Craig Shelden’s two-car garage is his refuge from the world. From this lair, he runs his spare-time robotics business, Shelden Robotics. The two family vehicles are parked outside the double doors.     Inside is neatness and order. A garden rake, trash can and recycling bins are the only clues to a family life beyond the closed door. Blue and red electric tape strategically stuck to the floor in circles and rectangles measures robotic achievement.     As a...

Mike Callahan was searching for creative ways to trim his Christmas tree this year. The president of the Southern Maryland Audubon Society wanted a unique, nature-themed tree that he created with his own hands. When a friend suggested using what Chesapeake Bay had to offer, Callahan hit the beaches, hunting and gathering for his creation. At home, he put his hands and mind to work.     Sticking with his nature theme, Callahan’s bird and owl ornaments are threaded with...

Chesapeake Beach has a new Christmas tree.         It’s not pine, spruce or fir.     It’s 255 crabs pots stacked 20 feet tall and trimmed with buoys, garland, lights, soccer-sized sparkly balls and a larger-than-life blue crab.     The nautical tree is dedicated to the watermen of Chesapeake Country.     The surprise to the town was erected in secret in the early morning hours of Nov. 25 by Chesapeake...

The turkey carved for your Thanksgiving dinner is likely a Broad Breasted White, a hybrid developed to live up to its name.     Heritage breeds like the Black Spanish and Urban Red Ed Cramer raises at Fisher Farm in La Plata may be tastier, but they are more costly to raise, grow slower and produce less meat than the Broad Breasted White. You’ll pay roughly twice the price of a small-farm, pasture-raised, Broad Breasted White to enjoy one of those birds.   ...