Regulars (All)

Article - Osprey Saga by M.C. Koblos; by M.C. Koblos - 6/24/10

The Osprey Saga

Week 15: The Lone Child

The other morning, I looked out the window to see Olivia off the nest, sitting on a perch I had nailed to a nearby piling. She was busily preening her feathers. After seven weeks virtually glued to the nest, she had taken on a rumpled and ragged look. I guess she finally felt that the kid(s) could get along without her for a short time while she did some personal grooming without being bothered by her ever-hungry chick(s) clamoring for attention. But she was soon back on the job, trying...

Article - Sky Watch by J. Alex Knoll; by J. Alex Knoll - 6/24/10

Sky Watch-Topsy-Turvy

Looking at a star map, the world really is turned upside-down

A reader asked what she was seeing from her northeast-facing window. “Would I see evening or morning stars in this direction?” And would the same be true for planets? “I did look at your column and thought I understood the paragraph about Venus, but now I'm not so sure. Help! Thanks a bunch.” Only after reading and re-reading did I realize her problem: I was flat-out wrong, falling victim to my own sky map, inverting east and west, thus greatly confusing this reader...

Article - Sporting Life by Dennis Doyle; by Dennis Doyle - 6/24/10

Riding the Roller Coaster

Highs and lows on the trotline

The initial run on our trotline proved a surprising success. The first four baits had jumbo crabs hanging on them, and my netter, Harrison, quickly had them rattling in our collection basket. After that fortunate start, they continued to come, and there was scarcely need to measure any of them. All were prime Jimmies. My son and I were ecstatic. This was going to prove an easy trip. We would quickly discover that we were wrong again. Our trip had nearly been a casualty from the...

Article - The Bay Gardener by Dr. Francis Gouin; by Dr. Frank Gouin - 6/17/10

There Will Be Figs

With lots of fruit and few demands,
what’s not to like?

There is nothing like eating a freshly picked ripe fig. They are as sweet as honey and taste heavenly. There is no reason why every home gardener should not be growing at least one fig plant. Contrary to my earlier predictions, the tops of the fig plants were not killed by the severe winter. Matter of fact, figs are growing in almost every node of each stem of the plants growing outside our bedroom window. Last year, most of the fig plants in our area were killed back half-way and...

Article - Osprey Saga by M.C. Koblos; by M.C. Koblos - 6/17/10

The Osprey Saga

Week 14: Birth Order

The babies are being well fed and cared for. Their feeding schedule is based on the fishing schedule, which is based on the height of the sun. So it’s always early morning and late afternoon, when the sun’s rays are not reflected back from the surface, and enter at an angle instead, making it easier for an osprey to spot fish near the surface. Midday is always a rest period. Oliver delivers the fish, but only Olivia does the feeding. The babies hatch on successive days, in...

Article - Bay Reflections; by Ariel Martinez Brumbaugh - 6/17/10

Bay Reflections

My Father and the Slugs

My father was a patient man who had no enemies. But I recall a summer when a monster was set free. His prize-winning tomato plants, he tended day and night, invited slugs, such slimy beasts, who knew they’d taste just right. And in the morning Dad would rise to find his plants in shreds he’d curse and stamp his feet with rage and swear upon their heads. He started drowning them in salt to watch their bodies wither. he’d track them by their rainbow trails and catch them in mid-...

Article - Sky Watch by J. Alex Knoll; by J. Alex Knoll - 6/17/10

Sky Watch - Summer’s Shortest Nights

Still plenty to see in nine hours

The waxing moon reaches first-quarter phase Friday, appearing high in the southwest with sunset at 8:24. Each night after, the moon appears 15 degrees farther to the east and sets roughly 30 minutes later. Thursday the moon shines less than 10 degrees to the right of Mars, well within the space of your fist held at arm’s length. A little beyond Mars shines Regulus, the heart of Leo the lion. While Mars is only a little brighter than its apparent stellar neighbor, the planet...

Article - Sporting Life by Dennis Doyle; by Dennis Doyle - 6/17/10

Perch in a Poke

An old salt teaches this old dog a new lesson

It felt like a good fish right from the start. Lifting my rod tip at the strike, I felt solid resistance, then a headshake. Then the perch shot out from deep under the dock where I had hooked it. On its way out, the crafty devil also cornered at the nearest barnacle-encrusted piling and cut the line. I shook my head and reached for another spinner bait. This wasn’t the first big white perch to have done me dirt that morning. A number of whities finning in our five-gallon...

Article - The Bay Gardener by Dr. Francis Gouin; by Dr. Frank Gouin - 6/10/10

I’m Eating Peas; You Could Be, Too

Here’s how to plant for summer and autumn harvest

I was recently asked whether I prefer snow peas, sugar peas or shelling peas. For eating in salads, I prefer snow peas. For cooking Asian dishes, either snow peas or sugar peas are acceptable with the exception that snow peas tend to be crunchier when not cooked to death. But for eating as a single dish or adding to American style dishes, shelling peas are hard to beat. It takes time to shell peas, but the flavor of freshly harvested shelled peas that are steamed and not boiled is...

Article - Bay Reflections; by Amy Russell - 6/10/10

I’m Learning to Cook, One Box at a Time

Each week’s assortment of vegetables will be a new lesson

Bay Reflections - -by Driving down Solomon’s Island Road, I looked out the window with new appreciation. The traffic of Annapolis behind me, I spent the 20-minute drive pondering the crops that flourished along my route and wondering which of them would be in my box. “Is that corn? I wonder if I’ll get corn.” “Maybe that’s lettuce? I wonder if I’ll get lettuce.” Oh, the mysteries of belonging to Community...

Regulars (All)

The Osprey Saga

Sky Watch-Topsy-Turvy

Riding the Roller Coaster

There Will Be Figs

The Osprey Saga

Bay Reflections

Sky Watch - Summer’s Shortest Nights

Perch in a Poke

I’m Eating Peas; You Could Be, Too

I’m Learning to Cook, One Box at a Time

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