Abundance

Retired men have a passion for watching the labor of men who have not yet put work behind them. And the misty riverbanks of Fort McHenry are a magnet for retired men.Every morning, a bunch of old-timers shows up to walk the grounds (many on doctor's orders, although they've yet to see a doctor out for a walk); to talk about stuff that people don't seem to care about anymore; and to keep a close eye on life inside Baltimore's star fort.Favorite topics include visiting geese from Canada, middle-of-the-workday lovers tumbling beneath trees along the sea wall, and which version of the American flag may be flying on any given day. Their current obsession: the snail's pace of construction of a 60,000-square-foot maintenance shed a stone's throw from the statue of Orpheus.

With colorful dishware gleaming and bins stuffed to overflowing with every possible kitchen gadget, Sur La Table opened in Towson Town Center Friday. Music sung by French vocalists played and espresso was flowing as visitors surveyed the new 4,800-square-foot store managed by Anthony Harris. The store, which will employ more than 20 full- and part-time workers, is still hiring, Harris said. Sur La Table began in 1972 in Seattle's Pike Place Market with a philosophy that the kitchen is the center of the home.

MEDAL MANIA As the Summer Olympics enter the final weekend, keep track of who's taking home the medals. For real-time updates and archived coverage, go to www.baltimoresun.com/olympics. REALITY TELEVISION See a video of television critic David Zurawik discussing the fall TV season's abundance of reality shows. www.baltimoresun.com/zurawik

Steamed crabs, cream of crab soup, crab cakes, crab imperial, soft shell crab, deviled crab, corn and crab chowder, crab bisque, crab dip, crab salad, crab fritters, crab ravioli, crab pie, crab quiche - but that's probably enough for the first day. Pardon us while we drool at the news that the Chesapeake Bay crab population has rebounded. The annual winter dredge survey has projected an estimated 764 million blue crabs bay-wide, the highest crab population estimate since 1993 and a stunning two-thirds more than last year's total.

When the Top 24 were finally revealed on American Idol a couple of weeks ago, there seemed to be an abundance of contestants making the cut whom we'd never seen before. Now I know why: They're boring! We got stuck with Alaina Alexander (now mercifully gone), Haley Scarnato (still around) and Leslie Hunt (also cut this week). It seems as if we saw some more dynamic performers during auditions, so when they threw these people we'd never seen before into the semifinals, the assumption was that they were amazingly good.

On Wednesday, October 1, 2003, ANDREW M. ERCOLE. Andy died peacefully with dignity and grace, at his home, surrounded by his family, friends and "Bailey". He is the loved husband of Phyllis; father of Sharon, David, Patty, and Michael and Jeff; he is also survived by ten grandchildren, one great-grandchild and an abundance of loving relatives and friends. If desired, Memorial contributions can be made to Hospice of Baltimore or the Humane Society.it is both with a cheer and a smile, that his family will hold a private celebration of his life on Saturday.

It seems so ironic that the very fields of Antietam, which are today possessed by butterflies and flowers in abundance, should have been the same fields upon which so many died during our Civil War. Perhaps these beauties of creation are trying to tell us something. Dennis L. Durham Bel Air The Sun welcomes submissions for "My Best Shot." Photos should be accompanied by a description of when and where you took the picture and your name, address and phone number. Submissions cannot be individually acknowledged or returned, and upon submission become the property of The Sun. Write to: Travel Department, The Sun, 501 N. Calvert St., Baltimore 21278, or e-mail Travel@baltsun.

One of the year's biggest food trends is the emphasis on and importance of fine ingredients. From a local shop devoted to artisanal cheeses to the ever-blossoming number of farmers' markets around the state, high-quality, fresh ingredients are now readily available to both the casual home cook and the local chef. Keeping that in mind, we have selected 12 of our favorite recipes from this past year that make use of this abundance of local resources and at the same time illustrate the great variety available to our readers from the contributions of our regular columnists, local celebrity chefs and home cooks themselves throughout the year.

Item: Uncle Ben's Pinto Beans and RiceWhat You Get: 7.5 ounces, or about 3 servingsCost: $1.79Time to Prepare: about 25 minutes, microwave or stovetopReview: Pleasantly surprised at the abundance of beans in this dish, I was also relieved that it wasn't too spicy for kids. (Mine downed it as a side with a hastily prepared taco dinner. Grown-ups might prefer it with a touch of chopped fresh cilantro.) "Perfect for meatless meals," reads the box, but with less than 10 percent of a day's requirement of protein, I'd serve it with grilled meat or top with cheese.

1997 Sutter Home Merlot Rose ($6).Wine snobs might scoff at the very idea of recommending a pink merlot from a mass-market producer, but Sutter Home's new product is a classy wine that delivers excellent value. First of all, it's dry - not at all a carbon copy of Sutter Home's popular white zinfandel. That doesn't mean bone-dry or severe, but it's clearly made to go with food. Its pure cherry-strawberry flavors and crisp acidity should match up well with salmon or ham. Sutter Home has found an excellent way to use California's growing abundance of marginal merlot that would never make a decent (( red wine.

A later start to the walleye season has resulted in the largest member of the perch family being "the most abundant fish species" in Deep Creek Lake, according to Al Klotz, Western Regional Fisheries Manager for the Maryland Department of Natural Resources. The season, which began Wednesday, starts with a daily creel limit of five and 15-inch minimum size limit. Klotz said several walleyes more than 20 inches long have already been spotted or caught. Aside from Deep Creek Lake, walleye are plentiful in the Youghiogheny River Reservoir, Jennings Randolph Lake, Savage River Reservoir, Potomac River and Liberty Reservoir.

Everyone has hopes and dreams for their families. I thought I'd planned everything out perfectly. Up until recently, I thought I'd played by the rules. So how did this middle-class, college-educated, gracious woman go from a comfortable life in a cozy two-story house to a stressful, paycheck-to-paycheck life in an apartment? It didn't seem fair. I know - life isn't always fair. But I fancied that statement more when it didn't apply to my life. Don't get me wrong, I understand the mechanics of it. My husband and I went from two incomes to one when we went from one child to two in less than two years.

High winds and bitter temperatures kept deer hunters at home and dropped the total number of kills for the 2010-11 season below the 100,000 mark for the first time in three years. During the archery, muzzleloader and modern firearms seasons, hunters killed 98,663 deer, down 2 percent from last year's record season. Brian Eyler, deer project leader for the Department of Natural Resources, called the season "challenging. " In addition to the weather, an abundant acorn crop meant deer did not have to leave safety to search for food.

Samos doesn't take reservations, doesn't take credit cards and doesn't have a liquor license. Yet it does have plenty of customers. What pulls people into this small, family-run operation is the food. The kitchen, supervised by chef and owner Nicholas Georgalas, dishes up zesty Greek fare in portions that would feed an All-American football player. The dozen or so tables split between two dining rooms, one offering a view of the open kitchen, are usually full — occupied by priests, workmen, staff members from nearby Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Center and extended families.

They compete in Little League, play computer games and swap their baby teeth at bedtime for crisp $1 bills. Genesis plays a mean third base. Matthew wants to be a veterinarian. Christian likes sushi. Jada is a budding gymnast. And Rebekah has a crush on the Orioles' Brian Roberts. The Mora quintuplets turn 8 this summer. On July 28, 2001, Orioles third baseman Melvin Mora became a biological father for the first time. Also the second, third, fourth and fifth. When they finally wheeled Gisel Mora out of surgery, exhausted, she had mothered an entire infield.

At the risk of being the killjoy at the next crab feast, let us suggest some restraint over the comeback of the blue crab is in order. While the winter dredge survey results released last week by Maryland and Virginia officials suggest the number of blue crabs in the Chesapeake Bay has rebounded over the past year, it appears the number of young crabs has only held steady. The lesson here is that restrictions imposed last year on crabbing have made a difference, but the long-term impact isn't entirely clear.

Your editorial, ''Angst Among the Hardshells'' (July 30), declares that ''crabs are back and bountiful . . . in ample evidence, on trotlines and in crab pots.'' Even with a stretch of the imagination, this characterization would only apply to a few small areas of the Chesapeake Bay.Possibly the most telling indication of this situation is the daily migration of trotliners, crossing the bay from the Eastern Shore to Western Shore rivers in search of crabs; that's unprecedented.The most disturbing aspect of the editorial is the ease with which it dismisses much of the available data and the work of many bay scientists who understand the crab.

Rockfish enthusiasts got some good news and bad news Thursday when the Department of Natural Resources released the 1990 Striped Bass Young-of-Year Index.The report indicates how well this year's striped bass survived the spawning process. Biologists say the index is an indicator of relative abundance and is the best tool we have to determine the strength of the year-class. The biologists also say that by the time the year-class develops into the juvenile stage -- where they look like fish -- the year-class is established.

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. -Orioles pitching coach Rick Kranitz stood stoically behind the group of mounds, his arms folded, his eyes fixed on the future that was now so tantalizingly close. Brian Matusz snapped off a curveball from one mound and Brad Bergesen threw his sinker from another. Minutes later, Chris Tillman and Jake Arrieta fired fastballs into outstretched mitts, the popping sound audible on the back fields at the Orioles' spring training complex. Most members of what scouts consider one of the best pitching prospect groups in all of baseball are here at Fort Lauderdale Stadium this spring, throwing bullpen sessions, getting into the occasional Grapefruit League game and familiarizing themselves with an organization that is counting so heavily on their development.

MONTCLAIR, N.J. - My husband, three children, dog and I recently moved - from Baton Rouge, La., where we lived for 13 years, to Montclair, N.J. I thought I was a fairly meticulous housekeeper, the type who cleans out closets and attics regularly. But it turns out we accumulated more stuff than currently exists in, say, Haiti. So we had a great purge. Then we moved, and started unpacking the stuff we hadn't gotten rid of, things so numerous that, if listed, they would fill up a piece of paper as long as the New Jersey Turnpike.