Early Bird

Where -- 2701 Saint Lo Drive, Baltimore Phone -- 410-243-3500 On the web -- bmgcgolf.com Dress code -- Flat sole shoes, no tank tops Holes -- 18 Course description -- Built in 1915, Clifton Park was the first public golf course in Baltimore. Tees -- Back, 5,954; middle, 5,714; front, 5,469 Best times -- Weekday mid-afternoon, weekend twilight Time spacing -- Eight minutes Weekend time -- If more than one or two golfers, need a start time Cost -- $26 weekend, $23 weekday, $23 seniors, twilight rates (times vary, four phases)

It's 4:30 a.m., and the Maryland Wholesale Seafood Market in Jessup is awash in activity. A hundred miles from the Atlantic Ocean, the smell of saltwater fills the air. Mounds of fresh fish - salmon, tuna, glistening red snapper - lie on beds of ice in the chill, dimly lit warehouse. Soft-shell crabs, hauled from the Chesapeake Bay hours before, wriggle in wooden boxes lined with newspaper. Amid the din of forklifts and hand trucks, warehouse workers in orange rubber suits patrol the loading docks, handling tons of fresh catch bound for seafood markets and restaurants throughout the Mid-Atlantic.

Birding at Cylburn Where: Cylburn Arboretum, 4915 Greenspring Ave. When: 8:30 a.m. every Sunday in May Why: Because the early bird gets the worm, or at least can watch the early bird get the worm. Take binoculars, a field guidebook and good walking shoes for a bird walk. Information: Call 410-367-2217 or visit www.cylburnassociation.org.

COCONUT CREEK, Fla. - A hurricane of a different sort has been sweeping over most of Florida this week as voters of all ages and political persuasions have been besieging special polling places in the state's newly mandated provision for early voting. Here in this retirement community just north of Fort Lauderdale, seniors have been coming to the local library on foot, with walkers and in wheelchairs, giving visible testimony to the intensity of the public desire to make the choice between President Bush and Sen. John Kerry.

The sun rose again yesterday. Normally, this would not be news, but this time it ascended over the still waters of Baltimore's Inner Harbor with the planet Venus drifting across its face. For stargazers, that was big news - the first occurrence in 121 1/2 years - and enough to draw a small crowd of early risers for a look. "That's so cool!" Amy Thierer exclaimed after peeking at the spectacle through one of a half-dozen telescopes on the promenade in front of the Maryland Science Center just before dawn.

WITH THE full moon shining brightly and only a thin layer of clouds visible, hundreds of anglers lined up at the gates of Piney Run Park in the pre-dawn hours Saturday to participate in the 20th annual Early Bird Fishing Tournament. More than 500 anglers entered the park at 4 a.m. to find the best fishing spot in hopes of snagging a share of $20,000 in prizes. Many chose to fish from the shoreline while others used boats. More than 100 boats were launched onto the lake. All anglers had to wait until the 6 a.m. announcement to begin casting their lines.

The United States (A) will (B) probably will or (C) might defend Taiwan against attack, depending on which presidential interview you read. The burden on taxpayers will increase and services to them decrease as proof of the city's revitalization. Paleontologists found a feathered fossil in China and can't decide whether it was an early bird or dinosaur in drag. The Frederick Madam is an American success story.

If you get in a routine, it's not hard to walk a mile or two each day -- or in the case of Bernard Lorch, more than 20 miles a day. Lorch, 52, works at the Social Security Administration in Woodlawn. He arrives two hours early for work each day, and walks 20 laps around the building. Two laps, he figures, is about nine-tenths of a mile. Then, to relieve the stress of his busy job as a clerical processor of disability claims, he'll take breaks throughout the day and walk more laps, sometimes as many as 20. He estimates he walks at about 5 mph. "I know I walk very fast," he says.

THREE EVENINGS a week since April, Jim Brochin has been knocking on doors in northern Baltimore County seeking to become a state senator. "Hi, I'm running for office in your district," his spiel begins at each door. Never mind that the election is two years away. Or that Brochin can't be sure where the boundaries of the 9th District will be for the next election until the legislature goes through its once-a-decade redistricting. That won't happen until early 2002, after final numbers from this year's census are available.