What's in Dave's Head

Saturday, March 14 was the annual St. Patrick’s Day pub crawl in Baltimore hosted by my daughter Eileen, her husband Andrew Swanekamp, and their friends Ryan and Eric Pfoutz. Our route map (doesn't help) We start the festivities with an Irish breakfast at the Swanekamps. Our group this year numbered 15. After a hearty breakfast and a toast to the patron saint of Ireland, our first stop was the same as last year—Cardinal Tavern, whose owner Larry always welcomes us with open arms (and why not?). As always, Eileen makes up detailed maps of our route for the day. Unfortunately, despite very clear directions, many of us are not capable of using the map to inform our walking. Most assuredly not after the intake of adult beverages. Still, we arrived at our destinations without losing anyone. Erin, Kate, Donna, Jack Cardinal makes a wonderful bloody Mary, the glass rimmed with salt and Old Bay, the tomato juice, worcestershire and Tabasco enriched by a generous pour...

Donna and Kate and I had dinner last night with our daughter Eileen and her husband Andrew at their apartment in Baltimore’s Brewer’s Hill neighborhood. Andrew’s parents, John and Diane, were there, as were Andrew’s aunt and uncle, Elaine and Dean. After much bourbon, followed by a spectacular lasagna dinner and much wine, Dean and I were talking about his work as an independent video producer. He was talking about work he recently did for a client, interviewing owners of car dealerships. Many car dealerships are family owned businesses and are passed from generation to generation. One of the things that struck Dean was the amount of community outreach many of these families do. It makes sense from a business standpoint: As you contribute to the community, you build your network of potential customers. But it’s much more than that. Many of these family businesses contribute to the community for the purpose of, well, contributing to the community. After taping an interview ...

I swam the Great Chesapeake Bay 4.4-Mile Swim last Sunday for the fourth time.  It was the first time I had participated since 2011.  Back then I wasn’t in the best of shape and the conditions were very tough.  The air temperature was 95 and the water temperature above 80.  It was a grueling, unpleasant grind.  I remember telling Donna to never let me do it again. This time it was a completely different experience.  I really enjoyed the swim.  The air and water temperatures were just about perfect (80 degrees and 72 degrees), although seas were pretty rough—especially during the second half of the swim.  I had a better attitude going in, I was physically and mentally prepared, I had a music player—a gift from my kids—to keep my head clear and I was excited for about a week before.  Maybe I needed something to be excited about.   I was excited on the early-morning drive from Columbia, past Annapolis and acr...

We are three weeks away from the 4.4-mile Great Chesapeake Bay Swim.  After recent cortisone shots in my right shoulder and left wrist, lots of pool swimming and some open-water swims in Crownsville, Maryland, I seem to be ready—at least physically. At this point the hardest part is psychological.  When you swim a pool practice, there are lots of distractions.   You’re with other swimmers, so there’s the motivation of trying to keep up with those in your lane and the adjacent ones.   There’s some socializing before and after, and that makes it fun.   Despite some occasional questionable pool-water quality, you can see really well what’s around you as you go back and forth.   The water is also calm.   The coaches make the workouts interesting (usually), with sets that differ in distance, intervals, number of swims in each set, the stroke, and so on.   And after an hour and a quarter, you’re done. None of this prepares you for the boredo...

There’s an inspiring article in the Jan. 29 Washington Post about Seattle Seahawks outside linebacker Bruce Irvin.  Irvin had little football experience, playing in just three games on his high school team his freshman year.  He was later ruled academically ineligible and dropped out of high school in his junior year.  His mother kicked him out the house and he moved from house to house, “often settling in those shared with friends who sold drugs,” according to the article.  In 2007 Irwin spent three weeks in a juvenile detention center on burglary and weapon charges.    A turning point came one day when he was 19 and living in a house where drugs were sold.  He happened to be out of the house when a police raid resulted in his friends being arrested.  If he had been there, he too would have been arrested. He was taken in by Chad Allen, a mentor who, seeing Irvin’s potential, urged him to straighten out his life and take the GED exam....

I have swum for and coached a number of age-group swim teams.  When I was 14 I joined our community pool’s swim team, at the suggestion of a girl I had interest in, and I really enjoyed it.  I later coached that team, and swam for and coached my high school team and swam on an AAU team in high school.  For the last eight or so years I have been on a Master’s club for post-college swimmers.  We have meets and, like the summer community pool leagues of my youth, the results are posted by age bracket. There is an interesting phenomenon in age-group swimming.  When you are young, it’s to your advantage to be at the top of your age group—in the 13-14 age group, the 14-year-olds have the advantage over the 13-year-olds.  As you age, however, at some mysterious tipping point the advantage switches to the younger members of an age group.  The U.S. Masters Association has national competitions and sets qualifying times for the various events by age bra...

As we approach 2014 many of us will be making ambitious New Year’s resolutions.  It’s a rarity that we actually keep them.  But if we keep in mind people who have overcome obstacles to achieve their goals, it can serve to motivate us as we work to keep the promises we make to ourselves.  Think about Diana Nyad.  In September the  64-year-old succeeded in swimming from Cuba to Florida.  It took her 53 hours—and five tries—to make the 110-mile journey.  She had failed in her first four attempts, the first of which was 35 years ago, in 1978.  Her advice: Never give up, no matter how many times you have failed or how old you are.   Diana has become an inspirational figure for me.  I’m no great athlete and have never tried anything as challenging as swimming across the Florida Straits for more than two days straight in shark-infested, jellyfish-filled heavy seas.  I’m a regular guy who happens to love sports, particularly comp...

A feature article in the Dec. 22, 2013 Washington Post about Cam Newton, the quarterback for the Carolina Panthers, offers some lessons about perseverance and overcoming adversity.   The article notes that after a remarkable collegiate career and record-breaking rookie season in 2011, Newton had a disappointing season last year, when the Panthers went 7-9 and his performance regressed.  During the offseason Newton changed his approach to focus on improving his fundamentals and adapting to changing defensive schemes.  This year the Panthers are currently in first place in the NFC South division with an 11-4 record.  The intent of the article is to show that Newton’s off-season self-examination and willingness to change could be a tem plate for Washington’s beleaguered quarterback, Robert Griffin III.  Indeed, all of us should strive to look objectively in the mirror, take stock of where we are and make the necessary changes to get us to where we want to...

Yesterday morning I did a 2.5-mile open-water swim on the Severn River with three friends from my Masters swimming club.   It was the second time this season I went out.   About three weeks ago a group of us swam, when the water and air temperature were about 54 degrees.   This time, both were about 10 degrees warmer. Herald Harbor, where we swim, is a small cove a little less than a mile across. The shore is dotted with houses—many looking like they were built in the 1950s as vacation homes.   Many homes have docks for recreational boats and there’s a marina on the southern end.   In the cove, about a quarter mile from the shore, is an island that measures maybe 600 feet by 1,000 feet.   If you go to Google Maps and type in Herald Harbor, Maryland, you’ll see it.   I don’t know the name of the island.   The satellite view shows four docks and several big secluded houses or compounds on it.   The water to between the shore and th...