Features

Country Fairs Three Ways

CalvART Country Fairs show gets you ready for county fairs

At world fairs, you could see it all. At state fairs, you could see most everything under the sun. At county fairs, you could see quite a bit. Still can. The Maryland State Fair has just ended, ushering in the county fair season: Anne Arundel’s County Fair runs September 14 thru 18, followed by Calvert County’s Fair September 28 thru October 2.

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– by Sandra Olivetti Martin – 9/8/11

Got a Job!

How we earned our first paychecks

When you are first asked if you can do a job, tell ’em, Certainly I can! Then get busy and find out how to do it. –Theodore Roosevelt

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– by Bay Weekly staff – 9/1/11

Class Is In

Once your school days are behind you, it’s time to learn for fun

Whoever said you can’t teach an old dog new tricks was barking up the wrong tree. Or visiting the wrong classroom.

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– by Diana Beechener – 8/25/11

Flying High

My dad waited too long to learn to fly. I’m correcting his mistake.

A mile above the beach, I soar higher than the gulls, crisp air bathing my outstretched arms, bare feet dangling in the void. The faint whoosh in my ears could be my unfettered thoughts, some vacant, some frantic as bees. I’ve always been enchanted by the dream of flight, the Icarus myth. This is my dream come true, my ultralight flying experience, my life’s greatest rush and the reason for my current obsession: flying lessons.

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– by Jane C. Elkin – 8/25/11

The Nose Knows

Dogs Finding Dogs sniffs out missing pets

Heidi doesn’t run. She surges. The original tracker for Maryland’s Dogs Finding Dogs, Heidi is expert at following the scents of animals who leave home without their owners. When the black German shepherd gets the scent, she follows her nose wherever it takes her: through brush, across mud, over concrete and anywhere else your pet may have gone.

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– by Diana Beechener – 8/18/11

Arf, Arf, Woof! The Language of Dogs

Our best friends speak through action

When you come home, your Welsh corgi Buster greets you happily, but you’re almost sure there’s something else on his mind besides that welcome home ritual. Or your chocolate Labrador, who’s always ready for fetch, has a couple of comments. If dogs used words to communicate, he might tell you, Come home from the office earlier. I want to play more fetch.

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– by Judith Stock – 8/18/11

Driving to Distraction

Yes, your dog needs a seatbelt, too

Most dogs love a ride in the car. While we automatically buckle up for safety, our dogs roam the car at will, hanging out the window, climbing into the front seat and sometimes into our laps. They don’t care if we’re driving. Sometimes, we don’t either.

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– by Margaret Tearman – 8/18/11

Mama Knows Best

Bay Weekly’s Mother’s Day homage to home rule

Taking whole wheat birthday cakes to school. Swallowing cod liver oil. Wearing hated clothing and chewing with mouths closed. Sitting up straight, no elbows on the table. Learning to read, learning to play a musical instrument. All those loathsome things our mother made us do. All those desirable things she wouldn’t allow.

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– by a Bay Weekly exclusive – 5/5/11

H-E-L-P is a Four-Legged Word

Nancy Patterson’s canine companion Mahler is her arms, her legs and her independence

“I’ve had an engine fail on my plane,” says Nancy Patterson, of Davidsonville, a retired airline pilot. “I’ve had brain surgery. But this has been the most life-changing thing I’ve ever gone through.” Patterson is talking about her experience with Mahler, her service dog from Canine Companions.

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– by Aries Matheos – 3/24/11

Working Like a Dog

Midshipman Ari Schiff raises funds so wounded veterans can benefit from a warm heart and a cold nose

Twenty-one-year-old Ari Schiff knows the value of a dollar. In high school he earned 60,000 of them. Not for a new car or an expensive spring vacation. Schiff earned this small fortune so that America’s VetDogs could offer two assistance dogs to help disabled veterans acclimate to life at home.

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– by Diana Beechener – 3/24/11