These little prize-winning essays involve us in Chesapeake Country life at its most personal.
Bearing the Lightness of Being
Aloysia C. Hamalainen
My eyebrows were so tightly clenched I could barely see over the steering wheel as I remembered my promises to deliver a package for a colleague and to make hot mashes for my out-of-town friends' horses. To be numbed by the television wrapped up in my down comforter beckoned to me.
Spring Is on Her Own
Audrey Y. Scharmen
Beneath the merry boughs, a lone tulip prepared to bloom on the grave of my cat. Spring had always been his favorite season. There were birds to stalk, rabbits to harass and moles to be excavated from the catacombs under the lawn. His expertise endeared him to local gardeners
The Easter We Saw Franklin Delano Roosevelt
Alice Fisk Herring
In the spring of 1941, when I was a student at the University of Maryland, I enlisted my best beau in getting a glimpse of our president at church Love faded, we married others - but I am sure he has not forgotten that thrilling moment when two gawky college students had the president waving just to them. I know I have not.
Me and A Million Other Moms
Kitty O'Dowd
I celebrated my third Mother's Day of being a mom at Million Mother March at the National Mall. When my three-year-old is ready for school, I don't want to have to worry about him getting shot. So I'm one of a million mothers who will vote his way to safety.
Look Alert: Turtles Crossing
Marc Killingstad
The Eastern box turtle, among the most familiar and attractive of turtles, is a threatened species. The loss of just one adult from a population each year or two will doom that population.
Where Reading Starts It Doesn't End
Lori L. Sikorski
An era has ended in our home. After seven years - divided among three children - at Patuxent Elementary School, we said our final good-byes
Song of Plenty
Sonia L. Linebaugh
Summer belts out a song of plenty. Its latest entrance is announced by a yapping dog out from the city for the season: Yap. Yap-yap
Old Sounds, Warm Memories
Connie Darago
The sound of a whining engine in reverse filled the air as I crossed the huge parking lot. Just a kid showing off for a friend, but there was a haunting familiarity. Memories flickered
On My First Grandchild
Sandra Martin
As my daughter-in-law labored and my son sweat, her parents and I haunted the halls and snoozed the couches of Anne Arundel Medical Center. A week after his or her August 18 due date, the first child of Lisa Kate Edler and John Alexander Knoll was keeping its appointment, and none of us could think of any better place in this world to be.
I Learned New Tricks from My Old Dog
Kim Cammarata
I must concede that my blind, 12-year-old dog looks pathetic. My friends and neighbors feel sorry for Schmoe, but I feel only admiration for the way she has adapted to her disability, learning to use it to her advantage.
Personal Best
Kathy Flaherty
Four months ago, I wasn't a runner. My personal journey began at my 34th birthday lunch, when I came up short on what I'd achieved in this past year of life. Now, I'm about to run in my first 5K race, the Baltimore Race for the Cure. I am one of a throng of 27,000, each with motivations and desires as diverse as the persons themselves.
Fall Cleaning
M.L. Faunce
Cleaning has its own way of getting into the webbed nooks and crannies of the subconscious. While I cleaned the upholstery of a favorite chair, crisp sunlight streaming into my living room, a shiny strand of silver hair woven into the fabric caught my eye
Halloween Effects by Mother Nature
Joan Bennett Clancy
I do not have to put out hard cash to have creepies, crawlies and things that go bump in the day or night. Life in the country brings unexpected-expected visitors. Comfy spaces are everywhere for silent, slithery SsNNAaKkeeeeESsss
On My Own
Darcey Dodd
Through every bellyache, heartbreak, flat tire, business and personal decision, through every tear and cheer of my life, my father's always been there holding my hand. With him in my corner, I've always felt strong.
Now, for the first time in my life, I stand alone.
The Best Gifts of Christmas
Hanne Denney
I wish for a dear friend, beautiful music, lasting good health, a precious memory, intellectual excitement, inner peace.
How can my child, my family, give these things to me? This, I realize, is a list of gifts I must give to myself.
Copyright 2000
Bay Weekly
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