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October 31, 2024

Cambridge Spy

Nonpartisan and Education-based News for Cambridge

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Mid-Shore Arts: The Healing Work of Carole Böggemann Peirson

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Carole Böggemann Peirson, chosen as Oxford’s Fine Arts Feature Artist of 2022, had until recently been known for her evocative landscape oil paintings of the Eastern Shore. Then a series of life-altering events shifted her artistic perspective from the traditional to the abstract. 

Gratitude 12×24

It started with a breast cancer diagnosis in 2019. Then in 2020, as she was undergoing treatments, both she and her husband were diagnosed with COVID. In addition, they were both unable to work; she because of her treatments, and he was in the restaurant sales business, which was closed due to the pandemic. These events turned out to be, she says, one of the best things that happened to her. “I was always a perfectionist and a bit of a control freak. I thought I could control my whole life by working hard and following the rules. Then 2020 came, and there was nothing I had control over anymore. I literally had a let-go-and-let-God moment.”  And when she let go, she said, solutions came out of nowhere. She began to sell paintings she had forgotten about or hadn’t yet created. With it came the recognition that she had been worried about the wrong things in her life, and she switched to appreciating all the good. 

Böggemann Peirson then committed to healing and took up meditation, which she credits with making a huge difference in her recovery. And as she got better, she started rethinking her artwork. Imitating the newly found ‘textures’ in her life, Böggemann Peirson decided to add textures to her oil paintings and began experimenting with cold wax. “There are techniques in working with oil and cold wax, where you dissolve layers with solvents. And so you’re taking away layers that you’ve applied, and you don’t really know what’s going to appear. That was so much fun to see what happens and not have the full control.”

Harmony

She was hooked. “I was like a kid in a candy store. I began thinking in more abstracted terms of colors and shapes, and it was liberating because you don’t always know what will happen as you use solvents to dissolve the layers you’ve applied.” The process allowed her to work more spontaneously, and her paintings became a way for her to evoke an emotion rather than express a reality.

Whatever the method, to Böggemann Peirson, the satisfaction had always been about the result, as long as that result was a good painting. But in dealing with the crises in her life, she learned she was enjoying the process of painting rather than just the end result. Being chosen as Oxford’s Fine Arts Featured Artist both surprised her and confirmed that she was on the right path. 

Carole Boggemann Peirson

Born and raised in the Netherlands, Böggemann Peirson moved to the US in 2000, settling on the Eastern Shore of Virginia, surrounded by nature that became her inspiration. Although initially trained in graphic design, she took up oil painting, training with the painter known as Adamo, who also introduced her to Oxford Fine Arts Show.

Since taking up oil painting, Böggemann Peirson has been juried into various competitions and events, including Plein Air Easton, winning numerous awards for her work. This is her second time being voted as Oxford’s Featured Artist, the first in 2015. When the show debuts on May 20th, it will be the first opportunity for the public to see her new approach to painting, and the style has already captivated the people involved with Oxford Fine Arts. 

Juror Stewart White describes the selected featured painting as a “remarkable piece. Carole’s bright splash of color infuses the painting with hope and vitality.” Says event chair Karen Walbridge, “Stewart chose her because it was so different from what we normally choose (landscapes, seascapes, etc.). I thought her painting was provocative and bold. I am not necessarily a lover of modern art, but this piece drew me in, and each time I see it, I love it even more.”

As to the future, Böggemann Peirson says, “I’m not saying that I will never go back to my traditional techniques because maybe the two styles will eventually merge. But right now, I’m really exploring and loving cold wax.” However, it’s important that people know that this transition in my work was not just ‘hey, I found this new technique, and now I’m having fun.’ It’s also a spiritual path where I am figuring things out about life that I didn’t know before.”

Which makes sense if you compare the names for her previous art pieces, which included: Marsh Momentum or Peaceful Pasture, to the ones that are part of her new art collection: Breakthrough (the winning featured painting) , Gratitude, Inkling (the painting which will be raffled off), and Harmony. Böggemann Peirson explains, “The titles of the works are not meant to explain the literal depiction of the paintings, but rather the personal state I was in while creating the work or the feeling I want to convey to the viewer.”

The 38th Oxford Fine Arts Show opens with a ticketed Gala Preview on Friday, May 20 (6-8 pm), featuring a medley of hors d’oeuvres, live entertainment, and cocktails. This will be the first opportunity to see (and purchase) the art and meet the 35 prominent regional artists juried into the 2022 show. (Gala Preview guests may attend the show all weekend) $$80 ($60 is a tax-deductible donation)

For more information on Carole Boggemann Peirson please go here.

Val Cavalheri is a recent transplant to the Eastern Shore, having lived in Northern Virginia for the past 20 years. She’s been a writer, editor and professional photographer for various publications, including the Washington Post.

The Spy Newspapers may periodically employ the assistance of artificial intelligence (AI) to enhance the clarity and accuracy of our content.

The End of an Era at Oxford’s Latitude 38: A Chat with Wendy Palmer and Gretchen Gordon

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“Gretchen Gordon and Wendy Palmer were in their very early twenties in 1991 when they borrowed $25K each to buy Masthead, a restaurant on Mill St. in Oxford, known at that time as a local hangout with a small menu.” 

That’s how the Spy began its coverage of Latitude 38 as it celebrated its 28th anniversary back in 2018. After 31 years of being an Oxford mainstay, the two are moving on, and we are back as they say goodbye.

The Spy spoke to the duo about the past 31 years, how they started in business with the help of Gordon’s father, Ron Fox, and their future, including Palmer continuing her role as Director of Operations at the YMCA at Washington and Gordon’s insistence of relaxing by her pool.

According to Palmer, the popular local eatery, located at 26342 Oxford Road in Oxford, will be transferred over to new owners Kris and Leigh Clear on May 9th. When asked what they would miss the most, the two mentioned their patrons, who showed up to support their favorite restaurant even during the height of the pandemic. 

A recent FB post displayed the love the locals have for Palmer and Gordon and the staff as they congratulated them yet expressed how much they will be missed. Latitude is returning the favor and will be hosting a farewell party on May 6th from 6-9 PM.

Val Cavalheri is a recent transplant to the Eastern Shore, having lived in Northern Virginia for the past 20 years. She’s been a writer, editor and professional photographer for various publications, including the Washington Post.

The Spy Newspapers may periodically employ the assistance of artificial intelligence (AI) to enhance the clarity and accuracy of our content.

Spy Recall: Remembering George Merrill

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Editor’s note: Like many of our readers, The Spy is finding Sundays a lot less fulfilling and a lot less fun with the absence of George Merrill’s columns. George passed away on Easter Sunday at the age of 87, just hours after his last column for the Spy, in the loving care of his family. It will take time for the Spy newspapers to fill this huge gap in our publications and our lives. Still, in the meantime, we wanted to share again an interview with George we did in 2018 to remind ourselves and our readers what a real gift he was to all of us.

From November 6, 2018

The Spy Columnists: George Merrill

It seems somehow fitting that the Spy will be ending our series on our public affairs columnists with George Merrill on Election Day. Perhaps the most apolitical of the five writers that volunteer each week to offer their unique point of view with our readers, George, an ordained Episcopal minister, has been the most inclined to bring public debates down to questions of spirituality and the workings of the soul.

While George does not skirt the issues of the day, his Sunday essays have been more about his only reaction to the challenges of life than focusing on the foibles of a particular politician or policy. His intense interest in his own makeup encourages the reader to explore their own sense of soul as they work through the news of the day.

Now eighty-four years old, Merrill has also reached a point where he can, he laughingly notes, “say anything I want,” knowing full well that this sense of liberation has allowed him the freedom to explore and take delight in what he doesn’t know as much as the wisdom that comes with living over eight decades.

In his Spy interview, George talks about his writing style, spirituality and politics, and the pure enjoyment he has in taking pen to paper.

This video is approximately eight minutes in length

 

 

The Spy Newspapers may periodically employ the assistance of artificial intelligence (AI) to enhance the clarity and accuracy of our content.

Food Friday: Antojitos (Little Cravings)

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Sometimes I am in the mood for a multi-course meal. I love Thanksgiving. I love the many steps of preparation, the many dishes spread on the table, with gleaming accoutrements and candlelight. I love the ritual of sharing platters of holiday foods. I also love the indulgent concept of a desert island meal: appetizer, main course, and dessert. But there are some nights when enough is enough; when I put my sneaker down, and want something plain and simple. I want crunchy, and I want delicious. Give me chips and salsa.

As I sit here smugly typing in my sun-filled studio, I imagine my grown-up self, the more presentable me, laughing and waving away a bag of Doritos. This is total fiction. There is not a bag of Doritos that I wouldn’t just hoover up if I were alone on that desert island. But I try to apply an opaque veneer over my craven self, and mask my baser appetites. It is much more civilized to first roast some veggies, blitz them in a food processor, and deposit that mixture into a decorative bowl. The bowl can then be transferred to the coffee table, where it will join a bowl of gently warmed, locally sourced, lightly salted, artisan, organic corn chips. I will add a large cold glass of cheap white wine, a cloth napkin, and turn on “Julia”. Bliss.

Dinner with Julia Child. It is the perfect dinner. There’s very little fuss, a little muss, plus I am getting a serving of healthy vegetables, and am being kept company by a vibrant force of nature. Naturally, since it is Julia and my own adult self I am trying to impress, I can’t just tip a bag of chemically flavored Doritos down my maw. I need to get my chip fix in an elegant, epicurean fashion. Who really knows what is in those industrial vats from which Doritos emerge anyway?

I love the fresh cilantro in this Food52 recipe: https://food52.com/recipes/77387-roasted-vegetable-salsa

I usually stick with jalapeños, but you might want something with a little more heat: https://www.onceuponachef.com/recipes/roasted-tomato-salsa.html

With warm weather just around the corner , we will be grilling outside again, and will have extra ears of corn. This recipe is good for leftovers and the odds and ends you might find in the vegetable bin: https://spicysouthernkitchen.com/roasted-corn-salsa/

This is more work than I want to do tonight, but the garlic aioli is divine. I just love Thomasina Miers. https://www.theguardian.com/food/2021/aug/30/thomasina-miers-recipe-charred-corn-and-bean-tostadas-jalapeno-aioli

As someone who would happily eat my way through the Frito Lay factory, it never occurred to me that there is a difference between salsa and pico de Gallo. https://www.tastingtable.com/844136/the-real-difference-between-salsa-and-pico-de-gallo/

And here is a handy concept: salsa in the freezer! Make it in bulk, so the next time you want your own evening alone with Julia, you’ll have a tub in the freezer. All you’ll have to add are the chips and the wine. https://vanillaandbean.com/roasted-tomatillo-salsa-verde/

Of course, if you want to make enough to share with someone other than your best imaginary friend, Julia Child, by all means, go forth and spread your deelish munificence.

https://top10best.how/organic-corn-chips?

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/voraciously/wp/2020/08/06/who-makes-the-best-tortilla-chips-we-tasted-and-ranked-14-popular-brands-to-find-out/

“I have brought neither book nor newspaper
since reading material is considered cheating.
Eating alone, they say, means eating alone,
not in the company of Montaigne
or the ever-engaging Nancy Mitford.”
– Billy Collins

The Spy Newspapers may periodically employ the assistance of artificial intelligence (AI) to enhance the clarity and accuracy of our content.

From and Fuller: Do Democrats Need a Strongman(woman) to Win in 2024?

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Every Thursday, the Spy hosts a conversation with Al From and Craig Fuller on the most topical political news of the moment.

This week, From and Fuller discuss the new popularity of political strongmen (women) internationally and within the Republican party with such alpha leaders as Donald Trump, Ron DeSantis, and Tom Cotton. Al and Craig also chat about the prospects of a Democratic leader who can create a “cult of personality” to appeal to moderate voters impatient with compromise.

This video podcast is approximately 19 minutes in length.

To listen to the audio podcast version, please use this link:

Background

While the Spy’s public affairs mission has always been hyper-local, it has never limited us from covering national, or even international issues, that impact the communities we serve. With that in mind, we were delighted that Al From and Craig Fuller, both highly respected Washington insiders, have agreed to a new Spy video project called “The Analysis of From and Fuller” over the next year.

The Spy and our region are very lucky to have such an accomplished duo volunteer for this experiment. While one is a devoted Democrat and the other a lifetime Republican, both had long careers that sought out the middle ground of the American political spectrum.

Al From, the genius behind the Democratic Leadership Council’s moderate agenda which would eventually lead to the election of Bill Clinton, has never compromised from this middle-of-the-road philosophy. This did not go unnoticed in a party that was moving quickly to the left in the 1980s. Including progressive Howard Dean saying that From’s DLC was the Republican wing of the Democratic Party.

From’s boss, Bill Clinton, had a different perspective. He said it would be hard to think of a single American citizen who, as a private citizen, has had a more positive impact on the progress of American life in the last 25 years than Al From.”

Al now lives in Annapolis and spends his semi-retirement as a board member of the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University (his alma mater) and authoring New Democrats and the Return to Power. He also is an adjunct faculty member at Johns Hopkins’ Krieger School and recently agreed to serve on the Annapolis Spy’s Board of Visitors. He is the author of “New Democrats and the Return to Power.”

For Craig Fuller, his moderation in the Republican party was a rare phenomenon. With deep roots in California’s GOP culture of centralism, Fuller, starting with a long history with Ronald Reagan, leading to his appointment as Reagan’s cabinet secretary at the White House, and later as George Bush’s chief-of-staff and presidential campaign manager was known for his instincts to find the middle ground. Even more noted was his reputation of being a nice guy in Washington, a rare characteristic for a successful tenure in the White House.

Craig has called Easton his permanent home for the last five years, where now serves on the boards of the Academy Art Museum, the Benedictine School, and Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum.  He also serves on the Spy’s Board of Visitors.

With their rich experience and long history of friendship, now joined by their love of the Chesapeake Bay, they have agreed through the magic of Zoom, to talk inside politics and policy with the Spy every Thursday.

The Spy Newspapers may periodically employ the assistance of artificial intelligence (AI) to enhance the clarity and accuracy of our content.

Writers Peter and Evan Osnos Come to Chestertown

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On May 7, the Bookplate bookstore and Retriever Bar will continue their Authors & Oysters series of author events as they host father and son journalists Peter and Evan Osnos.

For almost 20 years, Peter Osnos wrote for The Washington Post as a foreign correspondent in Vietnam, the Soviet Union, and the United Kingdom, joined Random House in 1984 as a senior editor, and founded PublicAffairs where he has edited or published countless authors from President Jimmy Carter to Russian President Boris Yeltsin. He is the editor of a recently released book of biographical essays: George Soros: A Life in Full.

Son Evan Osnos is a Pulitzer Prize finalist, and National Book Award Winner for his 2014 Age of Ambition: Chasing Fortune, Truth, and Faith based on his eight years in China. His Wildland: The Making of America’s Fury is a mirror held up to a fractured American landscape, a country that has become more unrecognizable the two decades between 9/11 and the January 6, 2021 attack on the US Capital.

The Spy recently talked with Evan about Wildland and the craft of journalism reflected in his investigation into what happened to America in the last twenty years—by approaching it the way he observed China, as a foreign correspondent.

Wildland: The Making of America’s Fury offers an extraordinary gallery of individuals existing in the vacuum of their own American experience in Greenwich, Connecticut, Chicago, Illinois, and Clarksburg West Virginia, along with the legal and policy changes that have led to what sometimes feels like an intractable quagmire of polarized factions. But there is hope, Osnos says, and he’ll be talking about it with his father at the Retriever Bar on May 7.

The conversation starts with a reference to former Chestertown resident Richard Ben Cramer, Pulitzer Prize author of What It Takes: the Way to the Whitehouse, and the effort good journalism requires to accurately portray their subjects.

This video is approximately eight minutes in length.

The Retriever is located at 337 ½ High Street, in Chestertown, Maryland. For more event details contact The Bookplate at 410-778-4167 or [email protected]. This event is free and open to the public. Reservations are not required. Save the date for the next Authors & Oysters event with Kate Albus on May 11th.

 

 

The Spy Newspapers may periodically employ the assistance of artificial intelligence (AI) to enhance the clarity and accuracy of our content.

Love, Death and Photography: The Journey of David and Diane Pace

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Editor’s Note: The following is a collaboration with old friends, the Spy Newspapers, Santa Clara University, and the former director of the San Jose Institute of Contemporary Art, to celebrate the life and work of the acclaimed photographer David Pace. My friend David lost his battle with leukemia in 2020 after a lifetime, literally, of taking extraordinary images and receiving broad recognition for his work. During the final years of his life, working with his wife, Diane Jonte-Pace, professor and former vice provost at Santa Clara, David produced two significant books of photography, one published posthumously.

Beyond the remarkable artistic gifts that David possessed, this is a very personal story of David and Diane’s partnership, their lifelong California journey, and finally, a powerful lesson on death, grieving and memory.

We asked Cathy Kimball, the recently retired executive director of the San Jose Institute of Contemporary Art, to introduce this Spy long-form profile to highlight David’s impact on photography.

From February 2016 until his death in October 2020, San Francisco Bay Area photographer David Pace was faced with myriad health challenges. A heart attack followed by a stroke left him with double vision for an extended period of time. And, in December 2016, he was diagnosed with a rare form of lymphoma. The prognosis was grim and the chemotherapy and radiation protocols were brutal. Miraculously, after two years of ongoing treatment, he seemingly recovered, and was enjoying life to the fullest. However, in September 2020, he was diagnosed with the leukemia that took his life a mere seven weeks later. While he faced these health challenges with a calm optimism, the notion of mortality loomed large for both David and his wife, a professor at Santa Clara University, Diane Jonte-Pace.  

After a thirty-year career as a photographer, David Pace’s first photo project turned out to also be his last. In 1959, for his 8th birthday, his grandmother had given him a Brownie Hawkeye camera. Following the streamlined directions from the instruction manual, which read “Load right, aim sharp, and shoot well,” the young photographer set out to photograph his life. The photos not only tell the story of a childhood in rural, agricultural Sunnyvale, CA, they also reflect the changes that were happening in post-war California and in the “valley of the heart’s delight” which would soon become Silicon Valley. Decades later David rediscovered his long-forgotten photos and recognized the artistry of his own childhood images.

The photographs David took as a young boy are the subject of the 2021 publication Hawkeye. Diane wrote the book’s essay, focusing on the underlying narrative in the photos which document school, family, church and work in pre-Silicon Valley Sunnyvale in the late 1950s and early 1960s.  David lived long enough to know that the book would be published, but died before it was realized. It was in the summer of 2020, just months before his fatal diagnosis and at the height of the COVID-19 lockdown, that David and Diane began sorting through the Hawkeye images in anticipation of working with Schilt Publishing on the book.

David and I were at a photography conference in Houston in early March 2020 when he learned that Maarten Schilt, of Schilt Publishing in Amsterdam, was so excited about the Hawkeye photos that he immediately committed to the publication. As news of COVID began to invade the conference, David remained determined to get to Amsterdam to work with Maarten on Hawkeye and on a book that he and Diane had just completed, Where the Time Goes, also with Schilt.  The world shut down just as we arrived back in California. A trip to Amsterdam was not in the cards although the books themselves were both completed. 

Where the Time Goes was begun during the grueling months of 2017 when David was sick with lymphoma and the effects of the treatment. Diane began to pore through the decades of photos they had amassed during their nearly 50 years together. What began as a form of meditation became a way to face the specter of David’s demise. As Diane wrote in the book’s essay, “These images, individually and collectively, capture a sense of time past and time passing: each individual photograph freezes a moment in our lives. At the same time, as a collection, they give us a dizzying sense of velocity, a sense of time passing rapidly.”

David was still living when Where the Time Goes was published. He was so excited about the enthusiastic reception both critically and popularly. He tracked sales on Amazon while hospitalized in September 2020.  He told me that he had been happy to discover that a stay in the hospital was a great way to market the book, having sold several copies to nurses, doctors and fellow patients in just a few days. 

David served on the board of directors of the San Jose Institute of Contemporary Art (ICA) for 25 years. He hired me as the executive director in 2000 and during the 20 years that we worked together, he became a mentor, a confidante, an advocate, and, most importantly, a dear friend. And, during that time, I watched with appreciation as his photography career blossomed. Although I was not able to travel to Venice for the 2019 Biennale to see his photos of the brick quarries of Burkina Faso, I was delighted by the acknowledgement he received for that work and for the Wirephoto project he produced in collaboration with gallerist Stephen Wirtz. 

David’s last two projects, Where the Time Goes and Hawkeye, are particularly powerful.  They record a life well lived, from childhood through marriage, children and grandchildren. To me they are prescient projects for a man who spent the last four years of his life with the reality of death at his doorstep. His life didn’t just flash before him. He took the time to relive and reflect on all his years. And while the images are deeply personal, the photos of birthday parties, classrooms, teachers, friends, cars, and family are familiar to all of us. And, so, perhaps his last works are his most universal. To quote Orson Welles, “If you want a happy ending, it depends on where you end the story.”  

Cathy Kimball is the former executive director of the San Jose Institute of Contemporary Art (ICA). Dave Wheelan is the executive editor and publisher of the Spy Newspapers.

This video is approximately 20 minutes in length. Our thanks to the Academic Technology team at Santa Clara University for assistance with the filming of this interview. To purchase Where the Time Goes please go here. To purchase Hawkeye please go here.

The Spy Newspapers may periodically employ the assistance of artificial intelligence (AI) to enhance the clarity and accuracy of our content.

The Challenges of Film Festivals and Other Things: A Chat with CFF’s Nancy Tabor

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As the executive director of the Chesapeake Film Festival for the last three years, Nancy Tabor has faced two remarkable challenges during that time.

The first, of course, was the health of the Chesapeake Film Festival during a raging health pandemic. For many arts organizations, including film festival, it was a life or death matter. With in-person film screenings out of the question, which resulted in a severe decline in revenue, the CFF, like its peers, has had to reinvent itself to stay alive.

For the CFF, that meant going with a virtual festival on the web, partnering with other organizations for other non-traditional programming, and seeking more creative ways to attract grant funding.

With a certain degree of satisfaction in her voice, Nancy reports in our Spy chat with her the other day that all that hard work has paid off splendidly for the CFF.

In fact, she reports that the finances of the nonprofit have never been better while philanthropy has soared. And in her mind, the organization has never been in a stronger position as it finalizes plans for its in-person festival starting September 30. She highlights some of the key moments of this year’s program and other unique ways that the CFF is fulfilling its mission.

The second challenge for Nancy remains an agonizing one that has not yet been resolved. For some time now, she has been aware that her own life is at risk if she is not successful in finding a kidney donor soon. Suffering from a lifetime of kidney problems since having an adverse reaction to prescribed medication, Nancy must now be her best advocate to spread the word about her circumstances. She talks candidly about her condition and the need for specific donor requirements.

This video is approximately five minutes in length. For more information about the Chesapeake Film Festival please go here. 

To volunteer for being a living kidney donor, please call Johns Hopkins at 410-614-9345 and reference Nancy’s birthdate of December 11, 1961 for additional information. She can also be reached by email at [email protected].

 

 

 

 

The Spy Newspapers may periodically employ the assistance of artificial intelligence (AI) to enhance the clarity and accuracy of our content.

Food Friday: Strawberries

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It’s a little early for Eastern Shore strawberry picking, but that doesn’t mean we can’t circle important dates on our calendars. St. Luke’s 31st Annual Strawberry Festival takes place on June 4, and what a sweet and glorious time it will be. I’m going to put a couple of strawberry plants into the container garden this weekend – there is more to life than basil plants.

I am going to practice my strawberry skills on some berries from the grocery store, which are never as good as local berries, but the weather is so spring-y that I feel like we need a treat. This is when I am practicing discipline while I try to ignore the wailing siren song from the fridge – the leftover kabillion calorie lemon cheesecake I baked for Easter. Whatever was I thinking, baking a cheesecake that serves 12, for 2 people?

Strawberries are sweet enough, but they are always enhanced with a little cream and a pinch of sugar. A handful of sliced strawberries scattered over your morning bowl of muesli is the easiest treat; sticks and bark never tasted better. I like strawberries, homemade granola and some vanilla yogurt as a morning pick-me-up. After dinner, sitting on the back porch, neglecting the evening news, is perfect time for strawberries on a scoop of vanilla ice cream.

I waste an enormous amount of each strawberry that I cut, and I bet you do, too. I lop off the end with sharp knife, flying headlong into imaginary conflict with my family line of maternal cooks. My mother would be ashamed at the food I toss out, and her mother would be amazed at all the food options we enjoy in the twenty-first century. Imagine her reaction to boneless chicken breasts, kept in the freezer, compared to the chickens she kept in her back yard.

I am the product of Depression-era children. I try to waste not, recycle, and compost; fine habits which our parents strove to impress upon us. I guess I am inherently lazy, as are most people. There is a glass strawberry jam jar soaking in the kitchen sink as I type this. I want to clean the jar thoroughly enough to go in the recycling bin, and then I am hoping it actually gets recycled and not added to some stinking landfill. My mother would have bought a brand of jam that came in a jar suitable for recycling as a drinking glass. My grandmother would have put up that jam herself, and would have re-used the jam jar as she got ready for the June strawberry jam session. I suppose the least I can do is to prepare my strawberries a little more prudently. I think we will do fine with a sharp knife, and a whiff of nostalgia, remembering our mothers and grandmothers as we get ready for summer to whip around the corner.

Try these easy, no-fuss recipes:
Eton Mess: https://preppykitchen.com/eton-mess/

Strawberry cobbler: https://divascancook.com/fresh-strawberry-cobbler-recipe-easy-dessert/

You don’t have to restrict your strawberries to dessert. Strawberries will go nicely with my container garden basil: https://www.loveandlemons.com/strawberry-salad/

Imagine opening your bento box, expecting the same old tuna sandwich, but instead you have a surprise strawberry and cream cheese sandwich! Deelightful!
https://www.eatingwell.com/recipe/249521/strawberry-cream-cheese-sandwich/

Or you can be even fussier with this strawberry tea sandwich: https://www.southernladymagazine.com/strawberry-tea-sandwiches-recipe/

I hope your basil plants are thriving. Once strawberry season starts they will become a necessity: https://www.wholesomelicious.com/strawberry-basil-chicken/

If we ever have another cocktail party, in the post-COVID world of our wildest dreams, I’d like to serve these: https://thehealthyepicurean.com/strawberry-basil-bruschetta/

Now, stand up. Turn off your device. Go outside and do some weeding. There is enormous satisfaction in amassing a pile of weeds. And once you have tired of this never-ending task, you can treat yourself to a little bowl of fresh strawberries, that you can eat with your weed-grubby little fingers, because you have earned this exquisite treat. Breathe in some springtime.

“Strawberries are like tomatoes for me; I just won’t eat them year round. I’ll happily wait for them to come into season, then I gorge like a brown bear eating salmon before hibernation.”
-Brad Leone

St. Luke’s United Methodist’s 31st Annual Strawberry Festival, Craft Show and Book Sale at St. Luke’s Church, 304 Talbot Street, St. Michaels, Saturday, June 4th, from 9:00 AM to 5:00 PM. Free admission.

The Spy Newspapers may periodically employ the assistance of artificial intelligence (AI) to enhance the clarity and accuracy of our content.

Horn Point Lab’s Plan to Capture Carbon and Rebuild Reefs: A Chat with Dr. Elizabeth North

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You would think that with the billions of dollars available for climate change research, finding grant support to find a scalable solution to protect or replace dying coral reefs would be a cinch. And yet, in reality, this kind of project is not that different from any other project needing venture capital investment. Those seeking  highly competitive funds must demonstrate to government agencies, tasked with saving taxpayer money, that there is a high probability of success with the project’s final goal.

That’s a tough thing to document and many of these extraordinarily creative and innovative studies are inevitably considered too “high risk” for federal or state grants. Which, in turn, has led many scientists to turn to private philanthropy to close this critical gap in funding.

And that’s what Elizabeth North, an associate professor at Horn Point Laboratory, realized she had to do as she contemplated a five-year project that could lead to a transformational way to protect or replace some of the world’s most endangered coof reefs with high technology replacements.

Working with some of the best and brightest people in biology, physical chemistry, structural design, and business plan modeling, Dr. North developed a game plan that held the promise of using these units to not only limit carbon’s impact on climate change but remove it.

That’s where institutions like the private Bailey Wildlife Foundation come into play. While this research-oriented grantmaker is located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, one of the Foundation’s board members and son of the founder of the fund, Bill Bailey, has called Talbot County his home for the last twenty years. And during that time, he has come to know and respect Horn Point Laboratory and its unique role in ecological studies.

Starting with a small grant in 2015, Bill became acquainted with Professor North’s work and a few years ago became a successful advocate to help fund her Coral Defense project to capture carbon and rebuild coral reefs.

Working with colleagues at Horn Point and University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science (UMCES) sister labs in Baltimore and Solomons and Salisbury University and the Maryland Institute College of Art, North’s research project has now hit a critical stage as the teams determine what final technology will be used to develop its prototype.

The Spy drove down to Dorchester County to meet with Professor North to understand the project and how this experiment, if successful, could dramatically change the course of climate change for our planet.

This video is approximately eight minutes in length. For more information about Horn Point Laboratory please go here.

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