Volume 11 Issue 51
December 18-24, 2003

On Our Cover
Black Bean Christmas
Original watercolor by Annapolis artist Lali
“It doesn’t matter where we’re from,” said my grandfather, in his hand a glass from the bottle of rum that had been passed around the table. “What matters is we’re together with the people we love.”




Black Bean Christmas

A Memoir of the Season by Louis Llovio


Sonia Linebaugh’s Neighbors
Kati Farnaday Hlousek


Check out the updated Archives featuring stories from 1993, 1995 & 1997!


  • More Days for a New Year
    They missed our deadline but these Chesapeake calendars
    are too good to miss
    by Louis Llovio
  • Earth Journal ~ Courtesy of beaver, redheaded woodpeckers
    by Gary Pendleton
  • 11.5-Hour Reprieve
    Surely a real Wye Oak leaf pin is as good an engagement ring
    by Louis Llovio
  • The Train’s on Time in North Beach
    Tickets are free on Tom Crockett’s 13 miniature lines
    by Louis Llovio
  • Way Downstream
    • In Washington, Chesapeake Bay’s blue crabs win friends at the National Zoo…
    • and Green Party’s Ralph Nader, spoiler in the ’00 presidential elections, says there’s a “high probability” he’ll run in ’04…
    • From Austin, glow-in-the-dark, genetically engineered tropical fish now on their way to pet stores…
    • This week’s Creature Feature: In New Jersey, the state’s first black bear hunt in a third of a century scores 328 dead bears — and a public relations nightmare.