Mid-Summer

 Last evening was the first in about two weeks that evening thunderstorms did mot move through the area. 

The days have been hot and sultry. Uncomfortable.

I note that during most summers past, I have spend a couple weeks of July in Florida. I remember the reason. The average daily highs in Jupiter for the pas week have been in the 80's while here in the Baltimore region they have been in the 90's. Yes, it is cooler in Florida! What a concept. 

And there is a nice ocean breeze along Florida's Atlantic coast. 

10 Day Forecast for Elkridge, Maryland

10 Day Forecast for Jupiter, Florida

I'm guessing I'd rather be in Florida for the summer.

-- Bob Doan, Elkridge, MD

Orioles Mid-Season Update

 

I have to admit that at one point I was thinking of a weekly Orioles update, but as the season progressed it became clear that there was nearly nothing to update. The Orioles are without a doubt the second worst team in baseball. That means that of 30 terms they are number 29! Ugh. 

There is not a lot of excitement. The big question is how badly will they lose tonight?

Standings as of July 12 ,2021

The excitement of the season so far have been the no hitter by John Means and Trey Mancini's making it to the finals in last night's Home Run Derby. Aside from these two highs, everything else has been pretty low.

To recap: the Orioles have catchers who should not be in the Majors, the relief pitching is uneven, the offense cannot produce runs against the best pitchers in baseball, and base running has been awful. 

So at the All Star Break, it can hopefully only get better.

I hope that some of the young stars of the future begin to arrive from the minor leagues to restart a sense of baseball to the team. 

I really need something to cheer for!

-- Bob Doan, Elkridge, MD

Monday Musings - July 12, 2021

 

1. It is the second Monday of July 2021. There are two Mondays remaining this month.

Florence and Lily Relax
Elkridge, MD
July 11, 2021

2. I cannot believe that I occasionally still write 2020 when I mean 2021. I did it yesterday in the caption of an image I posted in my blog. I went back and corrected it, but I think the wrong date still shows up in Facebook.

3. Lily and Florence were relaxing on a hot July afternoon. I was likewise chilling in the shade after doing some projects and being up on the roof of the pool house. Having a pressure washer means having annually do some deep cleaning, which is best done under a hot sun!

4. There are a couple of scary headlines this morning.

5. Welcome to the Dog Days. This year they run from July 3 - August 11. And this week is going to be a hot one here in the mid-Atlantic region.

6. I do love hot summer days. What could be better?

7. Today in History. July 12, 1984. Walter Mondale, the leading Democratic presidential candidate, announces that he has chosen Representative Geraldine Ferraro of New York as his running mate. Ferraro, a daughter of Italian immigrants, had previously gained recognition as a vocal advocate of women’s rights in Congress. Ferraro became the first female vice presidential candidate to represent a major political party. 

Cuba sees biggest protests for decades as pandemic adds to woes - Reuters

Taliban surround central Afghan city of Ghazni  - Reuters

Italy erupts in celebration after Euro soccer triumph - Reuters

TikTok Owner Shelved IPO Plans After China Warning - The Wall Street Journal

Branson’s Virgin Galactic Flight Opens Door to Space Tourism - The Wall Street Journal

More Power Lines or Rooftop Solar Panels: The Fight Over Energy’s Future - The New York Times

Despite Outbreaks Among Unvaccinated, Fox News Hosts Smear Shots - The New York Times

Top U.S. commander to step down in  symbolic end to Afghan war - The Washington Post

This Christian movement wants a nation under God’s authority and is central to Trump’s GOP - The Washington Post

Ronald Reagan Quote for the Week

It's clear that achieving economic recovery now poses one of the greatest challenges to the free world, and it's this challenge that shall lie at the heart of our summit in Ottawa. We must discuss not just our problems there but our own national policies to cope with them and what we must do together to restore general prosperity.

I also hope from this summit will come a new sense of confidence and community among the industrial nations that economic recovery can be achieved. And I hope, further, that in our meetings, our countries will reaffirm our fundamental partnership with each other. For many years we've shared democratic political institutions, market economic systems, and a belief and faith in human dignity and freedom. By meeting at this summit, we will express our quiet determination to defend those institutions against any threat.

Finally, let me say I look forward to the summit for personal reasons. I believe it's important to the vitality of our foreign policy that I have the opportunity to renew friendships with world leaders who've already visited here in Washington and also have an opportunity to forge new relationships with those who've recently been elected to office.

Remarks of the President and Prime Minister Pierre Elliott Trudeau of Canada Following Their Meeting - July 10, 1981

-- Bob Doan, Elkridge, MD

The Pack is Formed

Lily and Arthur with the Leaf
Elkridge, Md
July 10, 2021

 I think five dogs composes a pack. 

If so, then we have a pack for the next week. Adding our daughter's three dogs to our own two makes a five dog pack. 

Life gets complicated when there are that many dogs and three of them do not feel constrained to remain in the yard. 

Last evening the dogs found some entertainment by watching a leaf dance in the current of the pool. They were completely into the leaf and could not fully grasp its motion. At one point they tried to attack the leaf, thinking it was an intruder. The leaf ignored them and continued its motion in the current created by the pool jet.

This infuriated the dogs as they could not understand how the leaf could continue to ignore them.

All told, this was at least a 15 minute adventure and allowed Chris and I to have some enjoyment at the dogs' expense. 

-- Bob Doan, Elkridge, MD

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