Nature Trail

Move forward with best plan for Purple Line While the debate over the Purple Line north of Washington can be given something of a "class warfare" aspect, the real focus should be on the relative merits of the inner vs. the outer Purple Line proposals ("Plan to extend Washington's Metro tees off golfers and users of trail," Dec. 3). With transit and other budgets tightening, Maryland can ill afford to embrace the $5 billion-plus proposed outer Purple Line to avoid moving two holes of a golf course.

THE SPRING GARDEN Nature Trail Study Area will be dedicated at 3 p.m. Sunday.All students at Spring Garden have been included in the busy spring planting. The work has been completed under the direction of Vice Principal Jaclyn Powell. Tom Manger's landscape students at North Carroll High School did a lot of the tough work, digging, mulching and planting.At the ceremony, the fifth-grade chorus will sing, and recognition will be given to distinct study areas: a hillside planting with a sign that designates the study area; a large-scale butterfly garden with butterfly houses; a sunflower field; 150 pine seedlings, and a tree- labeling project on a forested trail.

John Smith explored the Patapsco River here in his search for a passageway to the Pacific Ocean. The Baltimore & Ohio Railroad passed through here. Blacks fought against slavery and segregation here, and community members fought here against plans to run a highway through the trees and brush. All of these events happened on soil that is now part of the Gwynns Falls Trail, which winds along Gwynns Falls and up the Patapsco. At 15 miles, it is one of the nation's largest urban nature trails.

IT IS A FACT mostly forgotten these days, but the Middle Branch of the Patapsco, which separates South Baltimore from Cherry Hill, was once a prime recreational area. In the early 1800s, an elegant resort called "Spring Gardens" -- named after the area's numerous fresh springs -- even operated near the Hanover Street bridge.Over the past three decades, the Inner Harbor has been #F transformed from an area of rotting warehouses and piers into a glitzy tourist destination. Could the Middle Branch be given a similar facelift?

EVERY TIME I turn around these days, it seems someone is preserving trees -- as in "We're going to preserve what's left after we clear-cut all we need for our development." It's why, for all our tree laws, tree plantings and forest protection zones, we're still losing trees by the thousands of acres a year across Maryland and the Chesapeake Bay region. The latest reminder was Loyola College's "Fields of Dreams" project, which seems greased by the mayor and City Council to rip the green heart out of Baltimore's Woodberry neighborhood.

A stiff breeze flattens the wildflower meadow at Adkins Arboretum in Caroline County and whistles past my ears. But as arboretum director Ellie Altman and I enter the woods, everything seems hushed. In the cloistered interior, the tall oaks and sweet gums creak and shush as they sway overhead in the wind, and I can hear the twitch of animals through the rattlesnake fern. The arboretum, 400 acres of meadow and woods that meander along the Tuckahoe River, is filled with native wildflowers -- skunk cabbage, trout lily, bloodroot and love-lies-bleeding.

As if there were not already enough enticing things to do on a Saturday in May, Baltimore has Cylburn Market Day. This gala community event, which draws fans from as far away as Washington and Pennsylvania, is held one day each year at Cylburn Arboretum on Greenspring Avenue, come rain or shine.Whether you are interested in a morning or afternoon outing for yourself to sleuth for unusual plants in a congenial atmosphere ,, among other gardeners, or are looking for an event that can captivate the entire family, this is the place to come.

When it's raining and pouring, a beach vacation doesn't have to turn boring. After all, a rainy day at the beach is still better than being at home. While shopping at the outlets and catching a movie are always an option, here are a few others. Ocean City Ice skating at the Carousel Beachfront Resort Hotel and Condominiums. After all, summer is the perfect time to enjoy an afternoon of cool ice-skating. (118th St. on the Ocean, 410-524-1000, carouselhotel.com) Bowling at Ocean Lanes Put down the Wii and go to a bowling alley.

The county commissioners will present their annual Carroll County Environmental Awareness Awards at 3 p.m. today at the Environmental Affairs Advisory Board meeting. The awards recognize individuals, institutions and businesses for achievements in environmental protection and conservation.The winners are:Individual Award: Greg Becker, a Sierra Club member who often writes to local newspapers to make people aware of environmental concerns; Bill Becraft, who is involved in volunteer environmental projects and is committed to saving wildlife; and George Mozal, who works with nature daily.

For many kids, summer is all about summer camp. A welcome reprieve from the school year, camp is a fun, physical excursion. If your kid would like to sample the summer-camp experience, Port Discovery's got a new family exhibit that offers all the fun of camp without the nasty bugs and poison ivy. "Camp Exploramora," running Saturday through Sept. 2, includes craft activities, an athletic field for kicking the soccer ball around and stables where kids can learn about Maryland horseracing and even braid a horse's tail.