There's No Place Like Down Home

For many reasons, spring is my favorite time of year and the time when my home is most energetic and vivacious. I hear the sound of crickets and birds chirping, the humming of the new pool filter, my parents talking about who is going to make dinner or take the dog out, and cheering from the fans watching the baseball and softball games across the street. The sensation that I feel when I hear all of these things together could never be the same anywhere in any other situation. I feel completely calm and at peace.

You may be able to buy fresh flowers wherever you are, but nothing can beat the smell of five-foot-tall sunflowers that your mother plants every year because they are her favorite. And I could never forget the smell of the brownies she makes for every occasion because it is the best thing she can cook. It's funny how she happens to be making them at this moment; the rich smell can almost make you taste them. Most important, every time I sit out on my porch, I breathe in fresh air, the kind of down-home Southern Maryland air you get only in our community.

There was a breeze that night a year ago; not enough to make me cold, but enough to remind me I will never be alone, no matter where I end up. A simple breeze experienced while sitting quietly on the porch reminds me of the love, warmth and happiness in my life.

So, before anyone tells you that the meaning and understanding of life can happen only by traveling the seas and crossing the deserts, slow down and enjoy the more simple things in life. Don't overlook what is right in front of you; look for the beauty in everything. Once you find the place you have never felt before, make sure you know every detail about it. Make a special place in your heart for it.

As I sat on my back porch with freshly potted plants and soil everywhere, I made sure there were no bugs on me. I heard my parents' voices and thanked God for blessing me with such brilliantly fantastic people. My little brother was preparing for a talent show in which he would be singing "Ain't No Mountain High Enough," and I was getting hungry for a brownie. I realized that life could not get any better than it was at that very moment and that anyone would be lucky to be sitting and experiencing life on my back porch.

Lindsay Mattingly

Hughesville

Beckoned From Baltimore

As a Baltimore native, I became acquainted with Southern Maryland in sixth grade as my class studied a unit about our glorious state, "Maryland: America in Miniature." Southern Maryland seemed to have unique charm. It was not just the land of pleasant living, but also the land of fossils, slot machines and crooked politicians! The history and mystique of the area fascinated me, and it was a place I longed to visit.

Several decades later, due to the myriad quirks of life, I find myself living on Potomac River waterfront, affording a magnificent panoramic view of St. Mary's County's 7th District, Breton Bay and Westmoreland State Park across the river in Virginia. Between my home and the Virginia shore rests the birthplace of Maryland: historic St. Clement's Island. I have a clear view of the lighthouse renovation project underway there. And in all these years, nothing has altered my original perception of the area. It is the magical land of fossils (no sharks' teeth on my beach, alas, but instead there are Native American arrowheads), slot machines (just check the local newspapers for the latest update) and crooked politicians (ditto!).

I feel as though Southern Maryland had been calling to me since I was 12 years old, and now I'm finally home.

Ellyne B. Davis

Breton Beach