Autumn in Baltimore

—Blogpost written by Bob 

Friday, September 25

The sky was overcast right from the start of the day as rain was expected very late in the day and overnight.  Maggie left in the morning for a few days visit with her oldest daughter and I got a rare chance to sleep in late.  It was 10:30 before I started the fourth coat of Cetol on the last section of toe rail to be refinished on the starboard side.  (Hopefully, tomorrow I will apply the last coat to complete the starboard side tow rail.)

Maggie made some face masks for me in bright
primary colors--red, green, and yellow. 

I made steamed mussels for lunch , trying a little different recipe for the broth, this time adding some chicken broth and fresh parsley.  (I don't think I made much of an improvement though--I'll have to keep working on this. I heard that steaming them in beer is good.)

Sunday, September 26

It rained during the night and into the morning hours. The rain interrupted the flow of my toe rail refinishing.  I shifted my efforts from outdoor work to indoor tasks, mainly cleaning up the navigation station area.

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I just finished reading Bob Woodward's Rage.  I have to say of all the political books I've read recently, Rage was probably the best written.  (I read the kindle edition, available on Amazon.)

The cover of Bob Woodward's
latest book, Rage.

What is unique about this book (Rage) is that it includes many quotes directly from the President, backed up by recordings. Bob Woodward also interviewed many other people in the administration for verification and additional viewpoints.

One of the features of the book that recently made headlines was Trump's early knowledge about the seriousness of the coronavirus and how he "downplayed it so not to cause a panic."   Putting this quote in context, Trump didn't want to cause a panic that might hinder his reelection, since he happily tried to cause a panic earlier in his tenure with  "a caravan of immigrants on its way to southern border."  (Remember that caravan story?  What ever happened to it?)

As a reader I was intrigued by Jared Kushner's recommendation to Bob Woodward that he go back and review the Cheshire Cat in Alice in Wonderland (“If you don’t know where you’re going, any path will get you there.”) as a means to better understand Trump.   After writing about presidents for nearly 50 years, nine presidents to be exact, Woodward's concluding statement in his book is "When his performance as president is taken in its entirety, I can only reach one conclusion: Trump is the wrong man for the job."

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The remainder of the day was overcast and cool with the constant threat of rain.  This weather stopped my boat projects dead in their tracks. It rained lightly overnight.

Sunday, September 27

The sky was heavily overcast again in the morning.  Rain seemed to be a real possibility even though the weather forecast made no such prediction.  I read the news on my iPad while still in bed.  When I finally got up, I looked at my recent coat of Cetol on the toe rail--light colored round spots on top of the toe rail resembled water spots.

The light-colored spots that showed on top
the recent coat of Cetol on the starboard
toe rail after the last two days of
rain. (Later in the day these
spots disappeared.)

Most of the spots had a water deposit but when I wiped off the water, the spots remained. I don't know how this is going to end up but I intend to wait until the weather gets much better before I continue with the Cetol application.

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Revisiting the Beginning of the Pandemic in the U.S.

We were in the Bahamas during the start of the pandemic, locked down in Emerald Bay Marina on Great Exuma Island as of March 18.  A lot of things were happening back here in the U.S. that we were unaware of.

In January, approximately 500,000 people traveled from China to the U.S by airlines.  On the last day of January, the so-called China travel ban was initiated.  In February, despite the travel ban being implemented, 70,000 foreign nationals traveled from China to the U.S.  

While the asymptomatic spread of the virus was known, a 14-day quarantine period was mandated and "symptoms" used as a yardstick to measure infections. No program of testing was initiated on the 70,000 foreign nationals that arrived in the U.S from China during the month of February.  For this reason, Bill Gates believes that the Trump's China travel ban actually "seeded the virus in the U.S." (Some infections may have originated from the 500,000 people flying from China to the U.S. in January.)

During February, the virus spread through Europe, affecting Italy the hardest. On March 9, Italy imposed travel restrictions within the country.  During the previous 30 days, 140,000 people traveled from Italy to the U.S., creating another source of the virus.  In mid-March a U.S. travel ban on European travelers was implemented.

All the initial efforts to control the spread of the virus were much too little and far too late.

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The crummy weather stopped my boat projects today and I had a lot of time to myself—time to think.  At 73 years of age, it was a time to consider a “reset” of my attitude toward life.  Most of my life, I’ve had a plan for my future and I followed my plan.  I tended to live in the future more than the present.  I always considered my future to be better than my present.

Now, I feel that I have to focus on the moment at hand (the now) and not the future.  The future, for me, sadly to say, probably includes declining health and mental capacity compared to where I am today.  I have difficulty looking forward to my “declining” future.

So, how can I focus on the “now”?  I believe this means (for me) focusing on doing the things I enjoy most: photography, music, writing, boat projects, shotgun sports, and some other activities.  It’s one thing to say a “reset” is forthcoming but it’s yet another thing to make it happen—we’ll see how it goes...

Stay healthy and thanks for following our blog!