Viewing the Snow from Above

Looking Up the Driveway
January 14, 2019

Radio Flyer made its first flight of 2019 on Monday afternoon. It was a short 4 minute flight with a maximum altitude of 79 feet. 

Looking at the House Covered by Snow
January 14, 2019

The purpose of the flight was to document the snow fall around the house and to get my drone out for its first flight of the year.

While the flight was a short flight, I chose to fly near sunset so that I could get some nice images of the area. 

I liked the way that the relatively light snow was hanging on the juniper trees. They had that wintery, fluffy, snow-covered look like so many of the trees in my Snow Village scene. It was nice that the wind had not blown the snow off the branches yet and that the snow was not so heavy that the branches broke under the weight.

Above the Neighborhood
January 14, 2019

Sunset in January
January 14, 2019

I did get one really nice image of the sunset with an airplane in the distance. I happened to be looking in the right direction as the aircraft was climbing out of Baltimore-Washington International (BWI). We were pretty lucky during the storm in that since the worst of it occurred during the night, not too may flights were canceled. That is always good for the air travelers. 

I need to get Radio Flyer off the ground a bit more, I miss flying.

The images captured are a good reminder of the day and the storm.

-- Bob Doan, Elkridge, MD

Just Add Keeshond

Makayla in the Snow

I am not a big fan of snow, everyone who knows me is aware of this fact.

Makayla Makes a Snow Angel

Yesterday, during the snow day, I was reminded that one member of my family loves the snow. 

Makayla loves snow. When we were shoveling on Sunday, she was content to lay in a snow pile and watch the activity, but yesterday her love of snow came out. She loves to dig and burrow into the snow. She did this on many occasions during the day. 

It was fun to watch her. And the amazing thing is that because she has two coats, the snow did not melt on her, it just shook off. She loves to make Keeshond snow angels. 

We took an enjoyable walk during the early evening as the sun was setting. Makayla stopped a number of times along the route to leave her unique mark in the snow. I am glad that someone in my family loves snow. 

When the yard is covered with snow and looks pristine, just add Keeshond to give it that used look. But I need to be prepared to laugh a lot.

-- Bob Doan, Elkridge, MD

Monday Musings - January 14, 2019

1. It is the second Monday of January and winter arrived with cold and snow. It had to happen, I guess.

Tufted Titmouse
January 13. 2018

2. Shoveling snow is not a fun task, but it goes a lot easier when there are many hands doing the job.

3. The birds really appreciated the birdseed that Chris put out for them in the snow. Here is a Tufted Titmouse enjoying the feast. I found the heavy snow on the junipers to be a pretty background.

4. Just when we thought the snow was over, it started again and the roads were very slippery last evening.

5. The thought of heading to Florida for some warmth is going to keep me going through the week ahead.

6. I played laser tag for the first time ever yesterday at Lucas' Birthday Party. I had a great time. I didn't do as well as I would have liked, but I had fun.

7. Seven inches of snow! That is how much the storm dropped on my house during the past two days. I shoveled twice. The last time, about 9PM last evening, was just as the storm was abating and the driveway is clear this morning. 

8. The NFL playoffs got interesting. During the Wildcard Weekend, three of the four visiting teams won. During the Divisional Playoff Weekend, all of the home teams won. How interesting.

9. Today in History. The theologian, musician, philosopher and Nobel Prize-winning physician Albert Schweitzer is born on this day in 1875 in Upper-Alsace, Germany (now Haut-Rhin, France).

Headlines

Miami Airport to Close Terminal as Gov Shutdown Continues - The New York Times

Israel, in Rare Admission, Confirms Strike on Iranian Targets in Syria - The New York Times

Life, Death and Insulin - The Washington Post

Sears bankruptcy raises old questions about cost of going broke - Reuters

Ronald Reagan Quote for the Week

In closing let me thank you, the American people for giving me the great honor of allowing me to serve as your President. When the Lord calls me home, whenever that may be, I will leave with the greatest love for this country of ours and eternal optimism for its future.

I now begin the journey that will lead me into the sunset of my life. I know that for America there will always be a bright dawn ahead.

Thank you, my friends. May God always bless you.

 -- Letter to the American People about being Diagnosed with Alzheimer's Disease, November, 5, 1994

-- Bob Doan, Elkridge, MD

Winter Arrives

Shoppers at Wegman's Preparing for the Storm
January 12, 2019

The Baltimore-Washington region has been dodging the storms of Winter for some time now, but the area is finally taking a direct hit.

There are 5 or more inches of snow on the ground with more falling. 

Ugh!

Evening January 12, 2019
As the Storm Begins

I wish I was in Florida right now watching this on the news rather than living it in person. Experiencing snowstorms virtually is much preferred to actually living through them.

Think about it--I have to spend hours shoveling the driveway and in the end all of the snow will melt away. It is wasted energy. But if I don't shovel the snow will melt to ice before it finally goes away. 

Finnegan in the Snow

Chris and I prepared for the storm yesterday, as did thousands of our new best friends from around the region, by hitting the stores and stocking up on supplies. We shopped at Wegman's for food. Although the real reason we went to Wegman's was to get guacamole for the football games, we came out other essential storm supplies. Sadly, the Cowboy's did not take the game seriously, although the Chief's won their game earlier in the day.

Snow on the Deck Before Dawn
January 13, 2019

The snow fell overnight and it fell in a great amount. As I write this it is still snowing and I am beginning to think about breakfast and heading out to shovel.

While we were preparing for the storm we were dreaming of being somewhere warm. I believe that every snowstorm cements our decision to head south as soon as I retire. I can scarcely believe that I am thinking doubt retirement, but it seems that as more and more of the people that I know retire, it becomes more real for me.

Well, as with every snowstorm in the region, most everything is closed. Chris and I have to attend a birthday party for our youngest grandson later in the day that I expect will occur, but other than that, we are not likely to venture out until much later in the day. It is not that we are afraid to drive in the snow, no, we are afraid of the other crazy drivers on the road who either are paralyzed by the driving conditions or ho think that because they have a 4-wheel drive vehicle that they can drive as if the roads were clear.

And now that it is dawn, I can clearly see that the snow continues to fall stacking up into piles on the ground.

It is time to get moving and clear the mess.

-- Bob Doan, Elkridge, MD

Sunrise There's a Fire in the Sky

Sunrise from LifeTime Fitness, Columbia, MD
January 11, 2019

Yesterday morning, I was leaving the club where I play, or rather I attempt to play, racquetball about 6:40 AM. I was treated to a stunning sunrise building on the horizon. I caused me to grab my cell phone and snap an image. Later as I was driving to work the sunrise became even more stunning, but as I was driving I could not get an image of it to share. 

I was excited, and I know most people do not get too excited about such things. But I was excited about the sunrise at 6:40 AM because t means the dark season is departing and the daylight is returning. We have gained 13 more minutes of daylight since the solstice. The amount if daylight is rapidly increasing, during the next seven days we will gain another ten minutes of daylight. Yay! I note that in Jupiter, Florida, they have already an hour more of daylight per day than Baltimore does! Something about a change in latitude.

And of course, the mixture of the warmth of Florida coupled with the sunrise reminded me of the song Knee Deep by the Zac Brown Band. The refrain contain the magical sunrise words:

Wishin' I was
Knee deep in the water somewhere
Got the blue sky, breeze and it don't seem fair
The only worry in the world
Is the tide gonna reach my chair
Sunrise, there's a fire in the sky
Never been so happy
Never felt so high
And I think I might have found me my own kind of paradise

A warm thought for a cold, January Baltimore morning where 3-5 inches of snow is expected. I might change the words of the song some:

Hating that I'm
Knee deep in the snow out here
Got the gray sky wind and it don't seem fair
The only worry that I have
Will I freeze right in this spot
Sunrise, and it weren't even seen
But snow keeps falling
And so not to to be mean
But I think I'm gonna need a change of scenery

or something

-- Bob Doan, Elkridge, MD

Cold Day

Yesterday was a cold day. Too cold for me, but just right for January. Today is colder. This morning the temperature is 23 degrees outside my window. What a change from the 50s of three days ago. 

I don't like it much when the cold weather actually arrives.

Added to the cold, there is 4-6 inches of snow in the forecast for the weekend. I need to find the snow shovels. I think they are in the shed. With the other stuff I don't use often. 

With the weather looking bad, the weekend project will be devoted to decorating the basement, it has been a bit of a blank canvas since the remodel project was completed. It is hard to say, but the weather will certainly determine the weekend activity.


Bob Doan, Elkridge, MD

Bleeding Heart Liberal

I was called something yesterday that I never thought that I would hear: 

Bleeding heart liberal. 

Wow! It is amazing how three words can be used to define a person. I think they were meant to convey a negative connotation.

Being called a bleeding heart liberal still amazes me and I frankly don't know how to respond, but here is how I am feeling. 

First, I'm honored that I something that I wrote regarding current events in America struck a chord with someone and generated a response.

Second. I'm a bit scared that a label was used in place of engaging in a rational discussion and to ultimately agree, as I do, that we each are entitled to our opinions, especially after careful consideration and investigation. I served 21 years in the Air Force and continue to work as a Federal employee to guarantee each American that precious right to an opinion.

Third, I am happy that my obvious and overt support for definite conservatives such as Ronald Reagan, George Patton, George HW Bush, and George W Bush, to name a few, has not overshadowed my ability to keep an open mind on issues and evaluate them on their merits. I didn't realize that there issue I was writing a liberal vs conservative issue to begin with.

I found an interesting quote that is more applicable today than I originally realized:

“If fascism ever comes to America, it will come in the name of liberalism.”  - Ronald Reagan, 1975. Checked at Snopes.com.

The thought is even more interesting and potentially applicable today since fascism is generally defined as extreme right-wing philosophy.

So, if my opinion on one issue makes me a bleeding heart liberal, maybe that is not a bad thing--so I will own it.


-- Bob Doan, Elkridge, MD

Tear Down This Wall

I watched the President's remarks last evening and I watched the rebuttal from the Speaker if the House and the Senate Minority Leader. 

Nogales, Texas Wall

The President's address was fraught with untruths and misrepresentations of the truth. The facts can be checked at Fact Check. 

In listening to the response to the President, I was shocked at the way he liberally misused partial truths and untruths to attempt to justify an embarrassing wall. 

In one instanced he said: In Maryland, MS-13 gang members who arrived in the United States as unaccompanied minors were arrested and charged last year after viciously stabbing and beating a 16-year-old girl. 

When last i checked geography, the wall would be constructed no where near Maryland. I am not sure how the this incident was related to a wall on the southern border. He never asserted that the unaccompanied minors came to America through the area where the wall would be built, or how a wall would have kept them out of the country.

And finally, two years ago, the President was elected and both the House and Senate were controlled by the Republicans. Why didn't the wall get funded then? Why has this waited until he could focus blame on the Democrats rather than realizing that the majority of Americans do not want to fund a wall. There are other ways to ensure border security. 

Americans have been against walls, it was Ronald Reagan who standing at the Berlin Wall uttered the famous words: “Secretary General Gorbachev, if you seek peace–if you seek prosperity for the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe–if you seek liberalization: come here, to this gate. Mr. Gorbachev, open this gate. Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall.” President Reagan went on to say: “Standing before the Brandenburg Gate, every man is a German, separated from his fellow men. Every man is a Berliner, forced to look upon a scar.”

Despite what the President saying about walls being built because we love those inside, history paints a different story. They become objects of oppression.

I support the image that Senator Schumer made when he said: The symbol of America should be the Statue of Liberty, not a 30 foot wall.

-- Bob Doan, Elkridge, MD

Shutdown continues

As the partial Federal shutdown continues, the dysfunction in Washington becomes more apparent and dangerous. 

Airport Lines Aggravated by Government Shutdown

As the weather turns colder, so does the hope for a speedy end to the battle over a wall for the southern border.

We have fought wars over that southern border and now, it appears, we are fighting a war which threatens the very Republic. Sadly, the situation has devolved into a standoff in which neither side wants to be seen a flinching.

It is a stupid as playing chicken or having a duel. 

Sadly, however, the people paying the price for the insanity are those in our country least able to afford the cost: the poor, the Federal workers, and those who depend upon Federal contracts for their survival. 

The New York Times had an article describing the impact of the shutdown: 
As Government Shutdown Persists, Americans Feel the Bite

The opening paragraph describes the impacts:

WASHINGTON — The impact of a partial government shutdown began to ripple across the economy as it stretched into Day 17, with mortgage applications delayed, public companies unable to get approval to raise capital and thousands of Secret Service agents expected to show up for work without pay.

President Trump and congressional Democrats have made little progress in negotiations to end a shutdown that has affected about 800,000 federal workers, many of whom will miss their first paycheck this week, and who owe a combined $249 million in monthly mortgage payments, according to the online real estate firm Zillow.

And the situation will only get worse because hidden in the campaign promise that the President is trying to fulfill was a statement that Mexico will pay for the wall. Yet, all I see in my tax dollars headed for the next iteration of the Great Wall of China--except, where are the Mongul Hordes? 

President Trump’s desperate, nonsensical claim that Mexico is paying for the wall - The Washington Post

Border Wall

An excerpt from that article lays out the situation:

Now President Trump faces a similar conundrum: He promised that Mexico would pay for his plan to build a wall along the southern border. But he did not make this promise just once or even two dozen times. From his announcement speech to the election, he declared 212 times that Mexico would pay for the wall, according to the comprehensive record of Trump’s speeches, interviews and tweets maintained by factba.se. That works out to almost every two days during the campaign.

Mexico refuses to pay for the wall, and Trump has engineered a government shutdown to try to force Congress to appropriate the necessary funds. Yet he insists that Mexico is paying for the wall because of a reworking of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) that his administration negotiated — though it is not yet ratified by Congress

We don't need a wall, we need a functioning, funded government and leaders with less ego and more compassion.

-- Bob Doan, Elkridge, MD

Monday Musings - January 7, 2018

1. It is the first Monday of January 2019. I can't believe that the first weeks has already passed. Seven days down and 358 to go until we can do the New Years stuff all over again.

2. The Federal Government remains partially shutdown. Sadly. There is no end in sight. Well, until the tax returns are not paid out and then there will definitely be a groundswell against the shutdown.

3. I noticed how dark the neighborhood was last evening as the Christmas lights have been turned off and put away by most of the houses.

4. While I often complain about the weather, I cannot complain about yesterday's 54 degrees and sunny for a January day! Bring it on. 

5. I attended two youth basketball games yesterday and I am happy to report that both Jackson and Ethan were winners. The games were close and exciting.

6. Yesterday would have been a good day for January golf, but, I was busy elsewhere.

7. I am amazed how quickly time passes when I have a lot to do, but drags when I am just waiting for the day to end.

8. Today in History. On this day in 1789, America’s first presidential election is held. Voters cast ballots to choose state electors; only white men who owned property were allowed to vote. As expected, George Washington won the election and was sworn into office on April 30, 1789.

Headlines

2 Americans Said to Have Joined ISIS Caught on the Front Lines in Syria - The New York Times

Contradicting Trump, Bolton says no withdrawal from Syria until ISIS destroyed, Kurds’ safety guaranteed - The Washington Post

U.S. says suspected USS Cole bombing planner killed in Yemen strike - Reuters

Trump Has Promised to Bring Jobs Back. His Tariffs Threaten to Send Them Away. - The New York Times

Ronald Reagan Quote for the Week

The one thing our Founding Fathers could not foresee -- they were farmers, professional men, businessmen giving of their time and effort to an idea that became a country -- was a nation governed by professional politicians who had an interest in getting re-elected. They probably envisioned a fellow serving a couple of hitches and then eagerly looking forward to getting back to the farm.

-- Bob Doan, Elkridge, MD