We Can Use Your Vote

There are people out there who spend their lives making a difference in the lives of others. The best definition I heard for serving is to position your life to bless others. Isn’t that a wonderful way to view the world?

So I’m unabashed asking for you to vote for my pastor, Reverend Robert Hahn as Compassionate Marylander Award. He’s a finalist and your vote could mean a $5,000 grant for the organization that he founded and is Chair.

End Hunger for Calvert County works with individuals to create permanent solutions that move them from dependency to self-sufficiency. They believe that all people matter and life change happens through relationships. This grant can truly make a direct and positive impact in the lives of our neighbors and friends.

What do I care and why am I involved? Because this organization has help my family through the food pantry that it operates. My sister and her family have directly benefited. And I work directly with the people who are making a difference every day. They are my friends and my inspiration.

So please vote – CLICK HERE, then click on Reverend Robert Hahn’s name and End Hunger could get $5,000 to help people bridge the gap and help families in Maryland. It only takes 30 seconds to make a real difference. Voting ends this Friday.

Please.

In My Opinion – Thoughts On EZ Thai

Yesterday the husband and I had lunch at a local Thai place that just opened a few months ago. This was our second time there and I was guardedly optimistic for you see, I was there once before, two weeks after it opened.

And I was really disappointed.

But because I wanted the restaurant to succeed and really don’t like to write a “negative” review – I stayed mum. I have spoken to some others who have dined there and reviews were mixed – ranging from not so bad to not so good.

Let me say this – I really want the restaurant to do well, for them as well as for our local community. We need some spice in our little neck of the woods.

So I’m happy to report this – I left somewhat happy, or happier than when before I went in.

Before I write about the food, I want to say firstly – the restaurant was very, very clean and pleasant to dine in. The flowers on the table, even as artificial as they are, gave the place a nicely decorated feel. I like that. I like a pleasant environment in which to dine.

I arrived ahead of the husband at around 12:30 pm – right in the heart of lunch hour and found that restaurant completely empty. I was surprised at this, perhaps it was the rainy weather? I was a little bit deflated. I thought – oh no, are they on the brink of closing already?

I try to remain as objective as I can, but I admit it made me more determined to like it. That being said -

The husband and I ordered different dishes than the last time. These were dishes that we were familiar with, dishes that I cook here at home and dishes that I’ve eaten many times as a child. I just wanted to review something familiar.

We began with Thai iced tea. It was good, perfect.

This is tom yum soup with chicken (gai or chicken). Again, it was very good, I would recommend it over this . . .

. . . the tom kha (gai) which I found too coconut-y. It was heavy handed on the coconut milk.

My favorite of the day was this – pork larb. It was good and the most authentic thing I’ve eaten there. The only complaint I have is that it wasn’t a big enough portion, there’s a bunch of lettuce beneath the pork.

The husband ordered this prik king with chicken. Prik king is a very spicy curry and I’ve had it “dry” without the soupiness. I don’t care for it “wet” but it’s personal taste. By the way, this should be prepared with long beans, not the fat string bean but I’m sure it would have made it a more expensive dish.

I hope this restaurant will appeal to the palates in our area and become successful. I know there is a temptation for some restaurants to try to appeal to the “general masses” but my mantra when it comes to ethnic cooking is this – stick with the most authentic menu and don’t try to water down the recipe. If Thais like it, then most other Americans will too. People can tell the difference. Be true to yourself and others will love you. It applies to more than middle-school self-esteem.

Here’s another review by Dickson Mercer, our local reporter about town.

I will go back again to try their other menu items – anyone care to join me?

Vera’s At White Sands In HDR

I was not initially enamored by the use of HDR techniques in photography but have since learned to love the intense vibrancy and hue. With the urging of Bob Towery and a 10% discount, I am the proud owner of Topaz Adjust and I love how it makes a photo pop.

We boated to an establishment on the Patuxent River last Memorial Day, to a place called Vera’s White Sands Beach Club. It was great fun and a great diversion on a hot day. Vera’s was a place popular with the movie star crowd ages ago when Vera Freeman was the proprietor. It’s now a great lunch stop for families and the boating crowd.

Below is a view of Vera’s in HDR.

And finally the Grand Dame herself.

What a fun and colorful place. I hope to see it return to its glory days.

Do you do any HDR? Show me!

Posted on Sweet Shot Tuesday.

For Coffee Lovers

Hear ye, hear yea!

You can purchase a s-t-a-r bucks coffee and get a free one! This buy one get one free offer is good from today (18th) to the 21st between the hours of 2-5 pm. It’s only good on holiday drinks so get out your peppermint and pumpkin spice taste buds!

I am not a s-t-a-r- bucks sponsor, they don’t need any help. I am a s-t-a-r bucks drinker. Today I had a tall skinny pumpkin spiced latte with thin whipped cream and I got a free peppermint white mocha latte for our volunteer. It was wonderful. This is purely a public service announcement and nothing more.

Once again, please excuse the over hyphenation of key words, there are weird googlers out there – not you of course.

Your Civic Duty

I know you all know this already but I’ll say it anyway.

It’s an election year.

I took this photo at the polling place before I was told that no photos were allowed. Oh oh.

This was during the primary elections a month ago. I was relieved that they verified my identity. For some odd reason, I just think there ought to be accountability in our election process. Call me crazy.

Here’s another crazy thing – I love going to the polling place to vote. Everyone there seems so elated and the support and enthusiasm for their candidate is so evident. There’s also no animosity – unlike what you see on television.

Election law forbids the candidates to campaign in at the polling place. We as citizens of this great country ought to make our decisions freely and without any pressure or intimidation.

I went to this candidate’s forum as a concerned citizen a couple of Sundays ago. I left there feeling more informed and more empowered as a voter than before I went. I also left with a certainty about who I was going to vote for, and it was a different opinion than when before I went. If you have a chance go to a forum, rally, or meet your local candidates then please do. It’s all a part of being a good citizen.

See that lady speaking? She’s got my vote. If I’m brave enough, I may just tell you all the candidates that I plan on voting for between now and election day.

Dead Pigs & A Photographer’s Glamorous Life

Disclaimer: Some of these photos may be disturbing. No one likes to see dead pigs but they are a necessary part of the recounting of this story. Sorry.

Back in September, my friend and mad scientist:) Dr. Tom McClintock asked me to help him with a project. He was going to conduct an experiment that will last over the course of several weeks and he needed my “professional” skills to help document the process. Tom teaches a course in forensic science at a university somewhere and this experiment was part of his curriculum. His goal was to teach students how to aid authorities in the identification of a body.

It was a lofty goal. Admirable really.

Even after he explained that it will be an experiment in decomposition, I still was not deterred. After all, it’s not every day that I’m asked to shoot anything. This was a lot less pressure than say, a wedding. Dead pigs do not have a bad side so to speak.

The experiment was located in the woods quite a way from his house. Thank goodness. I don’t think his wife, the lovely Miss Frances, would like it if it was actually in their backyard.

As I walked toward the rotting stinking death scene – in Tom’s rubber boots because I came in heels – my curiosity started to develop into dread. Am I that desperate to capture something with my camera that I would stoop to this?

I purposefully chose blurred photos by the way…

We came upon the scene and I see that there were two pigs, a mama pig and – gulp – a baby pig. The baby pig was dressed in a little onesie. A onesie! Mad Scientist Tom told me that he wanted to gauge the rate of decomposition between the big pig, the baby pig and a pig dressed in clothes because many times, a victim of a crime would be clothed.

Makes horrid sense.

After the first photo session, I was no longer enamored by the idea. But he was my friend and I promised.

So I went back for a second session the next week. Tom was very excited. He wanted me to capture the bloating stage. It is also called the rancid smell stage by a layman like me. I thought I may be sick. But a professional would labor on, so I pretended I was one and did exactly that.

I will spare you those photos.

The third time, I must say was my “favorite” stage. The pigs were no longer recognizable, thank goodness. They were just skin and bones.

Yesterday, I spoke with a reporter from the local newspaper who was doing a story on Tom. I hope I able to accurately relay the story to her. I know I’m editorializing here, but hey, it’s my blog and it was gross.

There is no doubt that Tom is passionate about what he does and he is very good at it as well. His work is important. He was involved in the search and discovery of a missing little girl last year.

Here’s Tom’s website. I hear his webmaster is very good:) Once he gets his content written, I will post the photos and you can read the analysis. I know it will be very interesting. Seriously. And I can’t wait to read what the nice reporter wrote.

But after this little experiment, I am happy to move on. I had the opportunity to photograph a blessing of rings last week. Those photos will be forthcoming. They are much nicer to see.

Tobacco Fields & Motherhood

In each community there are micro cultures that aren’t necessarily geographically distant from each other. In an urban setting, one city street can be the difference between a sought out exclusive community and one that is fearsome after dark.

In our more agricultural community, less than a mile separates the manual harvesting of tobacco and the public school system. Right down the street from the kids’ school are tobacco fields. They were being harvested as I drove by to pick up the girls.

Tobacco is an important agriculture crop here in Southern Maryland. Years ago, it was a golden crop, the commodity that was the wealth builder. There are odes to its history with community and street names like Lower Marlboro Road and the city of Upper Marlboro. There was a big tobacco buyout in 2005 and many farms apparently took it voluntarily. There are still some tobacco being grown but many fields that used to grow tobacco now look like wheat fields.

The terms of the buyout is such that the farmer must keep their fields agricultural for ten years. I don’t know what our community will look like after that. Hopefully there won’t be a 7-Eleven on every street corner.

It’s an election year so we’ll see how the community as a whole feels about that.

I stopped and trekked across the field to the workers and asked if I could photograph them. They were really friendly and very willing.

They welcomed all my questions.

“How long have you been doing this?” Most of them have been harvesting tobacco like this all of their lives.

“Do you do this every year?” Yes ma’am, every year.

One worker held up one of the sticks that were used to dry the leaves. They asked me, “Do you know what this is?”

I said, “A stick?”

“Yup, that’s right.” And no more explanation was forthcoming. I supposed I answered correctly.

I arrived just as they were finishing stacking the large tobacco leaves in big wigwam-type piles. They asked if I wanted to go with them to see some real action – cutting the leaves.

They showed me the home made machetes.

These were made long ago and sharpened manually each time.

At this point, the husband called and asked me what I wanted at the grocery store. I said, “You won’t guess where I am. I’m with the tobacco workers taking pictures.”

The husband said, “Are you alright?”

Up to the point, I hadn’t thought about it. I looked around and said, “Yes, of course I am.”

And I really was.

Here is Esther, the only woman in the group. I asked to take her photo and she said, “Oh no. No. No.” I lowered my camera and obliged her. We stood and spoke a long time about our kids. She had seven children. She bemoaned how hard it was to raise children now-a-days. How there are so many distractions and how kids don’t know the value of hard work anymore. She said men don’t know how to take care of their children, that the jails in Prince Frederick were filled with dead beat dads. I wanted to go home and rustle the boy off the couch immediately.

I asked her, “Are you sure I can’t take just a couple?”

She said, “Well alright.”

Before I left, she gave me a really big hug. It gave me a healthy new respect for the way they make their living.

Liz Printz Chesapeake Bay Sea Glass Jewelry

I admit I fall in love very easily. Over the course the last almost 20 years, I’ve fallen in and out of love with furniture, jewelry, plates, and anything that is old and from the specific country in which we were residing at the time. I know I have a problem and the only cure for it is – lack of funds.

Which was the reason why I didn’t buy everything on this stand. This is a little display at the local boutique called J Pink which I frequented a couple of months ago. I don’t trust myself to go back. The artist who was there that day specialized in jewelry made from claimed sea glass from the Chesapeake Bay. I loved the story, I loved reclamation of the environment and I loved the jewelry.

However, because a major piece was at the time out of my price range – darn budget – I only purchased a couple of little pendants. I then put the pendants on a chain I already had. Each one is unique and none is the same, I love that too. They were about $20 a piece.

I cannot stop thinking about the little necklace made of blue sea glass – probably some kind of beer bottle. See the dark green? It was probably a Heineken bottle. Though I detest the littering of the bay, I am happy that someone has the creativity and talent to create something this beautiful out of someone else’s carelessness. I looked all over the internet for Liz Printz and I finally found where she will be selling her wares next. I may just make the trip down there…

Don’t tell the husband ok?

The Horse Whisperer…Corner View “Me”

Update: I’m playing along with Jane at Spain Daily (very  jealous of where she lives) on Corner View, theme is “Me.” I really don’t like being in front of the camera but I guess this post will fit the bill.

While the boy has been occupied all summer with his schedule, the girl has been busy as well.

She declined to go to camp with the boy again this summer. Instead, she is spending her days at the farm, attending and working at horse camps.

She and her horsey friends attended this jumping camp last week. The next Sunday, they all had a major horse show.

Beth-girl looks more like me than the girl does I think. She reallly could be my daughter, skin color and all…

As a result of all this activity, the horses were all pooped out. They had to really be encouraged to work during the show. It was hot, they were tired from all that jumping the week before and they just didn’t wanna.

I know how they feel, minus the jumping part.

I had the girl walk Ella up to the food stand so she could eat.

Look Ella, grass…

Ella was walking really really slowly. She’s a very laid-back horse, and coupled with a very laid-back girl, the combination is like watching ice melt, or molasses in January. Whatever. All I know is that I was walking faster than Ella and I only have two legs.

It was hot, I know.

So the girl dismounts and leaves Ella in very capable hands. I can make her do anything I want her to.

She respects me.

It got to the point that the girl decided to take a drastic step – spurs. Along with the crop, she and Ella were Reserve Champions in the next event, after having came in dead last in the first one.

I would have used sugar myself.

Hosted by Cecily and Lolli

AND…I’m play over at ishouldbefoldinglaundry today at Beth’s.

These are my three favorite places to play!

What’s Happening In Southern Maryland?

It’s Saturday…

Ahhhhh…

As the dog and I came back from our walk today, we stopped at the mailbox because I knew the paper was there. In the weekend section is a story on my favorite local band, Scattered Leaves.

Isn’t their photographer fantastic?

I’m so proud of them and proud to know them. You have not lived until you hear Daniel sing. Or until you hear Dana sing. Or until you hear them sing together.

The online article is here.

They did a little gig at J Pink’s Meet the Artist event that I dragged the husband to last week.

Here’s my friend Tom, of DNA Diagnostics (if you need DNA of your kids, he’s the man to go to) taking the theme literally.

Tell me, isn’t his site fantastic? He must have a great webmaster…

But enough about Tom.

J Pink is a boutique store, about the size of the girl’s bedroom. It’s stocked full of really cute girly things. Perfect for me and for you. My next giveaway will be from this store…I have the perfect thing.

What’s with the title of this post? Well, there’s a lot going on in our neck of the woods and I’m going to start a category named What’s Happening In Southern Maryland. I’m not always in the know, but I like trying:)

Love that Scattered Leaves.

It’s Saturday…ahhhhh…

Visit me, please, at Vision and Verb today. Posted on SOOC Saturday. All photos are SOOC except for the second fantastic photo of Scattered Leaves. But enough about them:)