Backyard

Six Maryland state parks will participate in the Great American Backyard Campout on June 23. The national program that encourages families to camp out in "backyards, neighborhoods, communities and parks" will be observed at Sandy Point State Park in Annapolis, Point Lookout State Park in Scotland, Fair Hill State Park in Elkton, Elk Neck State Park in North East, Dan's Mountain in Lonaconing and Rocky Gap in Flintstone. The campouts at Dan's Mountain and Rocky Gap are free to the public, but advance registration is recommended.

There's something dreamy and perfect about an outdoor living space, especially in the balmy days of summer. Whether your space is large or small — whether you plan to kick back on a single chaise longue, or have couches, an outdoor bar and a firepit — experts say you can create an oasis that suits your fancy and spirit. "Decide first what the space will be used for," says Carol Grillo, an artist and certified interior designer who heads Carol Grillo Designs in Ruxton. "Will it be an area for eating, lounging poolside or seating for entertaining?"

For people-watching, there is no better spot than Joe Caliguro's Columbia townhouse. He and his wife can walk out to the porch and find a stream of people walking by on the path below. Caliguro, a retired television producer, owns one of about 130 houses that border the nearly 2-mile public trail next to Lake Elkhorn. For the residents who live nearby, the man-made lake is also an extension of their backyards, providing picturesque views and lots of foot traffic just beyond their porches.

Most homes along Claire Road in a middle-class Elkridge neighborhood have a backyard shed, but underneath one of them, authorities say, a family secret has been buried for more than two decades. Robert A. Jarrett, 57, has been charged with murder after what police believe are the remains of his wife, Christine, were found under floorboards and concrete in the shed behind his home. Christine Jarrett vanished in 1991. Police said at the time that she apparently kissed her two children goodbye, took $4,000 and left because of marital problems with her husband of 16 years.

The Gallaghers still miss Betty White and wistfully recall how much the Silkie loved to be held. The hen, who was named after the 90-year-old celebrity because she was "ditsy and really out there" like many of the actress' TV characters, was killed by a fox last fall in the Glenelg family's backyard. "We normally don't name our chickens so we don't become too attached," said Karinna Gallagher, an IBM employee who works from home and who witnessed the attack but couldn't stop it. "But Betty White was such a flighty bird who didn't care about the pecking order.

A 13-year-old girl was found slain Sunday evening in the Darley Park neighborhood of northeast Baltimore, police reported. Family members confirmed the girl's identity as Monae Turnage, according to local newscasts. They had reported her missing early Sunday. The body was found about 6 p.m. in the backyard of a two-story, brick rowhouse in the 1600 block of Cliftview Ave., said Detective Donny Moses. Monae's aunt, Paulette Marshall, confirmed on newscasts that the girl's 16-year-old brother and neighborhood youths found the clothed body while looking through alleys.

Bars at malls don't have to try as hard. The venue doesn't expect them to, and neither does the clientele. Unlike at destination bars, people just want a place to linger after shopping, a variation on a T.G.I. Friday's. Some light lagers, bright lights, maybe an arcade machine. It is the measure of a great bar to have ambitions that go beyond, and Punk's Backyard Grill steps up to the challenge. This Westfield Annapolis mall bar and restaurant, celebrating its third anniversary this year, is casual to a fault - its premise is an indoors American cookout.

What's that chirping I hear outside my window?  The Great Backyard Bird Count is under way again.  The four-day annual event, which begins today (Friday, Feb. 17) offers even the most casual bird-watcher a chance to help scientists check up on the health of our winged neighbors. From the observations made by novice and expert alike, biologists may learn about how the weather this winter has affected bird populations here and elsewhere, whether migration patterns are changing and whether particular species are trending up or down because of disease or some other factor.

An Poitin Stil offers the least expensive bison burger I've seen in these parts, at a penny under 10 bucks. I planned to check it out during this trip to the Timonium Irish pub. But then I saw the Backyard BBQ Burger ($8.99). The Backyard offers two types of cheeses, bacon, caramelized onions and homemade barbecue sauce for a dollar less than the bison burger. Those extras can cost you 75 cents apiece if you add them to the Stil's bison or angus burger. To keep this meal under $10 and still enjoy the civilizing effects of cheese and bacon, the Backyard was an easy choice.

Bob Hedgebeth recently approached a police officer catching speeders with a radar gun and asked if he would follow him home in his patrol car and measure the speed of an airborne golf ball. While the officer politely explained that his apparatus wasn't designed to detect the movement of an object that small, he had a question of his own: How does the Columbia retiree drive balls in his backyard? The answer is simple: Hedgebeth, 73, practices on "The Range," his nickname for golf features he has built under the 100-foot loblolly pines on his 1-acre lot off Route 108 in Beaverbrook.