For John Lederer

      When we moved into our home 12 years ago, people asked me if we had a ghost.      “Of course not,” I scoffed. “Not every old house is haunted.”       Just as often, I would hear, “Your house. It has this feeling to it, doesn’t it? It’s a very happy place. It’s very inviting and warm.”

Election Day Comes Early You don’t have to wait until November 6; vote from October 25 to November 1      Election Day is November 6, with polls open statewide for all registered voters from 7am to 8pm.       Can’t wait that long?

       You know the season has changed when you look across the sprawling fields of the Walter family farm, dotted brilliant orange with autumn’s signature crop: pumpkins.          There Nick Walter is happily knee-deep in his element, harvesting the fruit of his labor.  

     Ah, October has returned. That means ghouls and goblins, pumpkins and apples, flannel and bonfires. The air is seemingly crisper with each passing week, and specks of red and yellow are beginning to adorn the trees. Leaf-peeping fever is right around the corner.

       All hot summer long, Baltimore’s Natty Boh gathered tabs and cash to give to Maryland’s favorite crustaceans.       From June to September, Natty Boh 12- and 16-ounce cans came with red, crab-etched tabs. For every tab returned, 10 cents was donated to the Chesapeake Bay Foundation’s local blue crab research and habitat restoration efforts. 

       If you’re looking for storytellers to tell tales of their love for water, ask a Chesapeake Country native.        Who’s asking for stories?         It’s the Smithsonian.       Calvert Library was selected to join the Smithsonian’s Water/Ways exhibition, a study on the significance of water in communities across the country. 

      With the arrival of fall, farmers from many of Maryland’s 12,300 farms take their work to the streets. The fall harvest season extends to early November. On rural roads and even highways, motorists should be prepared to share as farmers move between working fields. Along major farming routes, electronic signs help remind you to be patient with sometimes sluggish farm equipment.

      The Eastport waterfront overlooking Spa Creek was evolving in 1983, when Carrol’s Creek Café became one of the first tenants in the Annapolis City Marina.        “The Annapolis Yacht Club, Chart House and working boatyards were our neighbors,” says Jeff Jacobs, second-generation owner of Carrol’s Creek Café. “Eastport was seeing its renaissance.”

          Church dinners are a welcoming tradition extending beyond doctrine to bring a community together while raising money for special projects. Among Chesapeake Country churches serving local fare like crab cakes, oysters and ham, Friendship United Methodist Church is an innovator. This year’s feast, now 20-year-old tradition, features shrimp and roast beef.