering Veterans Discounts is large. Thanks! 

Hug a veteran and say thanks!

P.S.-- you are welcome!

-- Bob Doan, Elkridge, MD