We should hope that Mantra, the 88-foot sportfishing yacht from Weaver Boatworks, about to depart Tracy’s Landing for some of the world’s most dangerous waters, avoids the perils of the last Mantra.     Capt. Thomas Holmes was marlin hunting in that 68-footer off the Seychelles, an island nation 900 miles from Africa’s east coast, when two skiffs closed fast behind him. Powerful skiffs, operated by Somalis with automatic weapons and rocket-propelled grenades,...

Feeling envious as kids strap on their new backpacks to explore the wonders of the universe?     Don’t let age stop you. Whatever your age, or youth, Anne Arundel and Calvert counties can open new worlds for you. And for your dog.     Want to learn wedding calligraphy? Hip-hop dance? Sign language? German or Spanish? Get fit in a couple of dozen ways, including Tom’s No-Nonsense Karate? Play senior billiards? Do art in the park? Partner with you dog...

Your front porch is the buffet of choice for the orb weaver spiders, and your light is the headliner, attracting the smorgasbord of bugs that the spiders feast on.     As autumn comes upon us, the days get shorter and the orb weavers come out to play. Hatchlings born in spring grow up in summer. Come fall, they’re amping up their eating to make big egg sacs.     Andy Brown, senior naturalist at Battle Creek Cypress Swamp, compares the orb weaver to...

Summer dreams aside, we Americans are working people. In our economy, employment is a blessing and unemployment a curse. That’s so true that the unemployment rate — 8.3 percent nationally as August began — could cost Barack Obama his job as president.     Maryland’s unemployment rate of 7 percent is under the national average. But it’s high enough that a job is a job — and a good job is cause for rejoicing.     It’s not...