DuneBy Frank HerbertAce; Media tie-in edition, 2021 (Original, 1965) Frank Herbert’s 1965 science fiction and fantasy novel Dune is the story of Paul Atreides, heir to a dukedom on the planet called Arrakis. But young Paul soon learns that not everything is as straightforward as it seems to be — or as he might think […]
Posted inBooks
Book review: Wild women of Maryland: Grit and Gumption in the Free State
WILD WOMEN OF MARYLAND: GRIT AND GUMPTION IN THE FREE STATEBy Lauren R. SilbermanThe History Press (2015) Many women who came of age before the 1970s may have felt they had few options in life. They could be teachers, nurses, secretaries, cashiers, housewives, and the like. This well-researched volume focusing on many unusual Maryland women […]
Posted inBooks
Book review: The Inn Boonsboro Collection
THE INN BOONSBORO COLLECTION: THE NEXT ALWAYSTHE LAST BOYFRIENDTHE PERFECT HOPEBy Nora RobertsPutnam Trade (2011-2012) It’s been a long decade since bestselling novelist Nora Roberts penned her intriguing Inn Boonsboro Trilogy. The trilogy is a clever series of character-driven plots that continue through all three books: The Next Always, The Last Boyfriend, and The Perfect Hope. Roberts […]
Sponsored
Seller strategies in a pre-recession market
By Reid Buckley You’ve waited this long to sell your home and now the real estate market is softening. The good news is that real estate has had unimaginable appreciation in the past two years. The even better news is that you have a new baseline of value, and real estate is an asset class […]
Posted inBay Health
Summertime downers: Prevention and treatment of sunburn, bug bites and poison ivy
Summertime: A time for contentment, relaxation and adventure. Camping, hiking, picnicking, sunbathing, whatever your outdoor passion, enjoy it to the fullest! However, while you’re frolicking in the sunshine, be mindful of a few annoying problems that can put a crimp in your summertime cheer, namely, sunburn, insect bites, and poison ivy. Of course you’re ahead […]
Posted inBay Nutrition
There’s no fool like a raspberry fool: A historic confection with an Annapolis connection
When it comes to sweet confections, no dessert has a more misleading name than a fool, a cream-based confection that can be documented within the British culinary lexicon to as early as the late sixteenth century. One version of a fool is known to have been served by Mrs. Frances Loockerman who lived in the […]
Posted inBay Health
Meditation elevator speech
I enjoy conceptualizing meditation in three ways. There is the spiritual path, the psychological path and the career or professional path. The practice is the same for all three paths, but our cognitive stance changes.
Posted inBay Trekking
Hiking adventures from the mountains to the sea
Thomas Jefferson was filled with awe as he looked down upon the beauty of the confluence of the Potomac and Shenandoah Rivers. His view was from the Maryland Heights several hundred feet above the rivers. Our third president described the scene he saw as “perhaps one of the most stupendous scenes in nature.“ The Piedmont […]
Posted inArticles
Disc golf:A sport for the rest of us
“Come on, guys! The next one’s up ahead!” My five-year-old nephew Charlie ran across a wooden bridge spanning a babbling brook. The park was filled with the smell of pine trees and campfires, taking me straight back to childhood. Farther downhill, the lake’s waters lapped at its mossy shores as fishermen leisurely cast lures into […]
Posted inBay Trekking
Town of Crisfield wraps hardship with hope
“Hurricane” Hazel tells her best stories while she’s picking crabs. The 83-year-old great-grandmother holds the world record for crab picking: 5.58 pounds in 20 minutes. A longtime professional crab picker, she’ll tell you her secret: “I can look at you, and talk to you, and I don’t even have to watch what I’m picking,” she […]
Posted inArticles
Letter from ‘The Other Bay’
Dear Marylanders, I don’t know about you, but I’m afraid to fly. My fear started long before the pandemic and is, I realize, highly irrational. But there’s little I can do to calm myself when I’m convinced that whenever I hear a noise we’re going to plummet from the sky. So I take the train […]
Posted inArticles
Backyard bocce is easy and fun
In the late afternoon, when the summer heat has broken for the day, but the sun has not disappeared for the night, four people step into a backyard, their favorite beverage in hand, and select two matching wooden balls out of a colorful collection of eight. A player picks up a small white ball, about […]
Posted inBay Trekking
Paddling the historic Corsica River
By Ellen Moyer If only they could talk, Maryland’s 42 Rivers have stories to tell about our early history. The Corsica River on Maryland’s Eastern Shore is one of the state’s historic rivers. The Corsica is off the Chester River, that is off the Chesapeake Bay, home of the drowned Susquehanna River that may be […]
Posted inBay Reflections
Are you truly listening?
In his fabulous book, “Listening to a Continent Sing,” professor Donald Kroodsma shares the story of a cross-country biking trip he took with his son. Kroodsma made a career from studying and identifying the nuances and variations of bird songs. This trip provided the chance to listen to birds across America in their native habitat. […]
Posted inFood
Move over, Baskin-Robbins: Mexican frozen treats have finally arrived
Tamarind, gansito, cheese, and tres leches are just a few unique flavors you’ll find at a little ice cream shop tucked between a beauty salon and a convenience store in a Bladensburg strip mall. Needless to say, this isn’t Baskin-Robbins. La Neveria Michoacana, a genuine Mexican ice cream parlor, is bright and airy, its pink […]
Sponsored
Ask the undertaker: Extreme embalming
By Ryan Helfenbein In 1989 many of us moviegoers were introduced to Bernie. The boss of an insurance corporation who would have been labeled as a lively host of two young employees for a weekend getaway. Unfortunately, Bernie was dead. “Weekend at Bernie’s” is one of those classic 80s movies that even today brings a […]
Posted inArticles
How not to get scammed online
The internet is an amazing place that’s brought people together, and allowed for the exchange of ideas, discussions, and products. And like anything that brings people together, there’ll always be those looking to prey on and scam those around them. It’s a fact of life, and if you dig through your email junk or spam […]
Posted inBay Health
Seniors with prediabetes should eat better, get moving, but not fret too much about diabetes
Almost half of older adults — more than 26 million people 65 and older — have prediabetes, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. How concerned should they be? Not very, say some experts. Prediabetes — a term that refers to above-normal but not extremely high blood sugar levels — isn’t a disease, […]
Posted inBay Health
Summertime downers: Prevention and treatment of sunburn, bug bites and poison ivy
Summertime: A time for contentment, relaxation and adventure. Camping, hiking, picnicking, sunbathing, whatever your outdoor passion, enjoy it to the fullest! However, while you’re frolicking in the sunshine, be mindful of a few annoying problems that can put a crimp in your summertime cheer, namely, sunburn, insect bites, and poison ivy. Of course you’re ahead […]
Posted inFood
A ‘man without a country’ chooses American citizenship
If you have ever lost your passport while traveling in a foreign country, you might have felt as if you had no real identity until it was restored to you. It would be a time that you were literally without a country. Joseph, who asked that we not print his last name, is a man […]