Diving from the Sky

Pelican Diving into the Atlantic
Carlin Park, Jupiter, Florida
April 1, 2019

I began April in Florida. I had been there for a couple of days, but on April 1st, I was finally able to spend a couple of too short hours on the Carlin Park Beach in Jupiter, Florida. 

Pelicans on Patrol
Carlin Park, Jupiter, Florida
April 1, 2019

It was a beautiful day, I thoroughly enjoyed being on the beach with Chris after settling on our Florida home. 

But on the beach, that day, the real stars of the show were the birds--mostly pelicans. The must have been schools of fish just offshore because the pelicans were flying above us in formation and then diving into the warm waters.

Sitting under an umbrella on the beach watching the birds,  provided a perfect ending to my short trip to Florida. I will be back, however, because I now own a small piece of paradise have a place to stay whenever I need to visit. 

And the pelicans will be there, too. Patrolling the waters just off the coast looking for dinner.

-- Bob Doan, Elkridge, MD

Flowers and Trees

Local Tree in Bloom
Elkridge, MD
April 3, 2019

Springtime is finally taking hold in the region. The trees are flowering and I enjoy seeing their blossoms along my route to work. 

It is refreshing after the grays of Winter to have Spring infuse color into the world and my daily drive to and from work. 

I am always amazed and encouraged at the rebirth of the Spring.

Bring it on!

--  Bob Doan, Elkridge, MD

Making it Ours

The Dark Room Before Transformation
Sample Colors on the Wall

The joy of buying a new house is decorating it to meet our needs and tastes.

I am back in Maryland, but Chris remains in Florida making the house our own and putting her special touches on our new vacation and future retirement home. It has become our new and biggest project. 

Same Corner First Coat Mostly Painted
Thanks to Fran and Mary for the Help

We were fortunate to be able to buy the home mostly furnished. That means we only need to find furniture for one bedroom, the dining room and a small sitting room. So we have been focused decorating and not furnishing.

The house was dark! The walls were painted in a very nice dark gray/blue paint. The problem was there are not many windows and so the house seemed dark. Solution for darkness? Lighten the color on the walls and change the lights. All of the lights have been changed from old-style incandescent soft white to LED daylight--it is like the sun us shining from every corner of the house now.

And we have transformed the biggest and darkest walls with a new bright white color. 

The place is really coming together.

-- Bob Doan, Elkridge, MD

Who Are These Guys?

It is amazing how the MLB season has begun. 

The Orioles are 4-1 and a half game out of first place in what may be the toughest division in the major leagues. 

My prediction that the Orioles would arrive in town for their Thursday home opener with a record of no better 2-4 was clearly wrong, thankfully. The can arrive with a record of 5-1 or 4-2!

Who are these guys?

I watched my first Orioles game last evening and I was impressed at how the team fabricated two runs with timely hitting. That was something they were unable to accomplish last year. And they are winning one-run games. Another welcome change from last year. 

As i watched the game last evening, the announcers noted that the Orioles had not had a four-game road win streak since 2014. They now have tied that event. 

On the down side? Chris Davis remains hitless in 12 at bats posting 3 walks and 7 strike-outs with only 1 RBI. 

Yes, I am still watching! 

Let's Go O's!

-- Bob Doan, Elkridge, MD

Heading Home

Pelicans
Carlin Park, Jupiter, Florida
April 1, 2019

I am sitting on a stool at a terminal in the Palm Beach International Airport this morning at the conclusion of my week away.

It was hard to leave Chris and my new home behind to begin the trip to return back into my Maryland life. 

The new house is really coming together and leaving Chris behind is tough, but she gets to enjoy the pleasant weather for another week, lucky her. I have a coat in my hand and am looking forward to temperatures in the 30's when I arrive back in Baltimore. 

Sandpipers
Carlin Park, Jupiter, Florida
April 1, 2019

Yesterday, despite all of the work we have been doing to get the new house set up, we took a much needed beach break. I enjoyed the sun and the surf and the birds. We were accompanied to the beach by our friends and enjoyed a great lunch. Sadly, it ended when Chris and I had to depart to meet the air conditioning repair person. Yup, you guessed it, we had a problem with the air-conditioning unit. Seem the air filter had not been changed in over two years and it was causing the unit to freeze over. I changed the filter yesterday morning after a 6AM run to Home Depot. But, the repair person finished the job by defrosting the A-coil, and not it system is purring and he checked it out so it is fine!

I didn't really need that yesterday. Four days in the house and already a service call!

Seems the old owners did not believe in changing filters, the refrigerator water filter also needed changing.

The birds were a welcome respite.

-- Bob Doan, writing from Palm Beach International Airport, Florida

Monday Musings - April 1, 2019

Jupiter Island Beach
March 31, 2019

1. Happy April! The month of springtime showers and flowers. It is April Fool's Day--be cautious.

2. I am enjoying the Florida house, but sadly, I have to return to Maryland and my regular life tomorrow. There is so much here that I continue to need to do.

Birds on the Beach
Jupiter Island, FL
March 31, 2019

3. The weather has been fantastic. Temperatures are in the 80's during the middle part of the day.

4. There is something very relaxing about being on the beach to start the day. Chris and I walked the beach yesterday to start the day.

5. Birds are fun to watch on the beach. Yesterday they congregated together to search for foos and security. Finnegan wanted to play with them and they were not amused by that idea.

6. I looked back and discovered that I have been preparing Monday Musings weekly for over 10 years, they began on March 9, 2009. There have been some omissions and a couple Monday musings on Tuesdays. But for the most part, I have been consistent.

7. Today in History. On this day in 1700, English pranksters begin popularizing the annual tradition of April Fools’ Day by playing practical jokes on each other. Although the day, also called All Fools’ Day, has been celebrated for several centuries by different cultures, its exact origins remain a mystery.

Headlines

Russia’s Military Mission Creep Advances to a New Front: Africa - The New York Times

‘Breaches Everywhere’: Flooding Bursts Midwest Levees, and Tough Questions Follow - The New York Times

White House doubles down on threat to close U.S.-Mexico border - The Washington Post

China's Xi says West has long-term economic, military superiority - Reuters 

Ronald Reagan Quote for the Week

Since our first days in office, encouraging the kind of volunteer work you do has been one of our highest priorities. Now, this doesn't stem from any pride of authorship. Believe me, nobody in this administration thinks that we invented voluntarism. From the foundation of our Republic to the taming of the frontier, rightup to modern times and your wonderful work, voluntarism, the idea of neighbor helping neighbor, has been one of the distinguishing marks of the American experience and one of the primary causes of our nation's greatness.

 -- Remarks at a Ceremony Honoring Youth Volunteers, April 25, 1985


-- Bob Doan, Tequesta, FL

Dog vs. Sofa

Rex Under the Sofa 1
March 26, 2019

The other evening, before we departed Maryland as as we were dropping Makayla off at Patrick's, we were treated to a welcome diversion of Rex looking for a ball. 

Rex Under the Sofa 2
March 26, 2019

As we were sitting together chatting about the cares of the day and the impending trip, Rex lost his ball under a sofa and we were able to watch his problem-solving skills. 

It was creative watching Rex, the Bull Terrier, try to retrieve the ball from under a sofa.

He twisted and turned every which-way bring to get small enough to get under the sofa. At one point I though he was going to raise the sofa up off its feet to get enough room to get the ball. 

Rex Under the Sofa 3
March 26, 2019

It was fun to watch the antics continue for quite a while as we were chatting and preparing to leave to begin our journey south. 

Rex is a very cute dog. 

He is much like a wrecking crew sometimes. In this instance, however, the sofa won and finally a human had to intervene to retrieve the lost ball.

I am sure that Makayla, my Keeshond, is enjoying her mini-vacation with Rex and Patrick's other dog, Chewie. 

-- Bob Doan, Tequesta, FL

Home Near the Beach

Bob on the Beach
Intracoastal Waterway, Jupiter, Florida
March 30, 2019

OK, so it is true, and a dream come to reality.

Bob and Chris finally, after more than 20 years of visiting the Jupiter/Tequesta area have purchased their dream vacation and potential future retirement home in Tequesta, Florida.

Housewarming Gift

Where is Tequesta, you may ask? It is sandwiched between Jupiter, Florida, where many famous golf pros live, and the northern boundary of Palm Beach Country. If you click on the link, you will see that Tequesta is a small village with fairly irregular boundaries and a population just over 6,000 people. 

But, enough of the location and the town. Chris and I, along with Finnegan who is also here with us, are having a great time playing house and moving nearly every piece of furniture that we now own. We were fortunate to buy a place mostly furnished. That is good because we only need to buy a few things to complete our new home. Finnegan still hasn't figured out all of the good places for him to do his thing outside, but he is continuing to explore.

What is the most important thing about the new home?

Well, I have a palm tree in my front yard! I was going to take a picture, but it is raining. I'm kidding, of course. The most important thing is location, location, location in a place that I love to visit and long to live.

-- Bob Doan, Tequesta, FL

As the Trip Finally Ends

Finnegan Thinking: "Are We There Yet?"
Somewhere on I-95 in Florida
March 28, 2019

Day 2 of the trip to Florida dawned with us heading our from Hilton Head Island headed for Tequesta, Florida. Call it an early Spring get away.

Georgia Line
I-95
March 28, 2019

For some reason, day 2 of the trip seemed longer than day 1. even though it was three hours shorter. We had the constant thought on our minds of, "Are we there, yet?" But we were not there. I was a full six hour travel day and we started a bit later.

The day started by quickly crossing into Georgia from South Carolina and following I-95 south. After about an hour and a half in Georgia, it was onto Florida. Fortunately, the road work in Georgia was not too significant. I wonder who decided to put the road work sign right in front of the "Welcome to Georgia" sign? The hardest part of the trip is Florida. While cruising through the other states takes just a couple hours, Florida goes on forever--almost four hours. "Are we there, yet" becomes a real statement.


We finally pulled into Tequesta about 2:30 PM and put an exclamation point on the trip. I am very happy that I will be flying home as we are leaving the car at our new home--which we settle on today. 

The walk through yesterday went well with only some minor things that are nothing more than annoyances as the sellers did not fully uphold to the agreement on which items which were to be left behind. Minor stuff, but annoyances. The place, however, is clean and we actually wound up with a brand spanking new, never used, dishwasher because the one that was there broke as they were clearing out. There is a silver lining in almost every rain cloud. 

-- Bob Doan, Tequesta, FL

Hilton Head Island

Hilton Head Island Beach
March 26, 2019

The trip south continues this morning after a fantastic visit with friends on Hilton Head Island. It was our first visit to the island and we now understand why it is so popular.

I was impressed with the beach, even though I only briefly viewed the broad expanse of sand running to the ocean from a distance. It was a beautiful vista that stretched out in front of me. I do so enjoy beaches and sand and of course palm trees.

The area is beautiful and, well, full of golf courses. I kept wishing that I had brought my clubs with me, but then there would not have been enough time to play a round. But the courses were beautiful. As was the area.

We enjoyed a great wine dinner at Michael Anthony's where we experienced some very creative wine pairings. The most interesting was a Chardonnay paired with an eggplant and tomato-based sauce dish. I marveled that the Chardonnay held up against the tomato sauce.

We also ran across a Pinot Noir from a Willamette Valley winery that we visited a couple years ago, Elizabeth Chambers on their opening weekend. They were hanging the sign on the door as we walked into the tasting room. We ordered a glass to share, and it was every bit as good as we remembered.

And now, we are back on the road for Tequesta. We will arrive this early afternoon. I will be ready for some beach time and sunshine.

— Bob Doan, from I-95 somewhere in Georgia