The Return

My parents arrived safely from Houston last evening. I appreciated tracking the flight on Flight Tracker. That helped because they arrived almost a half-hour early due to what I'm guessing was a strong tailwind. Their scheduled speed was 525 mph and they were actually traveling about 620 mph. We are so very lucky that Southwest airlines flies direct from Houston! It makes the journey that much easier.

Dinner with Mom and Dad, and Chris in the Middle
Elkridge, MD
February, 26, 2019

Chris and I have been looking forward to their return for a couple of weeks as it marks the beginning of the next phase in their journey. It is hard to believe that they were last here during mid-November as they first traversed to Houston to enjoy the bulk of the Winter. 

And now onto Spring, well, except for the wintry-mix of weather we are expecting later this week to potentially block Mom and Dad's triumphant return to Central New York! The family has been working hard to facilitate their return. We are planning to head out on Friday afternoon to drive them home.

But that is later in the week. For the remainder of this week we are planning on having our local family visit to spend time with Mom and Dad while they are here. I know that there are enough things to be accomplished during their relatively brief visit.

Every visit, no matter how brief is special!

And then back into the fray of daily living.

-- Bob Doan, Elkridge, MD

Seconds of Life

As the last Tuesday of February 2019 rolls into view, I was reminded of the passing of the calendar and how it marks not only the aging of the year, but of our lives as well.

When I was a newborn, one day doubled my lifespan, then two more days again doubled my life, then four more days and then one week, and then one month. Now, I measure my age in years, maybe decades. Thinking of doubling my age from now is out of the question. But with each doubling of my age, I was supposed to become smarter and more importantly wiser.

Yet, even as the thought of measuring my age in days has passed, each day is important and not to be missed.

There is an interesting commercial on television right now that suggests that the average adult spends 1/3 of their life asleep. I ran across some other interesting facts about living at My Age Calculator.

• The average human heart beat rate is 80 per minute, so when you're 25, you had about 1,051,896,000 heart beats.
• Your eye blinking rate is about 10 blinks per minute, so for one year you make about 5,259,500 blinks.
• If you're a 30-year-old, you lived 10957 days, 262974 hours, or 75,778,440 minutes.
• We live our 1 million minutes of life when we're only 1.9 years old. 
• Average time spent sleeping is estimated to total about 6 hours 40 minutes a night, so we usually spend sleeping about 22 years, or 192848 hours of our life.
• Average time spent watching commercials is estimated to total 2 years, or 17531.6 hours. 
• Average time we spend eating is about 67 minutes a day, which is about 3.66 years or 32083 hours of our life.
• Average time spend in traffic about 38 hours a year, making it total 3 months of our life.

So as we roll through life, we need to remember how each of the seconds we spend doing, or not doing, something add up.

A second lost is never found! A variation of Ben Franklin's saying, "Lost time is never found again."

-- Bob Doan, Elkridge, MD

Monday Musings - February 25, 2019

1. Unbelievably, today is the last Monday in February. This time next week it will be March!

2. Being sick sucks. Giving it to your spouse sucks more because the house continues to be sick and miserable for additional days.

3. The sin of sexual abuse by priests has been hanging over the Catholic church for too long. Something must be done, maybe the Pope is ready to take accountable action, finally.

4. The 2020 Presidential Olympics are underway already. It is going to be another long election season with likely little being accomplished in Washington to move our country forward.

The Neighborhood at Sunset
February 24, 2019
From Radio Flyer

5. We are going to hear a lot about it, so here is the definition of Democratic Socialism, which is very different from pure Socialism. "Democratic socialism is a political philosophy that advocates political democracy alongside social ownership of the means of production, with an emphasis on self-management and democratic management of economic institutions within a market or some form of decentralized planned socialist economy." - Wikipedia

6. Radio Flyer took to the air last evening and captured the late winter view of the neighborhood at sunset after a weekend of gray skies and rain.

7. Why do I enjoy spaghetti westerns so much? This weekend I watched parts of "The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly" as well as"The Alamo," "Guns of the Magnificent Seven" and "The Magnificent Seven Ride." I do so enjoy the Magnificent Seven music.

8. Chris and I walked our yard yesterday and viewed the ravages of the winter and the rains. We have a lot of work to do to bring the lawn around for the year ahead. 

9. History Today. On February 25, 1964, 22-year-old Cassius Clay shocks the odds-makers by dethroning world heavyweight boxing champ Sonny Liston in a seventh-round technical knockout. The dreaded Liston, who had twice demolished former champ Floyd Patterson in one round, was an 8-to-1 favorite. However, Clay predicted victory, boasting that he would “float like a butterfly, sting like a bee” and knock out Liston in the eighth round. 

Today a Bonus History:

10. History Today for Yesterday. On February 24,1836, in San Antonio, Texas, Colonel William Travis issues a call for help on behalf of the Texan troops defending the Alamo, an old Spanish mission and fortress under attack by the Mexican army.



Headlines

Pope Francis Ends Landmark Sex Abuse Meeting With Strong Words, but Few Actions - The New York Times

The U.S. wants North Korea to follow the ‘miracle’ of Vietnam’s path. It might be disappointed. - The Washington Post

Former senior national security officials to issue declaration on national emergency - The Washington Post

Two bodies recovered after Amazon cargo plane crashes into Texas bay - Reuters

Ronald Reagan Quote for the Week

• I call upon the scientific community in our country, those who gave us nuclear weapons, to turn their great talents now to the cause of mankind and world peace, to give us the means of rendering these nuclear weapons impotent and obsolete.
  — Quote by Ronald Reagan during his Address to the Nation on National Security (March 23, 1983)

-- Bob Doan, Elkridge, MD

Maybe the Snow has Passed?

Remaining Snow Pile
Elkridge, MD
February, 23, 2019

Sunday has arrived and I am standing at the threshold of a new week. I am resolved that this week will be better than last week. I am feeling much better and am ready to face the challenges of the week from somewhere other than my sofa.

Yesterday, I stood on the doorstep and looked into the yard, now mostly clear of snow, and wondered whether we have seen the last significant snowfall of the season?

I hope so. 

I doubt it.

Last week's fast moving storm dumped five inches of snow on us which were mostly gone by the end of the next day. Only the places where snow was piled remain as a fading monument to the weather event.

I always hope, at this time of year, that the most recent storm will be the last.  

But, I am sure that more snow will come before Winter releases its grip on the region. I only hope that next weekend will be snow-free as Chris and I sojourn north to return Mom and Dad to the frozen land of upstate New York.

The month of March is clearly in view and with it the promise of Spring. Cue the flowers and warmer temperatures.

-- Bob Doan, Elkridge, MD

Living in the Happy Place

Breakfast
Chris with Finn and Makayla
February 23, 2019

Breakfast is a special time as the family gathers to enjoy the meal. I caught it this morning as Chris was finishing her pancakes with the dogs in rapt attendance watching her every move. Of course, it does not help that we both transgress by giving them morsels from our plates which help to make mealtime a family affair. 

My Happy Place
Jupiter Island Beach
January 22, 2019

In an amazing turn around, I feel better this morning. After doing nothing but sleeping and watching golf nearly non-stop for two days, the cold that I have been afflicted with is finally starting to break. 

Perhaps it is because I saw a doctor yesterday and scared the cold away! Regardless, remembering that I had been in my happy place just a month ago, and that I had a picture of it to enjoy, helped me to get over the cold. It still hurts when I cough! And I cough too often.

But then, I remember my happy place and I reestablish my calm.

-- Bob Doan, Elkridge, MD

A Fly? Really?

Fly on a Sprite Can
Elkridge, MD
February 21, 2019

During the middle part of my sick day yesterday, the weather cleared and the temperatures warmed. Chris and I went outside to sit in the warm sunshine with the intention of increasing our Vitamin D production and help me get over this rotten cold which seems to have settled in my chest. 

As we were sitting outside, on a late-February day enjoying the near 60 degree temperatures in bright sunshine, I noticed a fly had landed on the lip of my Sprite can. I was amazed that the fly was there since the day before had been snowy and cold. How could an insect survive such conditions. But there it was. Enjoying the sunshine and the sugar on the lip of my can. Fortunately, I was done drinking from the can and, for some inexplicable reason, I let the fly enjoy being on the can until I was ready to go inside and resume coughing and sniffling.

The respite in the sunshine was enjoyable. It seems that the Sun has become a stranger lately. The warmth provided by the bright orb in the sky only infrequently makes an appearance.

Maybe springtime is not that far away.

Here's hoping for warm days and bright sunshine wherever  you are.


-- Bob Doan, Elkridge, MD

Cardinal in the Snow

Cardinal in the Snow
Elkridge, MD
February 20, 2019

I am sitting at home today, suffering with a mid-winter cold that has me coughing, sneezing, and sniffling. That is one reason my blog is published later than normal. It is not the most pleasant way to spend the day, but in consideration of my co-workers I chose to try to recover at home rather than at my desk at work.

It was a good choice, I am sure. And so I am wrapped up in a blanket, sitting in my recliner watching the most repetitive news programs the world has ever seen. I, until recently, was unaware how news networks recycle news. I have been seeing news clips from two days ago and last night's reports recycled as fresh news for the morning shows. I know there is more news out there. I usually can find it by going to many different papers.

But that written, the local news of yesterday's snow was extensive in its coverage of the storm. I remembered back to when I was a kid, the snows came and we had no idea when it would end. Today, however, we have minute-by-minute coverage of the progress of the snow, then rain, then sleet, then freezing rain as it moved from neighborhood to neighborhood.

Yesterday, at the height of the storm, a cardinal perched on the back deck and posed for me. The resulting image captured the falling snow and its accumulation on the deck rail surrounding the bright red cardinal. It was my image of the day and memory of the storm.

-- Bob Doan, Elkridge, MD

Storm of the Century?

The Storm Begins
February 20, 2019

Actually it is just the storm of this week. We are planning to receive the complete winter mix--snow, sleet, freezing rain, and rain during the next few hours. The storm will be effectively shutting down the entire region for the day by making travel treacherous. Travel is complicated by the number of drivers in the region who become paralyzed when they are confronted by a bit of snow and slush.

Squirrel on the Back Deck
February 20, 2019

I slept in this morning and when I awoke the snow had not yet started. But it has since begun in earnest. We are expecting 2-5 inches. That is down from 3-6 inches that called for last evening. Chris and I will be heading out in the middle of the storm to retrieve a friend from the airport who is flying into the middle of the storm. 

Condo in Florida with Palm Tree
Tequesta, Florida
January 29, 2019

As I sit here the snow has begun to come down harder. It is covering the surfaces and the ground. 

I wish I was sitting under a palm tree somewhere in the south, like Florida as I was less than a month ago.

I guess I just need to be where I am and be sure to enjoy the day.

-- Bob Doan, Elkridge, MD

Three-day Weekend Reflections

When Monday falls on Tuesday, as it does after a three-day holiday weekend, it becomes almost impossible to catchup or even appreciate the correct day of the week. 

The Monday/Tuesday cross-over after a three-day weekend is one of the most difficult to handle. It seems as if everything that was routine for a Monday happens on Tuesday with everything that is normally scheduled for that day as well. 

The pain of holidays.

My friends and family who are retired do not seem to experience the same interaction between a holiday Monday and a mid-week Tuesday. 

On the other hand, do not misunderstand--I love three-day weekends and it would be great if we could adopt a four-day workweek to allow for more time off. 

And so--it is off to work I go this morning to face the challenges of Tuesday with a touch of Monday thrown in! Sadly, there is not another holiday until the end of May! Well, that certainly takes away the Monday on Tuesday dilemma.

-- Bob Doan, Elkridge, MD

Monday Musings - February 18, 2019

1. Happy Presidents' Day. Well, OK, it is really Happy George Washington's Birthday, the official name for the holiday.

2. Did you notice that the car ads on TV tell us that we can save more on a new car purchase than we used to spend on buying the car? I remember when a Volkswagen Bug was $1995.

3. Today is the last in a string of holidays which began six months ago during September with Labor Day. During that span we have enjoyed eight of the ten Federal holidays. There are only two holidays to enjoy during the next six months: Memorial Day and Independence Day. 

4. The return of the rain and cold forced us inside for most of the yesterday

5. Feeding the birds is a never ending process. It is fun to see them congregate on the back deck to enjoy the peanuts and birdseed. Sadly, the squirrels seem to enjoy the feast more than the birds. 

6. It is vacation planning season. Where are you heading this summer? 

7. Today in History. On this day in 1885, Mark Twain publishes his famous–and famously controversial–novel The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. Twain (the pen name of Samuel Clemens) first introduced Huck Finn as the best friend of Tom Sawyer, hero of his tremendously successful novel The Adventures of Tom Sawyer (1876). Though Twain saw Huck’s story as a kind of sequel to his earlier book, the new novel was far more serious, focusing on the institution of slavery and other aspects of life in the antebellum South.



Headlines

Chinese and Iranian Hackers Renew Their Attacks on U.S. Companies - The New York Times

For Wall Street Banks in London, It’s Moving Time - The New York Times

In Indian-controlled Kashmir, unprecedented attack puts focus on ‘homegrown’ militants - The Washington Post

Trump policies unite allies against him at European security forum - Reuters

Ronald Reagan Quote for the Week 

Every new day begins with possibilities. It's up to us to fill it with the things that move us toward progress and peace.      

-- Bob Doan, Elkridge, MD