In Need of Another Vacation

The Blue Hole, Belize

I have been getting email about planning future vacation destinations and cruises.

Specials, discounts! 

Except, none are for next summer. They all want me to leave tomorrow or next month!

Oh I wish that I could. The ultimate escapism.

Cathedral Cove, New Zealand

I would love to be cruising the Caribbean while Winter arrives in the North! I looked at the temperature graph for the upcoming week in Key West. It varies between 80 and 85 degrees! That, by the way, is the low and the high!

Perhaps the darkness, the rain, the gloom, and the too cool temperatures are beginning to get to me! I even see that snow is beginning to creep into the forecasts of cities around me. 

Brrr!

It is November after all! The news were talking about the November Witch yesterday providing frigid weather to the mid-section of the country. The same witch that may have been responsible for the wreck of the SS Edmund Fitzgerald, which was 40 years ago. 

Well, after all, it is almost Thanksgiving and time for the bad weather to begin affecting activities. Darkness and bad weather. What a combination.

Find me a warm, sunny beach somewhere with gentle waves breaking along the coast.

-- Bob Doan, Elkridge, MD

Holiday Busy Day

I have to admit, I look forward to the autumn holidays. They allow me to get projects done, especially in preparation for the upcoming season. Yesterday was no exception. 

Makayla had a dental cleaning and so I didn't even get to sleep in. She had to be at the vet by 7:30 AM. She did very well and her teeth look great!

Christmas Lights Installed and Checked

Veteran's Day is the day I use to get the outdoor Christmas lights hung and prepared for the season which begins two weeks from tomorrow. The weather is usually nice and I can work on the lights at my leisure during the day. It took over four hours this year to get everything accomplished. But they are ready for that day after Thanksgiving when the "most wonderful time of the year" arrives.

And then there were the leaves on the lawn which needed to be repositioned. Fortunately, my tractor does an excellent job of moving the leaves from the lawn and back into the forest from which they came.

Believe it or not, I had a couple of gifts that needed to be wrapped. Christmas is closer than I think, I guess.

I had hoped to get in a round of golf, however, by the time I got everything done the course was busy and I decided to go to the driving range instead to work on my swing. Working out at the range is not nearly as much fun as missing a short putt on a green at the course of driving a ball into the deep woods off the tee, but after 168 shots, followed by about 40 putts, I had accomplished a pretty good workout and wrung out some of the problems I had been experiencing.

On the way home, I picked up Makayla dropped her off at the house and then, given a small window of opportunity, I decided to get a haircut. Later that same evening,  Chris and I had a dinner date with Patrick and Tina followed by some entertainment back at their house. 

All-in-all, it was a busy and great day. A lot accomplished and I even took time to thank a few veterans along the way!

When is the next holiday? Oh yeah, Thanksgiving when I give thanks and eat too much!

-- Bob Doan, Elkridge, MD

Veteran's Day Special

Thank them!

Remember them!

Across the seas and even here in our own land, America's military veterans have served with distinction!

American Cemetery in Luxembourg

Many who didn't make it back and are still remembered in the far off lands they helped to liberate from tyranny.

Pause for a moment and reflect on the freedoms that you have  and then remember that someone made a sacrifice for you.

Those who served are all around and most a very humble about their service. I always blush when someone thanks me for my service.

Veterans, be proud!

-- Bob Doan, Elkridge, MD

My Take: Red Cup Furor Overblown

Starbucks' Red Holiday Cups

Perhaps one of the funniest, if not saddest, stories to cross my viewing during the past few days has been the furor over Starbucks' red holiday cups! Certain Christian groups are accusing Starbucks of being anti-Christmas because the cups are plain red rather than adorned with symbols of the season.

My thought was, why not orange for pumpkins?

Can someone really, in good conscience accuse Starbucks of being anti-Christmas? 

I worry that we are becoming a paranoid society and that people are searching for ways that they can feel persecuted. There are real issues out there, like the climbing Baltimore murder rate and people are seriously worried that Starbucks is using a plain red cup for the holiday season?

Get a life!

For me, I like the minimalist holiday look. I find it festive and simply elegant!  Good job Starbucks. I may even head over to Starbucks for a cup-of-joe in a red cup.

And that is My Take!

-- Bob Doan, Elkridge, MD

It was a Dark, Dreary November Evening

Steaks on the Grill

During the Dark Season, one of the toughest things to do in to keep moving after the darkness arrives all too early.

Yesterday was even tougher. It was rainy and seasonably cool--meaning, all outdoor activity ceased. 

Ugh!

I found a way to beat the darkness! Cooking steaks on the grill! It brought back the smells of summer and the tastes that I long for. Served with a nice dark red wine--a Grenache, it drove out the darkness--at least for a moment.

I need to keep reminding myself that the darkness, in and of itself is not a bad thing. It need to overcome the darkness by doing things that remind me of the summer and sunlight.

Summer is not just a season, it is a state of mind.

-- Bob Doan, Elkridge, MD

Monday Musings - November 9, 2015

1. November has been extremely mild and enjoyable, prolonging a spectacular autumn for the region.

2. Veteran's Day is this week. Thank you to all who have served and who continue to serve!

3. It is good when the team I'm rooting for doesn't lose, even if they don't play. Go Ravens!

4. Scented candles are just a bit much! And they are polluting our home environments. 

5. It is baseball season, yet?

6. On this day in 1965, the great Northeast blackout happened.  I remember where I was when the lights went off.

7. I have had a cold that just keeps lingering. It is miserable.

8. This is only week two of standard time! And it keeps getting darker, earlier.

9. The end of predatory towing companies freedom to pillage and plunder may be in sight!

-- Bob Doan, Elkridge, MD

My Take: News Media Run Amok

It has been clear for some time now, that the news media is over stepping their boundaries when it comes to reporting.

No longer, it seems, is the media, which I use as a collective term, satisfied to report the news of the day, they want to create the news.

No where is it more evident than the Presidential olympics. Why are the discussions of the candidates overshadowing more pressing news of the day? Because not only can the media report, but, they can create and then shape the news in a sensational manner.

The scary part is? Who will elect the next President? The news media! I have heard arguments about whether the media, collectively again, is liberal or conservative and it really does not matter. The shaping and uneven reporting does a disservice to Americans who depend upon the news media for information.

There needs to be something sensational every day!

It makes the ratings go up! And that means money. It does not equate to full and truthful reporting.

Not everything being reported is really news! A lot of it is opinion, beware.

-- Bob Doan, Elkridge, MD

My Take: Police Abuses

I read a particularly disturbing article about a police chase in Louisiana this morning that continues to highlight the changing nature of police departments around our country. And this comes after a particularly rough summer where police abuses have been highlighted.

Jeremy Mardis Killed by Police Bullets in Louisiana

This story is perhaps the worst of all. It is set in rural Louisiana where apparently police involved in a car chase fired a number of bullets into a car earlier this week. According to one account, they fired 18 bullets into the SUV. At least 6 of those shots struck and killed 6 year old Jeremy Mardis who was strapped into his seat. The driver of the vehicle, Jeremy's father,  was unarmed and survived. The police allege that were attempting to apprehend the driver because of warrants which have not materialized. Two officers have been charged with 2nd degree murder. The tragedy? This story has not made the national news except as an afterthought. 

This comes after another young man was killed a few weeks ago after his car broke down along I-95 near Jupiter, Florida. 

And it comes after a summer of unrest around the country about the aggressive, shoot-first and ask questions later approach to law enforcement that is being employed.

This is not the 1930's with gangsters riding around the country laying trails of death and destruction behind them robbing banks and using automatic weapons. Innocent bystanders are being killed by direct fire!

I remember that, in olden times, the police were the servants of the people. When someone strayed, they packed the person up and took them home. An encounter with the police was not a life threatening event. Look at old TV shows how the police are portrayed--they lived in the neighborhoods they protected and knew the people. The police helped people and only addressed the most egregious violations.

We, apparently, have become a society intolerant of even the most minor transgression and the result has been the militarization of the police forces which have transformed them from being servants of the populace to being the enforcers first. 

I fear the abuses will continue.

-- Bob Doan, Elkridge, MD

My Take: We have Lost the News

We are a news starved society, out of touch with what is happening in the world unless it is dramatic. Our major news sources are myopically focused upon the upcoming--still over a year away, election at the expense of keeping Americans in touch with what is going on around the world.

Does I really care what Donald Trump's current ranting is about, and is it news worthy? I think not!

Yes, most Americans may understand that a Russian airliner was downed, probably by ISIS/ISIL over the Sinai, but do they even know where the Sinai is?

How many people know that a dam burst in Brazil engulfing a community in a river of mud and killing at least 15?

Or that refugees from Syria and the Middle East are still trying to get into Europe?

How many have already forgotten that the Russians are actively fighting in Syria?

We live in a connected world, but we have blinders on. We ignore most of what is happening around us and form opinions based only upon what others are screaming at us.

We have lost perspective because we are not getting the full story, and are only hearing occasional sound bytes. Maybe it is because we are not reading the newspapers anymore. I know what I actually have a paper in my hands, I read a lot of the smaller stories that provide insights into what is going on around the world.

Journalism has become entertainment and we have lost the news and its critical perspective as a result.

And that is My Take!

-- Bob Doan, Elkridge, MD

As the Cactus Blooms

Cactus Blooming

One of the interesting things that happens each year as Thanksgiving approaches is that our cactus blooms.

It is another one of those autumnal events that mark the ending of another year and the approach of the holiday season.

It is funny that the cactus sits around all year apparently doing nothing and unaware of the beauty of summer, but once November arrives it blossoms. 

We own two of the cactus--originally we thought that they were Christmas cactus, but now they apparently have become Thanksgiving cactus. Turns out, there are both Thanksgiving and Christmas cactus varieties AND it is possible to tell the difference between them! The linked article from the Clemson Cooperative Extension describes the cactus and an Easter relative as well. 

Another sign of the season--flowering cactus! 

Enjoy November. Well, as much as possible!

-- Bob Doan, Elkridge, MD