Some things seem to be universal. Like fifteen year olds. We were on the metro in Rome a couple of years ago when two girls got on. The tilt of their noses and the sneers on their mouths told me they were fifteen. They spoke Italian, of course, but they could just as well have been speaking English.

But what amazes me is that fifteen year olds seem not to exist here in St. Michaels. They must be sent away or there is something in the water. The kids here are polite, do not sneer and talk to you as if you were family. Our weekend guests this weekend had the same sense of amazement.

I'll keep on checking and looking under rocks. There must be something I'm missing.

What I did miss this weekend was the Waterfowl Festival in Easton. I stayed in the office working on our self publishing empire. I thought, why would I want to hear a bunch of people calling ducks and selling carved ducks? My wife reported back. Once again the unexpected happened. Master carvers were gathered together in the old armory in Easton and evidently had produced astounding art. She reported a full range of sculptures of many Chesapeake related things some of which were decoys but of amazing detail and quality. I'll have to go next year. I did kind of want to see the dogs going through their paces as well.

For Much More Come Visit Us at www.annierogers.com