With cameras rolling and reporters scribbling, Gov. Martin O'Malley got down and dirty with a bunch of his constituents Friday morning. He turned over rocks to see what slithered from the gooey underside and cast a wide net to help them find spineless creatures that hid in the shadows.
No, Maryland's chief executive wasn't leading a State House tour. He was standing along the bank of a Patapsco River tributary, emphasizing the importance of enjoying the outdoors and being good stewards of the environment.
The constituents - of decidedly nonvoting age - are students at Franklin Square Elementary School in the city O'Malley once led. The 35 kids, their teachers and chaperones spent the previous night in Patapsco Valley State Park as part of a two-day field trip that included hiking, bird-watching and "making S'mores," as one girl told the governor.
After pitching tents at the Hilton area near Catonsville and getting settled, the kids got a tutorial in their surroundings. They learned about bugs and animals and stuff that lives in Sawmill Branch, which empties into the Patapsco River not far from their campsite.
O'Malley, in blue jeans and scuff-free, out-of-the-box hiking boots, showed up to quiz them on what they had learned. Then he slung a net over his shoulder and headed down the trail with everyone in tow to check the health of Sawmill Branch.
Although he's a city boy with suburban Montgomery County roots, the governor has taken a shine to the outdoors. (When teased about the mint-condition boots, the governor quickly explained that they were, "a Target purchase" to replace a worn pair that had to be retired.)
The governor put money in his budget to prop up the ailing state parks system and the understaffed Maryland Fisheries Service. He found the bucks to add officers to Natural Resources Police. Along with Virginia's governor, he put a halt to the indiscriminate taking of blue crabs from the Chesapeake Bay.
But, O'Malley indicated, without a buy-in from the state's residents, the infusion of cash won't amount to much.
As someone still wondering why the Orioles insisted on getting a new bazillion-dollar Camden Yards video board to showcase lousy baseball, it made sense to me.
When they reached the water's edge, the kids jumped in. Laughter boomed off the high stream banks as the budding biologists tried to scoop samples of the tiny critters that live in the water.
