Abundance

When Whitney Watts of Columbia agreed to bear twins on behalf of an infertile Boston couple two years ago, she entered a murky area of Maryland law. Nothing forbade her from signing a contract to carry babies conceived through in vitro fertilization and implanted in her uterus. But neither were there guarantees that Maryland courts would enforce the contract if something went wrong. To this day, such questions are left up to individual judges. Watts' experience had a happy ending, despite serious complications that arose midway through her pregnancy.

Walking through Carol Wolosik's gardens you don't just learn about herbs and their many uses, you also get great conversation.As she points to the many varieties of mint growing in one of her nine gardens, she'll tell you that red stalk peppermint is great for inhaling and apple mint makes a delicious tea. She also encourages visitors to take notice of the environment and pleads with them to take care of it.She'll reflect on the past, when life was simpler....

Q: I would like to change the decor in my master bedroom. I have two windows and want to know if I can replace the old custom-made draperies (that now match the bed cover) with ready-mades by using a valance to cover the upper portion.My walls are light blue and I have gray carpet. The adjoining master bath has a blue-and-lavender-stripe design. Could you give me other decorating ideas to use?A: You'll be delighted at the variety of styles, patterns and colors you have to choose from in ready-made curtains today.

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.

CHUNGUNGO, Chile -- Crouched in his thriving vegetable patch, Guido Alvarez whistles and sings as his trowel pokes the earth on the outskirts of this fishing village in northern Chile. The rows of vegetables give a green flush to this otherwise dry stretch of Pacific coastline."Look what money and science can do for people like us," he says. "It's a miracle that land that was once barren is now blooming."Chungungo is home to a pilot project that is raising hopes inrain-deprived coastal regions around the world.

Tonight's Inner Harbor fireworks will be bigger and brighter than usual because the city has amassed an extra-large stockpile of shells. Since two of the four weekend fireworks shows planned for December were canceled due to inclement weather, Baltimore's Office of Promotion used its credit for unused shells to purchase a wider range of fireworks for New Year's Eve, according to director Bill Gilmore. The festivities, orchestrated by Zambelli Internationale, are to begin at 11:59 p.m.Non-alcoholic parties at the Convention Center will be held from 8:30 p.m. to 11:30 p.m., with performances by the Marvelettes, Mama Jama, a cappella harmonizing from Regency, comedian Bob Somerby and others.

IS THERE NO African-American miscreant whose misdeeds are so vile and contemptible that he cannot become a cause celebre in black America? Apparently not. The latest such candidate for the Victimhood Sweepstakes African-Americans hold on an annual basis is Napoleon Beazley, a 24-year-old black man on Texas' death row. In 1994, when he was 17, Beazley shot John Luttig to death in an attempted carjacking. There is little question about his guilt. Two co-defendants testified against him. Luttig was killed with a handgun.

Surely no one with a working TV set has missed the news: We have had an extraordinary start to the 2005 Atlantic hurricane season. Already, tropical storms Arlene, Brett and Cindy have boiled out of the Caribbean Sea, the first of them barely a week after the season officially opened on June 1. Then came Dennis on July 6, the first storm this year to reach hurricane strength. It left 20 people dead across the Caribbean. And twice it spun into a fearsome Category 4 storm, with 135 mph winds, before finally wheezing, weakened, into the Florida panhandle.

This is the time to take a kid fishing since it's almost impossible not to catch a fish from one of Ocean City's piers or the U.S. 50 bridge.Though the much sought-after flounder are becoming harder to find in the bay, Norfolk spot, small sea bass and tiny snapper blues are abundant. The spot, which are averaging 7 to 9 inches in length, are getting the interest of locals and visitors alike. The spot, one of which we heard tipped the scales at 1 pound, 2 ounces, are definitely large enough to eat.The Norfolk spot take bloodworms or night crawlers for bait.