As the Weekend Arrives

 It was a different Friday evening. 

Usually our group of friends gets together on Friday evenings to enjoy some food and great wine while retelling the stories of the week. But last evening, no one was available and so Chris and I spent a Friday evening together enjoying the pool and watching some television. 

I did enjoy seeing the Friday version of Jeopardy and the last conducted by guest host Sanjay Gupta. 

We watched an old Jeff Dunham comedy show from 2007. Wow, we have changed so much in the 14 years since. Chris and I felt that there was way too much socially insensitive comedy in his routine then. And Achmed the Terrorist must go. His time is long past. 

I missed being with the group to discuss the week in news, sports, weather, and juicy gossip.

But even so, enjoying the pool and just hanging out together was enjoyable.

-- Bob Doan, Elkridge, MD

Saying Good-bye

 

America is saying good-bye to the longest war that it has ever waged: Afghanistan. 

I admit I have mixed emotions about the end of the war and the way it is ending, but I do believe that the time has come to allow the Afghans to either stand or fall on their own. 

I find the Republican resistance to the withdrawal interesting, since it was the former president who first announced the withdrawal during October 2020:

Trump's Afghanistan withdrawal announcement takes US officials by surprise

President Biden is following through on something his predecessor proposed and should, therefore, have bipartisan support. 

The sad state of politics in America is clear in this episode. The two parties have fallen into camps of progressives and obstructionists and this issue highlights the irrational approach to government both parties exhibit. 

I am looking forward to September 1, 2021 as being the first day in a very long time that America has not been at war. 

I do have to take issue with the notion that Afghanistan is the longest war that the U.S. has fought. Too many people forget the Cold War (1945-1991) which we waged longer. And don't tell me that no one died during the Cold War. There are many civilians and military personnel who died waging the Cold War. 

I long for peace. I hope that the church bells ring as the last American military forces depart Afghanistan and Americans begin the search for our collective post-9/11 Era identity and place in the world--that is the truer struggle. Afghanistan is the last active reminder of the America which began to take shape after 9/11/2001.

-- Bob Doan, Elkridge, MD

Hanging in the Morning Sky

Moon over Ducketts Lane Elementary
Elkridge, MD
July 7, 2021

Yesterday I headed out early, just before dawn, to play racquetball. As I was driving past the local elementary school, I saw the crescent moon hanging in the predawn sky. The scene yelled "it is summertime to me."

The color of the predawn sky had the summer hues and the silhouetted school building, clearly empty with few lights illuminating the halls similarly supported the conclusion that this was a hot, sultry summer morning. And it was!

I am playing racquetball at an outdoor court and we try to begin our match as soon as we believe we can see the ball well enough not to be a danger to ourselves. 

This evening, we are expecting the remnants of Hurricane Elsa to pass through the area and treat us to more rain and thunderstorms! Rain and thunder seem to be an every evening event right now. 

They just serve to make the morning sky more interesting.

-- Bob Doan, Elkridge, MD

Sleepy Cat

Riordin on the Sofa
Elkridge, MD
July 4, 2021

Riordin never ceases to amaze. 

The other morning he was sleeping on the sofa with his head on a pillow.

He looked cute. 

And comfortable. 

Too comfortable! I cannot get that comfortable on that sofa. I wondered how he managed to do it. It is, however, his normal sleeping location every morning although he has never before rested his head on the pillow. 

Why do I have cats? They puke and use a litter box which stinks up the place. At least doge reliever themselves outside--and I then pick up their feces in a bag to prevent flies. 

As I took this image, he looked at me and then went back to sleep.

I wish I could have done the same.

-- Bob Doan, Elkridge, MD

Summertime Fun

Diving In
Elkridge, MD
July 4, 2021

 I just had to do it. Chris even asked me why?

Because, I responded, it is the 4th of July and I have to be in the pool because it is the real summer holiday. 

But the day was cool--upper 70's and the pool had lost some heat due to the overnight loss in the 50s--yes, 58 degrees. It really takes a few degrees out of the pool.

And so, I stood on the diving board and prepared myself for a frigid experience and dove in. All-in-all it was not so bad. It was refreshing, but not cold and I actually stayed in the pool for a while. The air was cool and I felt the evaporation when I finally got out, but I felt better for being in the pool on a great Independence Day. 

Sometimes you just gotta do what you just need to do! And do it head first.

-- Bob Doan, Elkridge, MD

Monday Musings - July 5, 2021

 

1. It is the first Monday in July. Amazingly, my favorite month of the year has arrived. 

Fireworks from Neighborhood Block Party
Elkridge, MD
July 4, 2021

2. It was a fantastic 4th of July. The neighborhood got together for a great block party. It was the first year in many that we did not have our own backyard display.

3. The pool has cooled some, but it was still refreshing and enjoyable and I took some time to definitely enjoy it during the day.

4. It is vacation season and the world is beginning to open. I hear that the National Parks are jammed.

5. I wish I could spend some time on a beach today--but soon enough.

6. I enjoy taking pictures of fireworks!

7. And so the week begins. At least I have a day off today. I am playing racquetball this morning. 

8. Today in History. On July 5, 1946, French designer Louis Réard unveils a daring two-piece swimsuit at the Piscine Molitor, a popular swimming pool in Paris. Parisian showgirl Micheline Bernardini modeled the new fashion, which Réard dubbed “bikini,” inspired by a news-making U.S. atomic test that took place off the Bikini Atoll in the Pacific Ocean earlier that week.

Champlain Towers Demolished as Storm Approaches Miami - The Wall Street Journal

Retail Investors Power the Trading Wave With Record Cash Inflows - The Wall Street Journal

Engineers who have examined the wreckage have been struck by a possible flaw in the building’s construction. - The New York Times

Vaccination Is the ‘Most Patriotic Thing,’ Biden Says on Independence DayVaccination Is the ‘Most Patriotic Thing,’ Biden Says on Independence Day - The New York Times

Thousands in D.C. celebrate a nearly normal Independence Day - The Washington Post

Iran, facing another virus surge, reimposes restrictions and focuses on homegrown vaccines - The Washington Post

Hackers demand $70 mln to restore data held by companies hit in cyberattack - Reuters

Tropical storm Elsa likely to pass near Florida Keys on Tuesday - Reuters

Ronald Reagan Quote for the Week

All through our history, our presidents and leaders have spoken of national unity and warned us that the real obstacle to moving forward the boundaries of freedom, the only permanent danger to the hope that is America, comes from within. It’s easy enough to dismiss this as a kind of familiar exhortation. Yet the truth is that even two of our greatest Founding Fathers, John Adams and Thomas Jefferson, once learned this lesson late in life. They’d worked so closely together in Philadelphia for independence. But once that was gained and a government was formed, something called partisan politics began to get in the way. After a bitter and divisive campaign, Jefferson defeated Adams for the presidency in 1800. And the night before Jefferson’s inauguration, Adams slipped away to Boston, disappointed, brokenhearted, and bitter.

For years their estrangement lasted. But then when both had retired, Jefferson at 68 to Monticello and Adams at 76 to Quincy, they began through their letters to speak again to each other. Letters that discussed almost every conceivable subject: gardening, horseback riding, even sneezing as a cure for hiccups; but other subjects as well: the loss of loved ones, the mystery of grief and sorrow, the importance of religion, and of course the last thoughts, the final hopes of two old men, two great patriarchs, for the country that they had helped to found and loved so deeply. “It carries me back,”’ Jefferson wrote about correspondence with his cosigner of the Declaration of Independence:

July 4, 1986, Independence Day Speech Aboard the USS John F. Kennedy in New York Harbor

-- Bob Doan, Elkridge, MD

The 4th

 Happy Independence Day!

It is America's Birthday! 

245 years and counting. 

There will be celebrations and fireworks across the neighborhoods of America today. 

We must never forget the words of Declaration of Independence:

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.--That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, 

It is from these words that our Republic was formed by the conflict of revolution and grew into the world leader that it is today. We are not perfect, but as we address our imperfections we grow more and more into realizing the dreams of our Founding Fathers. 

Live the dream!

Happy Independence Day!

-- Bob Doan, Elkridge, MD

As the Storm Raged

Rainbow Amid the Storm
Elkridge, MD
June 30, 2021

Photo by Chris

 Violent thunderstorms have assaulted our region during the evening hours lately. They have brought winds ,rain, and even the threat of tornados to our generally placid area. 

The other evening Chris and I took up our positions on the porch to watch the fury and the power sweep through the area. We enjoy the lightning and the thunder. We especially love watching the lightning break across the sky in complex fractal patterns between the clouds sometimes striking the ground.

But then, in the middle of it all, a rainbow appeared. It was very faint at first, but grew in color and intensity. The rainbow occupied a calm in the middle of the storm. A patch of blue sky between the thunder cells. 

Chris adeptly captured the image and I have to admit, it came out much better than I though it would. The image captures the darkness around the rainbow--the calm amidst the storms.

Kind of like life--there is sometimes calm between the storms. We just need to recognize and pause to enjoy the opportunity that it provides. 

-- Bob Doan, Elkridge, MD

Photographing a Firefly (Lightning Bug)

 

Capturing a Firefly
Elkridge, MD
June 29, 2021

The other evening as I watched the firefly's illuminating across the yard I decided to obtain a picture of a lit bug. 

It turned out to be more difficult than I imagined and the results were underwhelming, at best.

A bright spot in the picture--that is a firefly. Wow!

I guess a time exposure would have been better to see it move across the field of view. 

I took a lot of pictures before I actually caught one of the bugs actually lighting. 

I tried looking at it in long exposure--to no avail. The bright spot near the middle of the image is the best that I could do, sadly. 

But, it was fun trying.

-- Bob Doan, Elkridge, MD

Please Get Vaccinated

Some of my Facial Coverings
Elkridge, MD
June 30, 2021

I do not enjoy wearing facial coverings in public places--like airplanes and stores, despite the fact that I have some of the most creative masks out there thanks to some great friends and former neighbors.

I do not enjoy lockdowns for public safety. 

The Delta COVID-19 variant is virulent. It reportedly is a threat to the over 50 percent of Americans who are not fully vaccinated. 

I have been enjoying the freedoms that living in a mostly vaccinated society provide. I even went to a concert the other evening and did not feel uneasy being around multitudes of other people who were not wearing facial coverings. 

Already the CDC is beginning to recommend that all people (vaccinated or not) wearing facial coverings to defend against the Delta variant because not enough Americans are vaccinated.

I believe the statistics are fairly obvious--the risk of getting COVID-19 AND suffering long term problems and possibly dying from it are far greater that any of the risks associated with getting vaccinated.

My conclusion--Get Vaccinated!

As an aside, I cannot answer the question that was retold to me the other day: "Why is the government making only people who are unvaccinated get COVID-19?"

-- Bob Doan, Elkridge, MD