Think back a few years. What did you do with your time and talents during spring break from college days? Be careful now. Maybe you shouldn’t answer in front of the children. Fortunately for those of us who love the Chesapeake Bay, a new generation knows how to break from the past and spring into action.

      Being a little sister can be challenging. Even more so when you see older brothers achieving things not available to you, such as earning an Eagle rank in Scouting.      Fear not, little sisters. Your time has come.      The all-girl Cub Scout Pack 2018 in Edgewater is now working on achieving the same ranks and honors as their male counterparts. It’s a new program causing some waves in the world of Scouting.

     As an American of Ukrainian heritage, Coreen Weilminster cherishes the Easter traditions with which she was raised. Especially when it comes to the ancient art of pysanky, eggs decorated using a wax-resist method similar to batik. In design, in legend and in Christian tradition, these eggs have kept alive a gentle folk art reflecting the Ukrainian nation.

      Think today’s teens always have their hands busy texting or playing video games? Not Angela Arnold and her pals at Huntingtown High School in Calvert County.       Arnold, a senior, is vice president of a club of teens who keep their hands busy with crochet hooks and yarn. Crochet for the Bay, now an official nonprofit student group, crafts handmade products to raise money for Bay conservation.

      You may not find Nemo or Dory, but a local club hopes you still find inspiration in the wonders of a saltwater tank.       The Southern Maryland Marine Aquarium Society is a dedicated cadre of marine hobbyists seeking to spread their love of saltwater tanks and to raise awareness of the delicate coral reefs they tend therein.

      I am serving my country abroad, and my country is America. I can’t quite believe it. The words conjure pictures of soldiers, brave and resolute in uniform, or ambassadors, smooth and sophisticated. I am neither, and I am a novice American. I was born in Ireland, a British citizen from Belfast. I moved to the U.S. in the early 2000s.

       Drive past most any place of worship in the middle of the day in the middle of the week and you might see a few more cars than at a Chick-Fil-A on a Sunday.        But make a pilgrimage to the Chesapeake Church any day, most any time of the week, and you would think you’ve parked in front of a new coffee boutique at a ski lodge or …

       Ducks, geese and swans spending time along Maryland’s coasts and shorelines are caught in a migratory traffic jam. Each winter, aerial survey teams of biologists from the Maryland Department of Natural Resources and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service make visual estimates of these waterfowl. This year they counted about 1,023,300 waterfowl, well above the 812,600 birds observed during 2017 and higher than the five-year average of 851,980.

      Has your Chesapeake Bay license plate stopped sparking joy? Have its heron, crab and grasses against a field of blue lost their power to remind you, and your fellow motorists, to Treasure the Chesapeake? Is it just too familiar?

       Each of us Bay-lovers sees the Chesapeake in a different way. Especially important is how young Marylanders see our great estuary, for its survival will soon be in their hands.         March has been celebrated in Maryland for 57 years as Youth Art Month.         This month, you can see the new  160-piece exhibit, Portraits of the Chesapeake Bay, just up at Calvert Marine Museum.