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Article - Sky Watch by J. Alex Knoll; by J. Alex Knoll - 10/7/10

Early Treat or Fizzling Trick?

The always puzzling Draconids

Thursday’s new moon provides an unobscured backdrop for this year’s Draconid meteor shower, which peaks at week’s end. Not some early Halloween reference to Dracula, this annual meteor shower is named for the constellation Draco the dragon, from which the meteors seem to emanate. It’s tricky to predict the rate of the Draconids each year, but there is always the potential for some awesome stellar treats.

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Article - The Bay Gardener by Dr. Francis Gouin; by Dr. Francis Gouin - 10/7/10

Fall’s Favorite Fruit

You’ll love persimmons — once you learn the to eat them

Now that I have returned to the Deale Farmers’ Market Thursdays from 3 to 6pm with persimmons, I get lots of questions: What do you do with persimmons? What do they taste like?

The persimmons I grow and sell are the Asian type, almost as large as tomatoes and with very few seeds, if any, depending on seasonal conditions. This year, persimmons have more seeds than usual.

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Article - Sporting Life by Dennis Doyle; by Dennis Doyle - 10/7/10

Two's a Party

Vertical jigging snares many a pair

Three weeks of big wind and steady rain got me thinking about a trip this time of month last year. Back then, it was calm and lovely, and we were drifting a bit south of one of the Bay Bridge rock piles in 30 feet of water. I had just lowered my rod tip to let the flashing lure at the end of my line flutter back down to the bottom.

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Article - Where We Live by Steve Carr; by Steve Carr - 10/7/10

Putting Wind In Your Sails, Power In Your Engine

The U.S. Boat Shows are a wondrous spectacle like nothing else in the world

Folks around Annapolis have for years debated the differences between sail boaters and power boaters. Every October, the annual United States Sailboat and Powerboat Shows intensify the debate by bringing thousands of both to town back to back.

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Article - Sky Watch by J. Alex Knoll; by J. Alex Knoll - 9/30/10

Celestial Sentinels

The heavenly bull’s glare

As darkness settles, the bright glow of Jupiter pierces the east-southeast horizon, by far the brightest light in the sky, as the moon spends this week waning through pre-dawn skies. The gaseous giant is high in the south at midnight, and as dawn nears, it sets beneath the western horizon.

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Article - The Bay Gardener by Dr. Francis Gouin; by Dr. Francis Gouin - 9/30/10

The Stink Bugs Want In

Don’t welcome them!

If you thought the Japanese beetles (aka ladybugs) were bad last year, get ready for worse this fall, when invading stinkbugs join the Japanese beetles. This is the worst year I have ever witnessed for stinkbugs.

Stinkbugs are harmless to humans and pets, but they are a nuisance and difficult to control. They derive their name from the foul odor they release when you squeeze the abdomen. It reminds me of smelly dirty socks with a slightly sweet odor.

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Article - Sporting Life by Dennis Doyle; by Dennis Doyle - 9/30/10

The Key to Catching

If at first you don’t succeed … try something different

Sundown was only a half-hour away as I steered my skiff toward another deserted shoreline. Well out, I switched over to my electric trolling motor and eased into casting range. My target was a rip forming over the nearest of a number of mostly submerged stone jetties jutting sharply out from the shoreline.

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Article - Sporting Life by Dennis Doyle; by Dennis Doyle - 9/23/10

A Sweetwater Slam

Despite heavy winds, I landed a largemouth bass, a bluegill and a pickerel

Most folks know that a grand slam is baseball’s term for a home run with the bases loaded. Angling has its own slam. A Chesapeake Bay slam is landing a rockfish, bluefish and Spanish mackerel on the same day. The freshwater version is typically a largemouth bass, a pickerel and a bluegill.

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Article - Sky Watch by J. Alex Knoll; by J. Alex Knoll - 9/23/10

The Night’s Bright Lights

The sun’s lost ground is the skywatcher’s gain

As if to hammer another nail into summer’s coffin, the sun this week sets before 7:00. The darkening sky reveals Venus tight above the southwest horizon, and while the evening star is brilliant at magnitude –4, it, too, is fleeting and sets shortly after the sun.

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Article - Earth Journal by Gary Pendleton; by Gary Pendleton - 9/23/10

Maintaining the Mystery

It’s a complex balance that holds together the web of life

It was late summer in the coastal plain forest. At mid-day, it was quiet but not quite silent. There was a background buzz of flies, then the whine of a mosquito in my left ear. Swat! Then I heard a sound like water coming from the trees.

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