Dear Bay Weekly: In Running into Trouble [Sept. 16: bayweekly.com/articles/features/article/running-trouble] Katie Dodd did a stellar article capturing the agony and ecstasy of running the Annapolis 10-miler. I’m a writer, but I felt like a runner when I read her story –Carol Bennett, Edgewater

  Dear Bay Weekly: Crossing the languid Patuxent River south on Hill’s Bridge has always meant trading the frenzied world of the metro area for farm and forest. Rolling through southern Anne Arundel into Calvert County brings an involuntary sigh of relief as clouds give way to sunsets under tranquil skies.

  It’s now illegal for Marylanders to drive with their hands on their phone, but according to a AAA study, we’re still likely to fall victim to another driving distraction: our animal companions. The study — a joint effort between AAA and Kurgo Pet Dog Products — polled 1,000 dog owners who have driven with their dogs over the past year. Fifty-nine percent of pet owners admit that travel with their pets distracts them from the job at hand. The trouble arises because most drivers surveyed didn’t see the danger in their own behavior.

The Haughwouth sisters’ parents had passed away, and the boat was long gone, but when their childhood sail resurfaced, Penny and Pixie couldn’t bear throwing it away. Instead they turned it into two jackets. Then they turned it into a business, Sea Fever Gear. Sailors don’t have many options for worn-out sails other than throwing them away. “So many hold onto them,” says Haughwouth, “because they carry an emotional tie. Who owned it before? Where has it been? What has it gone through? Each sail has a story of its own.”