There's No Place Like Down Home
There are many reasons to love life in Calvert, Charles and St. Mary's counties: the area's natural beauty, its farms and rural traditions, its connection to the Chesapeake Bay and its rivers and waterways, its small towns, and the warmth and respectfulness of its people. All were cited by readers when we asked them to tell us why they have made Southern Maryland home. Here is a sampling of their

Thursday, April 24, 2008

Life's Cycles on Indian Creek

We like looking out on Indian Creek in Golden Beach and marveling at all the migrating ducks: canvasback, ruddy, pintail, merganser, mallard and some we can't identify. They are there, sometimes in the hundreds, in early morning; and if feeding is good, they will stay all day. Then all of a sudden, they lift off and are gone, leaving for warmer climes.

Year after year they come back, letting us know that the river is healthy with an abundance of food.

They leave us with an indication of Mother Nature's welcome and never-ending cycles, an anticipation of seeing them in spring, a knowledge that life goes on, an appreciation of the seasons' bounties.

Erin and Warren Hayes

Golden Beach

Kind Words, Friendly Smiles

I sincerely like living in Southern Maryland (Calvert County) because of the respect and neighborliness I receive as a senior citizen.

For more than a decade, I've been saying and receiving "good mornings" when I pick up my papers. I smile and feel good when I say and receive the kind words "Have a nice day" or "Have a goodun' " when I do my grocery shopping or go to my doctors. It's also nice to see people of all ages holding doors open so that others can enter more easily. What's most important for me is that the people holding the doors are all ages, colors and sexes.

When I go to the recycling center, I enjoy talking with the attendants, who always help me unload the bags from my truck. Just last week, a lady with a cane was dropping off her recyclables. The attendants told her they would do it and she should just stay in her car.

I live in a small community on Battle Creek with neighbors who are weekend visitors as well as permanent residents. We include people who have lived in Calvert for many decades as well as those who recently moved to the county. We all respect one another's need for privacy as well as neighborhood fellowship. I especially like Halloween, when all the children in our community and their parents go from house to house as a group. Although my children are grown, we get into the spirit by carving pumpkins, buying candy and decorating our home. The thank-yous from the children and their smiles are worth the effort.

As a Native American, I love the opportunity to volunteer at our nature parks and to help educate our children. I thoroughly enjoy the invitations to speak at schools, civic groups, senior citizen centers and other venues on Native Americans and our history in this area as well as throughout the United States.

I've worked in the District for more than 30 years and lived in large Beltway communities. I can assure you, I have never received the respect and neighborliness that I've enjoyed for more than 10 years here in Calvert.

Robert P. Gajdys

Battle Creek

Progress Exacts a Price

I'm a native! Saying that has quite a bit of meaning to me, since there are few of us left in Southern Maryland. My home has been Calvert County for the entire 39 years of my life. It has been a place that I have loved and have never, until recently, given any thought to leaving. I miss the Calvert I knew and long for the day that will never be again.

I want those who come here to know what they missed and to understand that the very things that draw them here will soon be, if not already, gone. The attraction of country or waterside living, and a slower pace of life, has quickly disappeared. I guess it would have to in order to make room for the shopping centers, expanded roadways and the numerous houses being built. Who would have ever thought that Calvert would need traffic circles or four-lane intersections! Certainly not the child in me who remembers when Calvert had a two-lane road paved not in blacktop, but tar and gravel. The county was beautiful because it was full of fields, as far as the eye could see, that were filled with golden corn and tall tobacco.

I remember the excitement when the first traffic light for the southern end of the county went in at Dares Beach Road, because the Safeway had just opened. I suppose I'm as guilty as the next person who got excited about progress, because there was the feel of a real adventure in the back seat of my father's old green Impala as we drove the 20 miles north to shop at the Safeway for the first time. Believe it or not, there was nothing but farms from Woodburn's store in Solomons and Buehler's store in St. Leonard to that brand-new Safeway in Prince Frederick. Thinking back, that was probably the start of the end of the way of life I knew and the beginning of more people, traffic and buildings than I ever could have imagined as a young child.

Unfortunately, our county is relying on the old saying, "If you build it, they will come." But my question is: Come to what? With fields now filled with housing developments instead of crops, highway expansions taking what is left of the scenic roadsides and no public access to water, what is there for people to come to that doesn't exist in the places they are moving from?

I'm not sure what comes first, progress or people. But one thing is sure, Calvert will never be what it was. Once upon a time, it was a great place to live.

Brenda DiCarlo

Dowell

Amid Peacefulness, Invaders

In spring 1979, the first year that I lived in Lower Marlboro, Calvert County, I turned up a spearhead while working in the garden, proving that others before us loved this place, too.

I love the creatures of Southern Maryland and the never-ending delight they bring to us.

And the Patuxent River is a constant source of peacefulness.

Three years ago, putting bags away after a vacation, I found an opossum staring at me from the floor of our closet. I carefully closed the door and retrieved our Havahart trap. (When you live in the country, you own this kind of thing.) By the time I got back, the opossum had disappeared.

The next day I found an opening into the crawl space. The opossum had gone through it and then climbed up the gap between the two houses into our bedroom. (We live in the historic Harbor Master's House, which is two houses side by side. Local folklore holds that the older of the two houses was built in about 1670 and that the second house was rolled alongside in about 1800. That's why there is a gap between the two parts of the house.) So I set the trap outside by the opening. The next morning we had a fat opossum in the trap. I took it to my neighbor, who agreed to let it out on his farm.

That night I heard an animal noise from the gap. Sure enough, by morning we had another opossum in the trap. And it was a different one. Well, five more opossums later, we were finally rid of the opossum family.

Spring forward a couple of months. Again, back from a trip, and this time to the smell of skunk in the house. The periodic visitation by the skunk was common, but he had always stayed outside before. That night, again, there were sounds from the gap behind the wall, and the next morning the skunk odor inside the house was even stronger and upstairs. So, thinking ahead, I tied a long rope to the trap. The next morning, there was a large skunk in it, and he was angry. This is when the rope came in handy. From a distance, I pulled the trap into the middle of the yard. (Jo Ellen, my wife, was out of town for four days, and I had promised that if I caught the skunk, I would have him dispatched quickly.) My neighbor agreed to dispatch the skunk the next day. He insisted that the skunk had to be covered after being done in because the odor level increases dramatically.

That night when I arrived home, there was a big box over the trap. Two days later, I got home a few hours before Jo Ellen was to arrive. I decided it might be nice to remove the remains before she got there. When I lifted the box off, the skunk was alive and well. I gently replaced the box. (The story about why the skunk was still alive is just one of many more.) When my animal-lover wife arrived, I told her what had happened, and she was more than a little upset. She went out to the trap, fed the skunk and let it loose.

Animals must sense when a sympathizer is around, because she didn't get sprayed.

A few months later, we had skunk odor inside again. I had blocked the earlier entry point, but we found another small hole into the crawl space and blocked it. Over the next few days, the smell got stronger. We searched for other openings and found none.

Finally, I thought that maybe the skunk was caught inside when we blocked the opening. The odor was strong by the laundry room above the furnace room. I told Jo Ellen that since she was friendly with the skunk, she might want to see if he got into the furnace room. She checked, and sure enough the skunk was there. Unfortunately, it had met its maker some days before. Jo Ellen was worried about future animal mishaps in the utility room, but she had a solution: Build a skunk ramp in the furnace room for future skunks to get back up into the crawl space. I told her that this was such a revolutionary idea that I had to share it with you.

And, finally, there's the view at sunset looking west over the Patuxent River. A view that hasn't changed for me in 30 years. And, every once in a while, it is simply glorious.

George Meng

Lower Marlboro

Life Viewed From the Porch

In my 18 years on this earth, I have been many places, tried many things and loved many people. Out of all of my experiences, you might be shocked to know that I have learned the most about life on my back porch. In the 10 years my family and I have lived in our beautiful home in Hughesville, also known as "the house across the street from the park" or "the house that looks exactly alike from the front to the back," I have lived more than some people have in their entire lives.

Last year, as I sat on my porch just days before I graduated from high school and my younger brother from middle school, I thought of all the years past and the memories that run through my mind. Weird as it might sound, some of the most important moments of my life have taken place on the porch that my father built, and rebuilt with his own two hands. As I was about to head out on my own to start another chapter in my life, I wanted to remember every sound, smell and feeling from my idyllic childhood.

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

A Bit of Everything. Oh, My!

Oh, the bay. Oh, the flora and fauna. And oh, my, the community.

Although we share this Chesapeake Bay and these rivers with many others outside Southern Maryland, it feels like our little piece of wonder to me. You can look at the bay from the exact same spot and see something different with the next glance. What a chameleon! The color of the water changes, the flow of the currents changes, you can see wind on the water or see it calm, like glass. Sometimes the wind blows the shallow water off the sandbars, and it gives us another look. With a storm, it looks like the ocean, and I think of surfers looking for a good wave to ride. There is easy access to the beaches, and the fossils are underfoot. The moon reflecting on the water is a wonder, as is the early-dawn sky.

And oh, my, the wonders that fly: over the bay, over the beach, over the rivers, over the land. I am not a member of any bird-watching club, but an amateur with a bird book. I can attest to having seen one June more than 25 species. We have many bald eagles, each awesome to see. They coexist with the not-so-eagle-friendly ospreys. The black and turkey vultures are as beautiful in flight as the eagles and ospreys. And how many different seagulls do we have? The great blue herons are there, standing still for hours waiting for something to swim by or move. Sandpipers, swans, ducks and geese. Did I miss anybody? Then, not far from the bay or rivers, we have another 25 or so fliers, such as woodpeckers, nuthatches, plovers, towhees, finches, chickadees, tufted titmice, doves, blackbirds, sparrows, wrens, cardinals, buntings and bluebirds. I know I missed about 10 others.

When city folks visit, they are shocked to look out our window and see four-legged critters, including foxes, groundhogs, opossums, raccoons and deer.

And then the community. Although much of Southern Maryland is no longer small country towns, the folks still act as though it is. We can easily access any of the elected officials, county government officials, and local or state agency people. Southern Maryland is still a small, folksy community. Churches reach out to help others, whether or not you are a member of their faith. The local newspapers are great reading, and sometimes the weekly crime report has only one or two items. We delight in eating local seafood and produce rather than food bought at the big grocery stores.

Who needs to go on vacation when everything I love is right here in my area of the world. And for those who want to go beyond gazing at the bounty that is Southern Maryland, well, there is canoeing, sailing, kayaking, motorboating, fishing, swimming and biking. There are museums, historic sites, theater and concerts. Oh, my.

Carol Porto

Port Republic

An Area Rich in History

Maryland is a beautiful state and truly a miniature of the whole United States. We have mountains, seashores, cities, farms and a wonderful melting pot of residents. You can shop at many stores and then drive a short distance to watch the Amish farmers working their land in the time-honored manner of their ancestors.

Southern Maryland is a unique and beautiful but little-known area of the state. It is rich in history with many first achievements for Maryland.

St. Mary's City is one of the most historic locations in the United States. Recognized as a National Historic Landmark since 1969, it is the best-preserved founding site of a 17th-century English colony in North America. You can spend an entire day there and see the first public inn in America in the first city of Maryland. You can try your hand on a replica of the first printer in our state. Visit the State House, another first in Maryland. There are hands-on activities for the whole family.

Step aboard a replica of the Dove and see how people and cargo would have traveled across the sea in the 1600s. Discover how sailors navigated by the stars and developed many effective ways to travel by water.

Take a walk down the hill to the Indian Hamlet and discover the unique ways that the native people and the English interacted and lived peacefully with each other. Find out how the natives used all things in their environment long before "going green" was a catchphrase.

You can step back in time at the Godiah Spray Plantation and talk to the people who live there. You are welcome to try your hand at working alongside them in the garden or tobacco barn. This was a time when smoking certainly was not politically incorrect -- it was a way to feed your family.

The Brick Chapel reconstruction is nearing completion. This building was the founding place of the Roman Catholic Church in British America. The chapel has been reconstructed over its original foundation, within which archaeologists have discovered three extremely rare lead coffins containing members of the Calvert family. The reconstructed chapel will be an interpretive exhibit for all visitors, not a consecrated place of worship.

I wish more people had the opportunity to visit our early history.

Eileen Emberger

St. Inigoes

A Southerner, Charmed

We have lived in Southern Maryland for five years. My husband was in the military before retiring, and that is what brought us to the area. A Southern girl from South Carolina, I have lived in various places over the past 20 years. When my husband and I moved to the District, we lived on a military base. I couldn't see living off the base, even though it was too busy for my liking.

Later, with my spouse about to transfer and my son and me staying in the area, we had to move from our haven. We decided we would ride down to Waldorf, which we had heard wonderful things about from Southern folk like me. We loved it, bought a house and assumed we would be there forever. With the real estate market on the rise, we wanted a larger home, and our builder was building in Indian Head. We took a drive out there, and it seemed so far from the mall and a grocery store, but various other things won us over and we moved.

We really enjoy living in our new neighborhood, Hunters Brooke. It has had some challenges, with the fire and all the publicity, but we still enjoy it and plan to call it home for a while. I enjoy the schools and the support of the teachers at Gale-Bailey Elementary, and I love the thought that when I come in on Friday afternoon, I have left the city behind. I realize that my secret will not be hidden forever, and I can see that our community already has grown from three years ago. But in the meantime, I can ride down Route 225 and look at the horses, cows and chickens and sometimes think of home.

Yolanda Gantlin

Indian Head

A First Home Close to It All

"My home" -- I get excited whenever I make that statement. Why? Because I am a first-time home buyer in Waldorf. I am originally from Charleston, S.C., and have spent the past 10 years living in Prince George's County. While living in Prince George's, I used to frequent Waldorf's mall and restaurants with my friends on the weekends. I can remember making the statement: "When I buy my first home, I am going to live in Waldorf, because they have everything you need right in your back yard."

Well, when I started my journey to find my first home, I began searching in Prince George's because I wanted to be close to my family. Being a single woman making less than $60,000, I found that Prince George's was not yielding the choices of homes that I desired. I expanded my search to Charles and fell in love with Waldorf, as a prospective homeowner would. Everything that I need is at my fingertips. I can go to the mall, Wal-Mart, CVS, restaurants and dancing all within five to 10 miles. My home has all the space I need, and I bought it for a great price. I love the neighborhood. There is not a lot of noise at night, and the neighbors are very nice. Everyone seems personable when you go to the store.

Waldorf reminds me of the Southern hospitality that I grew up with in Charleston. When I read the area newspaper, I see so much focus on the children and their education. This will be a great place to raise my children when I start my family. I like that I chose Waldorf for my first home, and when my family expands, I plan on staying right here in Charles, just in a bigger home.

Keara L. Lance

Waldorf

You Can't Get Bored Here

This is why I chose to live in Southern Maryland after growing up in Prince George's County, close to the D.C. line, in the '60s and '70s in a little "Leave it to Beaver" neighborhood. I loved the wide-open space in Southern Maryland, the farms growing tobacco and corn, and the small country roads with the beautiful scenes.

My aunts and uncles grew tobacco on their farms, and my father, brothers and I would give them a hand. I also had time to catch snakes, lizards and turtles in the fields and barns, something I loved to do as a kid. Just to see the beautiful orange and purple sunsets in the early evening, off in the distance behind the fields and barns was breathtaking.

To see and hear the clickity-clock of the horses as the Amish people went by in their buggies. To pass by or walk through the Zekiah Swamp. Go by the farmers market on a Sunday morning. Pick crabs or eat seafood at Popes Creek or Cobb Island. Drive across the Harry Nice Bridge from King George County, Va., into Maryland and see the Morgantown generating plant while atop the bridge. All of these things I love.

You can get an ice cream cone at Bert's diner or go see an entertaining play in La Plata with the Port Tobacco Players. Beginning next week, you will be able to go to the new stadium for a baseball game, not to mention going to the racetracks in Budds Creek.

Whether you go to Chesapeake Beach or North Beach for the Fourth of July fireworks, or visit a craft festival, or sample three county fairs, or go to Solomons Island or Point Lookout, or attend the Blessing of the Fleet, you can't get bored in Southern Maryland.

After working in the District for 36 years, that's why I retired here.

Les Wood

Charlotte Hall

Genuine Quality of Life

My family and I have resided in Calvert County since 1986. What a story I can tell!

Our relationship began when we took Sunday afternoon drives with our young son to Calvert. We lived in Forestville and loved to come to Chesapeake Beach. It was a real beach then. We could drive our car onto the beach and picnic. It was a different world in every way.

One day, we came down Route 4 and made a left at Mount Harmony Road. Before we got to Route 2, I noticed a sign that read "Lots for Sale." I quickly wrote down the number for the real estate company. To make a long story short, we put our home on the market in Forestville and about six months later became official residents of Owings. I love the area.

We have seen firsthand how this area has grown . . . and grown, and grown, and grown. The growth of the county continues to amaze me.

I am a native Texan, and my husband a native Virginian, and we both love Calvert. We have made lifelong friends since our move to the county. Calvert reminds me of Texas: wide-open spaces and really nice, genuine people. Before we moved, our son was enrolled in Catholic school. What we found is that the schools in Calvert are excellent. They were then, and are now. Our son attended Mount Harmony Elementary and Northern High School.

At first, our friends thought we were crazy to move to Calvert because we both worked in the District at the time. We didn't let the commute deter us, however. Keep in mind that this was before the traffic got so heavy on Route 4 and when people drove the speed limit. I can remember when Route 4 was just two lanes. Only the old-timers can remember this.

The quality of life is what drew us to Calvert. We are still in love with Calvert. When friends and family visit us, it is an honor and pleasure to show them how it's done "Southern Maryland style."

Marsha Marks

Owings

The Tao of S.Md.

My family and I moved to Southern Maryland from Annapolis 10 years ago for two primary reasons. The first was that our daughter was able to get a superb education through Calvert County public schools. Once she graduated from Calvert High School, she remained in the area to further her education at the College of Southern Maryland and now is at St. Mary's College of Maryland, a public honors college.

The other reason why I am attracted to Southern Maryland is its rural tradition. The paternal side of my family were tobacco farmers from Chaptico and Mechanicsville. The farm that was once owned by my great-grandfather is now owned by an Amish family. It gives me solace to know that the "home place" will probably not succumb to yet another housing development.

When I look out my front window, I occasionally smile when I see my neighbor's 30 acres and tobacco barn across the street. Out back, I look at another neighbor's 41 acres of field, woods and a stream. These bucolic views reflect my rural heritage.

In Taoist philosophy, there is a saying: "returning to the root." It can be applied to many areas of one's life. After living most of my life in the suburbs, I now know that I have returned to the root of Southern Maryland.

Linda Hill Coty

Chesapeake Beach

Past as Prologue

My home in Swan Point was designed by my husband and constructed on the Potomac River by an excellent builder. It survived Hurricane Isabel in the first year of its existence. The house has proved to be a joy to live in.

We decided on Charles County for our retirement years because of the beauty of its waterways, the availability of its resources and the significance it will have in the future development of Maryland.

As a retired history professor, I appreciate the place Charles has played in the formation of our great state of Maryland. This will be an important year for Charles. We will honor and celebrate the 350th anniversary of its founding. It will be a year of events and commemorations to honor our most worthy county.

Dianne E. Francesconi Lyon

Swan Point

'I Love the Country'

I moved to a retirement home in Solomons because it was more like country -- and I love the country. It is on the Patuxent River with beautiful sunsets and sailboats and fishing boats within view.

My husband and I had always planned to retire by the water, but he passed away before we could do that. So I feel that I have halfway fulfilled that dream.

When I moved here 11 years ago, I would tell my friends that it is a straight shot down Route 4 or 5 and no traffic. And there are so many activities in these southern counties and plenty of history.

Carolyn R. Bradley

Solomons

Gift of the Green Flash

The Potomac River is a major defining geographic feature of Southern Maryland. Those of us fortunate enough to live along its banks are treated to some spectacular sunsets in the fall and early winter. Those magnificent sunsets are a real treat.

On rare occasions, typically in January and February, the Potomac and the atmosphere offer up an unusual gift from God: the green flash. The green flash is real, unusual and very beautiful. The most common green flash along the Potomac in Southern Maryland is a short instant of emerald sunlight that appears at the moment that the last vestige of the sun dips below the horizon.

What is green flash? The atmosphere refracts, or bends, the rays of the sun. As a result, the sun is a little lower than what one's eyes observe. The atmosphere refracts the longer-period rays of the sun more than the shorter-period rays.

The result is that at the last instant of visibility, the longer rays may combine to give a momentary green flash. The green flash is real; it isn't fiction. (But it has played a role in fiction; see John D. MacDonald's 1962 novel "A Flash of Green," or Jules Verne's 1882 novel "The Green Ray.")

One is more likely to see a green flash if the sun sets on a crisp, distinct horizon. Usually this means an ocean horizon. However, when conditions are right, a distant Virginia shoreline along the Potomac is sufficiently crisp and distant. The green flash is most likely to be observed when a cold front has just passed through and the air is colder than the ground and water and the air is clear. Most green flashes are simply a brief moment when the last vestiges of the sun turn from yellow-orange to emerald green for an instant.

Sometimes, if one keeps a close observation, the last traces of the sun will change to an instant of blue or purple, before the sun vanishes.

It is worth mentioning that though the green flash is frequently thought of as a tropical phenomenon, it can be observed at any latitude when conditions are right.

Adm. Richard Byrd reported seeing a green flash in Antarctica that lasted for several minutes. In polar regions, when the sun is visible, it sets at such a shallow angle that the green flash could last for an extended period.

The green flash is truly a gift. It can on rare occasions be seen from Southern Maryland across the Potomac. It is worth observing as many sunsets as possible until one is treated to a Southern Maryland green flash.

Roger Staiger

Scotland