Maryland

The most important thing about Maryland is that my Dad was born there. But I suppose some interesting historical stuff happened there too. Maryland is where the Mason-Dixon line was drawn, and Harriet Tubman was born there.

I confess, I feel guilty about Harriet. She’s a real hero, but when I discovered that Edgar Allen Poe was born in Maryland. I promptly forgot everything else now that I had an excuse to reread Poe’s wonderful stories. I work at a university, and I mentioned the trip to one of the professors here. He has a wonderful deep voice and actually quoted “The Raven.” Well done Dr. Foster! I must put in my two cents that I think it’s a shame that students aren’t generally required to memorize great poems and speeches. It’s also a shame that there aren’t very many forums left for average people to perform the passages they know. Anyway, Dr. Foster made my day.

I didn’t rediscover Harriet until the end of the month. I’ll have to read up on her anyway.

Maryland is also famous for Cheasapeake Bay and crabs. In honor of the state I planned a seafood dinner with clam chowder and crab cakes. Having never tasted a crabcake in my life I turned to Rachel Ray for help and printed off her recipe for “Killer crab cakes.” Sorry Rach. My crab cakes crumbled. I guess my potato wasn’t starchy enough or something. I’m going to have to go to Red Lobster or something and try a commercially made one. Mine tasted okay, but they certainly weren’t anything to rave about. Was it me? Or was it the cake?

I regret to say that I was more amused than inspired by the state song. It’s quite the bloodthirsty little ditty! I know, I know, it was written during the civil war and I should take it seriously, but it’s also set to the tune of “O Tannenbaum,” plus it goes on for nine solid verses and well….Here’s the just the first verse. Judge for yourselves.

The despot's heel is on thy shore,
Maryland!
His torch is at thy temple door,
Maryland!
Avenge the patriotic gore
That flecked the streets of Baltimore,
And be the battle queen of yore,
Maryland! My Maryland!

The other thing Maryland has, along with other Midwestern and Eastern states are fireflies. On a trip to Washington D.C a few years ago we stayed in a Maryland Bed and Breakfast. One night the owners forgot to turn on the lights around the pool. No matter. Hot and exhausted we jumped in. It was one of the most magical experiences of my life. Thousands and thousands of fireflies lit up the trees around us. The water was deliciously cool and we had the place to ourselves. It was like swimming in an enchanted oasis a million miles from anywhere. Bliss.