Dan Rodricks

In the past three weeks, I’ve been to a family reunion and a high school class reunion. We said all the usual things: Great to see you. . . Nice to see you. . .  Happy to see you. . . Are you still managing the Lobster Hut?  . . . Are you still teaching?  … Continue reading Reunions, and the part that goes without saying

The centennial of Crain Highway prompts a celebration in Prince George's County Press notice: “We are excited and proud to bring people together to re-create the photo that was taken 100 years ago,” said Upper Marlboro Town Clerk John Hoatson, who is organizing the Oct. 1 festivities. (The photo session is scheduled for 11 am.) … Continue reading Upper Marlboro wants to draw a crowd to update this 1922 photo

At midday, while hiking along the river, I saw trout rising in a bubble line flowing below a fallen white pine. It is always exciting to see rising trout, but, ambivalent about fishing for trout on a summer day, I did not have my fly rod or waders with me. Still, overcome with temptation, I … Continue reading Air show: A squadron of cedar waxwings caught a lot more than I did

I am a fan of Baltimore Community Lending, a federally certified Community Development Financial Institution that has made loans in parts of Baltimore where the big banks refuse to invest. BCL's involvement in the project described below -- to train and prepare new food growers and other food and beverage entrepreneurs for the post-pandemic world … Continue reading How to run a food or farming business after the pandemic: Free course offered

I hear the voices of children, the summer voices of children. They bounce across the lake from the beach, squealing giggles and dog-paddle splashes, the chatter of a childhood fading away with summer, fading away from us all. In the week leading to Labor Day, we reach the Sunday night of the year, the long … Continue reading Summer’s end: A reverie

Here's your annual reminder that, while Labor Day was never identified with a particular food item -- in the way Thanksgiving demands roasted turkey, St. Patrick's Day requires corned beef and cabbage, or the Fourth of July comes ringed in hot dogs -- the peppers-and-eggs sandwich has been the official sandwich of the first Monday … Continue reading The peppers-and-eggs sandwich is the official meal of Labor Day

I’m sure I fried some brain cells reading through the lawsuits (original and amended) filed as a taxpayer action against the Baltimore City public schools by a West Baltimore couple, Jovani and Shawnda Patterson. I reference the Patterson suit in my column about the political actions of members of the wealthy family that owns the … Continue reading Lawsuit against Baltimore schools a ‘political publicity stunt’

My columns run 900 to 910 words each, so I don’t always have space to get into every detail and angle of a story. Today’s column is an example of that: I have far more information about the death of Jeremy Davidson than I was able to fit into the space allowed, and a question … Continue reading Postmortem: Lingering questions about EMT response to Jeremy Davidson’s medical emergency

The thing about fly fishing in general, and fly fishing for trout specifically, is that you are forced -- if you really want to understand the world in which you wade, and if you really want to catch fish -- to pay attention to what they eat. Trout eat a lot of bugs and, at … Continue reading Metamorphosis: Creatures crawling on rocks

At the end of a recent Saturday outing — for a memorial service for a friend in rural Maryland, then across two counties to visit Basignani Winery — I asked my friend Tom, who did all the driving, if he wanted some money for gas. I was kidding, of course. Chevy Bolt The ride we … Continue reading We drove 140 miles and burned not a drop of gas