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More Ways to Enjoy Winter
When we actually have a winter, instead of getting cabin fever, I like to get outside and embrace the weather. After all, many people live in more northern climates and they seem to do just fine. In fact, I think that is the answer. If you are used to cold weather and lots of snow, you learn how to enjoy it. That certainly was the case on my winter travels this year to Colorado and Maine.
I spent two weeks in Boulder in December. The first week was (more…)
The Sounds of Silence
I am not one for loud noises. I do not go back to restaurants or bars if I cannot have a conversation. I shut down if friends talk too much – and I don’t like the sounds of helicopters, loud cars, motorcycles or ATVs on my treks in the wilderness. Life is a great deal more than noise. Some of the most meaningful experiences that I have had in nature were when it was so quiet that (more…)
Skating on the Chesapeake Bay
The cold snap we are having reminded me of skating on the Bay back in 1962. Here is an excerpt from The Chesapeake Watershed that describes that scary but thrilling experience.
My friend Greg, who lived on the Bay near the mouth of Bush River, led the way down to his pier. We were in a cold snap and it was indeed very, very cold. The temperatures had been hovering around zero for the past week. The ground crunched as we walked, and within minutes my nose and fingers grew numb. I glanced at the bay and as far as I could see there was ice, quite rough along the shore, but it did look like we could skate farther out. Momentarily forgetting that it was saltwater, I convinced myself (more…)
How Do Communities Benefit from a Local Food Movement?
What do you do when suburbanites realize that the farms they have been displacing can provide them with fresh and nutritious food if there was a financial incentive for them to stop growing corn and meet the growing demand for local vegetables, fruit, and meat? You bring the players together.
Over the past year a Food Council has been meeting here in Howard County to determine (more…)
Rescuing Sea Turtles – A guest post by Susan Branting
You’re probably familiar with the danger humans pose to sea turtles—from plastic waste and fishing lines to damage from boat propellers—but have you heard of “bubble butt”?
If you take the fascinating 90-minute tour of the Turtle Hospital in the Florida Keys, you’ll not only learn about this human-created problem, you’ll meet (more…)
Get Outside, America! Give yourself a gift
It is not quite a January thaw, but it is one of those sky-blue days between snowfalls. The sun beats down on my back as I walk around the lake. The birds are up and about bringing life to the silent stage laid down by yesterday’s gentle snow. I had to get out of the house, so here I am – bundled up and ready to explore some of my favorite places in the middle of winter.
Half way through my walk, I realized how badly I needed this escape. I have been suffering the January blues. Maybe even a bit of seasonal affective disorder. Who knows? But the sun dragged me out of the house and what a difference that has made.
The lake is frozen and covered with (more…)
Empowering People to Save Their Places – A guest post by Tracey Manning
When I was growing up in Albany, NY, the undeveloped “lot” down the street was a magical place to neighborhood children. Its trees and bushes, paths and rocks provided the backdrop for endless games of knights and ladies, cowboys and Indians, hide and seek, and much more. (Revisiting it as an adult, I was amazed to discover that our playground occupied less than half an acre, or two house lots.)
Many, if not most, adults have such memories of special places and want (more…)
How Do We Reach the Other 99 Percent?
It may be an exaggeration to say that only 1 percent of our population is actively involved in efforts to clean up the Chesapeake Bay—perhaps it only seems that way. Nonetheless, it should be clear that there remains a whole lot more to do, and more people need to lend a hand. This will be even truer when government budgets are cut as fiscal conservatives take the reins in many areas.
I have spent the last 10 years trying to (more…)
Lessons from a City Park – a guest post by Julie Dunlap
Most people ascend East Rock for the views. Atop the 366-foot basalt cliff, they can admire office towers, steeples, neighborhoods, and harbor views of New Haven, Connecticut, and, on a clear day, glimpse Long Island Sound. But for me, climbing the stony Giant Steps Trail recalls my first heady night in graduate school, when new friends suggested a moonlit hike in a city park. That dark scramble, more than the starry summit vista, filled me with wonder and freedom as only an outdoor adventure can do.
The 427-acre East Rock Park originated as a naturalistic landscape in 1884, designed by Donald Grant Mitchell as a respite from (more…)
Saving Olmsted’s Vision for Baltimore – Guest post by Joe Stewart
Below is a statement sent to the Baltimore City Commission for Historical & Architectural Protection in support of a bill to add Olmsted Parkways to the Baltimore City Landmark List. Please consider sending your own support letter to: Baltimore City Commission for Historical & Architectural Preservation Department of Planning Attention CHAP Director Eric Holcomb, 417 East Fayette Street, 8th floor, Baltimore, MD 21202, eric.holcomb@baltimorecity.gov
The Friends of Maryland Olmsted Parks & Landscapes offers the following brief description of the historic role the Olmsted family played in Baltimore and around the country:
“America’s first landscape architect, Frederick Law Olmsted (1822-1903) believed that parks and landscapes were an essential part of democratic society. His designs created some of the most (more…)
Saving The Places 