Anne Arundel County doubled its number of public boat ramps this month, opening a new one on Parrish Creek at Discovery Village in Shady Side. The county has 533 miles of coastline but only one other public trailered-boat launch. That’s at Fort Smallwood Park in Pasadena.       “The second boat ramp opening in just two years demonstrates undeniable progress in bringing our citizens closer to the Chesapeake Bay and its tributaries,” said County Executive Steve Schuh.

      Squeezing the last remains from summer? Head to a county park, where you can launch a kayak, run trails, play fetch with your pooch or enjoy a picnic.       Beginning this week, four Anne Arundel County parks are open seven days a week, from 7:30am to dusk. That’s more time for you to get outside and enjoy all the Bay has to offer.      Visit Quiet Waters in Annapolis, Kinder Farm Park in Millersville, Fort Smallwood Park or Downs Park, both in Pasadena. 

1 Eat Local, Eat Well 

       Montana. Colorado. Texas. California. In all those hotbox states and more, the Maryland Department of Natural Resources Forest Services are sweating to control fires that have already burned more than five million acres of land and wrecked thousands of homes and businesses.

         The latest is a new book, Chesapeake Requiem by Earl Swift, who spent 14 months documenting the tiny, storied island in the Bay that may be America’s first casualty of climate change.          The 1.3-square-mile island off of Virginia, inhabited since the 1600s, loses swaths of shoreline each year to rising waters.

The historic Sotterley Plantation is sitting on 200,000 square feet of potatoes — ready for harvest.           On St. Patrick’s Day, Hollywood, Marylanders stepped up to plant more than five acres of red and Yukon gold potatoes, reserved for donation.           Facility manager Joe Goldsmith is reviving the 1703 plantation’s working fields with hay and kale as winter cover crops. Summer’s crop is potatoes.

         Your creative mind can earn you some cash this fall. Design the best float for the Patuxent River Appreciation Days parade, and your group or organization can win $300. Second and third places net a nice hunk of change as well.          Held annually on Columbus Day weekend, PRAD celebrates all the river means to Southern Maryland. The parade wraps up the festivities Sunday afternoon. 

         Ten-year-old dog fortune-teller ­Elizabeth Nolan held her client’s furry paw and looked deep into his eyes. “You are a small dog with a big heart. You make people happy. I see kibble in your future,” she told him before being rewarded with excited puppy kisses and a $5 donation for the SPCA.

Annapolis is one dog-friendly town, from water bowls and treats outside of Main Street stores to events made just for furry friends. On July 19, Annapolis further appreciates its dogs when the Anne Arundel Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals partners with Watermark Cruises for its sixth dog Cruise on the Bay.