Signs in the Sky

For centuries, millennia even, mankind has looked to the heavens to foretell events on transpiring here on Earth. 

There are now only eight real planets with the demotion of Pluto.
Nonetheless, five of the seven planets (not counting Earth because we are standing on it) are going to be visible in the morning sky fro about 45 minutes before dawn (weather permitting) for the next almost two months.

That is pretty spectacular. 

A New York Times article, Prepare for a Celestial Spectacle as Five Planets Align, describes how to find and view the event. If you have a cellphone, perhaps Heavens-Above can help you find and view the aligned planets. 

Perhaps you can divine what amazing event will be related to the alignment of the planets.

Have a look, it is another fantastic event brought to you by the creator if the universe!

-- Bob Doan, Elkridge, MD

Journeys--Beginning and Endings

I made an interesting calculation. Taking the years I have lived in my house and figuring that I probably travel in or out of my driveway about 4 times per day--on average, some days more and some less, I figured out that I have made about 22,000 journey beginnings or endings.

My Driveway--During a Warmer Season

The is an incredible number, and its accuracy is almost irrelevant.

When I think about 22,000 trips across my driveway in a car it reinforces the whole idea that "a journey of a thousand miles begins with one step."

And yet yesterday, there were no trips across my driveway. It was cold and we just did not have anywhere that we needed to go. There was a fire in the fireplace and small projects to be accomplished around the house. 

As I reflected on all of the journeys that began or ended in my driveway, I realized that despite their distance, it is almost always good to be home when the trip is complete. Even if the car is full of groceries than need to be unloaded.

While some people maintain that it is about the journey and not the destination, I'm not sure that I agree. I am a big fan of getting home.

-- Bob Doan, Elkridge, MD

Monday Musings - January 18, 2016

Snow on the Heavenly Bamboo Berries

1. Snow, in small non-accumulating amounts, can be pretty.

2. Football is an unforgiving game. One fumble can change the entire game. 

3. I was able to get in a round golf this weekend--amazing. the conditions were wet, but it was good to get out onto the course.

4. I am happy to see that Iran may be attempting to participate on the international stage responsibly. Releasing the US sailors and yesterday releasing the prisoners. 

5. Winter may have arrived. It snowed yesterday and it is 17 degrees outside this morning.

Makayla on the Floor

6. I wish I could lay on the floor and relax like I used to when I was a kid. At least Makayla has no problems. 

7. It is the day we celebrate the life of Martin Luther King, Jr. 

8. I read an interesting article about Tesla and their cars having the ability to park themselves in the garage. Someday, they may be able to drive themselves across the country to pick you up! I just wish they weren't so expensive.

9. The first major snow of the season is forecast for this weekend.

10. On this day in 1778, Captain Cook discovered Hawaii! Wish I was there now.

-- Bob Doan, Elkridge, MD

ClimbZone Birthday

Lucas, our youngest grandson, turned six and we celebrated yesterday by going to the Climb Zone. I admit, I was a bit skeptical about the venue--but that quickly was replaced by awe at the astounding facility that I walked into for the party.

The facility was alive with bright climbing walls and excitement. What a great place for a birthday party--the kids exercise before they eat cake and fattening foods. There was adequate supervision and assistance for all of the attendees. 

Tina and her niece Keeley had some fun on the wall together.

It was an awesome place, and even Chris managed into a harness to do some climbing. It was her inaugural experience and she loved it. I have a few videos to supplement the pictures from yesterday. She was a bit tentative about jumping off--but soon became a pro at the whole experience. 

I highly recommend this place. 

And yes, I forgot to reorient the camera to the normal video style--Oh well, live and learn.

Some exciting early Saturday morning entertainment and fun. 

-- Bob Doan, Elkridge, MD

Reflections of the Jackpot

Chatting with friends and coworkers about the recent Powerball jackpot and their plans should lightening strike and they had won, I was struck by the sense of sharing the fortune with others that most everyone displayed. 

Everyone agreed that the windfall was more than enough to provide for their personal needs for the rest of their lives and that others, including family, friends, and charitable organizations like churches would also share in the winnings.

This thinking represents some of the best of what makes us Americans. Despite being flooded with enough money to make all of our dreams come true on a selfish level, we were also looking to share the windfall!

This was true in my case as well. I am not a regular lottery player, but the incredible size of the jackpot caused me to buy a few tickets. I admit that it was fun to dream and I too had determined to share the winnings with family, friends, and my church. I believe it was healthy to dream a bit and assess my core values and then to reassure myself that even living in a society focused on the "me," I could still think in terms of "we" and "they" and "us!"

2 bucks and a dream! If you don't play you can't win (well unless someone in your family or a close friend does)

-- Bob Doan, Elkridge, MD

A Cat's Life

Riordin, one of our cats, is strange. 

Riordin in a Box

It is humorous how strange he is.

He loves boxes. I had a box on the counter last night and while I only turned my back for a few short moments, he crawled inside and claimed it. 

I had only just opened the box and removed the contents moments before.


He was completely inside the box. I had to work to get him out so that I could recycle the container.

Last week during our Friday evening party, he decided that one of the guests needed his hair washed. And he washed his hair.

I'm not sure it was necessary, but it surely was funny.

Riordin has a way of making his presence known. 

I guess that is what makes him such an interesting cat.

-- Bob Doan, Elkridge, MD

My Take: NFL Debacle

I watched some terrible NFL football this weekend. One game was decided in the waning moments by two penalties. And although the team I was cheering for won, it was not a good way for an NFL game to end.

Other games were fraught with poor officiating and mental mistakes that should not occur in a professional game. One other team was penalized twice on the same drive for having too many men on the field.

Football is losing its hold on the American public. The veneer is getting thin.

I was pleased to read yesterday that one player received a three-game suspension for his illegal hits during one of the games. The article detailing the punishment was reported by CBS Sports.

There is too much money involved in football. Look at last year's playoffs were we had Deflategate. What is the reward for cheating, obstructing justice, and destroying evidence? Super Bowl MVP. Why? Money.

What is wrong with this picture.

My Take: The NFL is rewarding the wrong attributes in its players. Sportsmanship had gone the way of the dinosaur. Professional football needs an overhaul to return to its roots and to get the thuggishness out of the game.

-- Bob Doan, Elkridge, MD

Snow Arrives

Snow arrived yesterday in Maryland for the inaugural event of the season.

It didn't accumulate and it was mostly a non-event. It is amazing that the weather media had been forecasting the event for almost the entire day yesterday.

It was a dusting.

It was cold. I had to bring wood in for the fireplace and I can confirm that it was very cold.

Too cold.

I saw some snow falling from the sky. It was cold and not at all pretty.

I guess winter has finally arrived in Maryland! I read that the Syracuse, NY, school district got enough snow to have their first snow day of the season. I'm glad I'm not there. Winter seems to be arriving everywhere.

I wish that it had not. But,  two months from today I expect to be playing golf in Florida!

-- Bob Doan, Elkridge, Md

Bird Feeding

Squirrel at the Feeder

Chris is very dedicated to our feathery friends and there are no less than three bird feeders strategically positioned around the house to provide needed supplement feeding during the winter months. 

We enjoy the varieties of birds and especially some of the transients that fly though our region in advance of the winter and then preceding the springtime.

The bane of the feeders, however, are the squirrels! They are everywhere. We have deployed squirrel resistant feeders--to no avail. 

The birds are welcome, the squirrels--not so much.

We still have a long winter ahead of us and the temperatures are beginning to fall more into the normal range. 

Maybe I can get some pictures of some birds, soon!

-- Bob Doan, Elkridge, MD

Monday Musings - January 11, 2016

1. Amazingly, for the middle of January, the high temperature yesterday was 63 degrees! It was fabulous!

2. The days are getting longer, although not much yet. They have lengthened from 9:23:59 on December 21 and 22 to 9:37:01 today. But, the days are finally beginning to lengthen by more than a minute per day. On January 26th we will cross over the 10 hour mark!

3. Christmas is completely back into the box. The outside decorations were removed over the weekend and we are officially ready for Springtime! Perhaps Winter is going to pass us by?

4. In an interesting twist, all four of the road teams won their NFL playoff games over the weekend. I guess there was little advantage to hosting playoff games.

5. Will you be playing the Powerball on Wednesday? 

6. On this date in 1813, the first pineapples were planted in Hawaii. Now that is an amazing fact that I really needed to know!

B-52 Flying over south Korea
as reported in the Washington Post

7. As reported in the Washington Post, a powerful US bomber flew low over South Korea the other day in response to the alleged North Korean nuclear test. I'm amazed that a 60 year old bomber can still be considered "powerful." But you gotta love the B-52.

8. Does anyone else think there is something fundamentally wrong when an actor interviews one of the most wanted men in the world?  Actor Sean Penn secretly interviewed Mexico’s ‘El Chapo’ in hideout. If he could get to the hideout, why not the authorities?

9. Well, the vacation conundrum is solved. Plans have been cemented! 

10. Did anyone else notice that Jordan Spieth finished the first PGA tournament of 2016 with a 30 shot under par victory?

-- Bob Doan, Elkridge, MD