The Library of Congress list of books that shaped America didn’t include Thorstein Veblen’s Theory of the Leisure Class among its 88. But it’s one of the big books that did some molding of my mind. I’ve never been sure, however, that the crotchety social critic was right in putting art on his list of conspicuous consumptions you indulge only when you’ve worked successfully enough not to have to work.     This heady speculation is the brainchild of...

Millions of years ago, long before there was a Chesapeake, sharks thrived in the saltwater marine environment of the flooded river we now call Susquehanna. Big sharks that could have swallowed a man whole, had any men or women been around to be eaten.     The megalodon, ancestor of the great white shark, was the apex marine predator of those waters. Rivaling today’s blue whale, the megalodon grew up to 50 feet long.     He’s long gone, but his kin are...

Nests throughout Chesapeake Country are full of baby birds. Fluffy young osprey are learning to tear their fish into bites in nests topping nearly every channel marker and many utility poles. Mom and Pop Osprey are still delivering the fish to their fast-growing babies.     These youngsters have big things ahead of them, starting with learning to feed themselves. Their parents’ care ends sometime over the next two months. By September, the fledglings will be on their own,...

If you live in Anne Arundel County you’ve got a job to do.     Unless you want our quality of life, and environmental future, to go down the tubes.     On the latest green report card, Anne Arundel County leaders — the guys you voted into office in 2012 — got very bad grades.     County Executive John Leopold scraped by with a grade of C- on his support last year for the environment, according to the Anne Arundel League of...