The Scent of Boxwoods

I always hated okra. The name itself sounds too much like orc, ogre, or Orgoch, one of the witches of Morva from The Black Caldron series. It is a word with open ends and sharp middle, a grunt, more likely a growl. Nothing good can come from a word like that. “Best be home before…

My father grew up in Soddy-Daisy, a small town in eastern Tennessee that sat between a lake and a mountain. His parents continued to live there throughout my childhood and a few times a year we would take the several hours drive from Maryland to go see them. This was always great fun for me…

In this episode of Lore, Follow the Leader, Aaron Mahnke delves into folklore describing what is known as The Wild Hunt. Mostly rooted in Germanic legend, the wild hunt is often described as a supernatural horde of warriors hunting great beasts through the forest or across the sky. The sight or sound of these hunters…

*fiction The trail through the woods was a winding one. It ran along a stream bed, deep and wide with very few places to cross. The trees were tall and as spring settled in, a pasture of green rose above the leaf fall, delicate grassy plants that mirrored the canopy above. The path rose as…

I was listening to a Halloween podcast the other day. It was series of stand-alone fictional stories intertwined with an overarching narrative about the trouble you get yourself into when you start summoning demons and bending to their will. Whenever I hear a story like that, I am always disappointed that someone would feel the…

There is a photo of me on the front page of our local newspaper when I was about 9 or 10 years old. I’m with three other kids and we are all standing on a patch of marsh grass, staring intently at the water, crab nets in hand. This photo was taken at the Elms…

I like Food and Wine magazine. I like the fact that they have a recipe for virtually every occasion and that the majority of their recipes are an almost guaranteed success. That is, if you have access to all the ingredients and are capable of following all the instructions. Regardless, one of my favorite features…

This is a picture of what my mom called Crow’s Feet when I was a kid. Apparently that’s what they call it in Pennsylvania where she grew up although it is more commonly referred to as Running Cedar or Ground Pine. Its a lovely evergreen perennial that you can find on the floor of most…

Unless you are from St. Mary’s County, you have probably never heard of stuffed ham.  Stuffed ham is a dish that is ubiquitous in Southern Maryland, especially in the Fall and Winter months, but has not travelled much past its borders.  The origins of the recipe are unknown, but it is thought to be a…

There are a lot of beautiful historic homes in Southern Maryland, but one of my favorites was owned by my mother’s friend and mentor, Hope Swan. Gravelly Hills, as it was called, was located about 20 minutes north of our house and my sister and I often went there with one or both of our…