Tail

25 Years Ago* C. Richard Weaver of Finksburg, this year's Maryland state winner in the National 4-H Swine Awards program, received an all-expense paid trip to 4-H Congress held in the Conrad-Hilton Hotel, Chicago. Richard, 17, started his swine herd seven years ago with one gilt (a young sow). He remembered his first showing contest, with some embarrassment. "When we entered the ring, my gilt decided she wanted to go back to her pen. I finally had to pull her into the show rings by her tail."

In my hand I hold a glass angel. The angel, circa 1924, was my mother's and it was always placed on the Christmas trees of my vTC childhood. I am glad it has survived all our moves.I am trimming the tree alone. I like being alone with these ornaments from the past. I daydream as I wonder, where did my mother get this beautiful, hand-blown angel? I have no idea.It is among the few handmade decorations that were part of yesteryear when craftsmen took more time and things were not all high-tech.

WASHINGTON -- When Pat Robertson's Christian Coalition opened its weekend conference here yesterday, it was clear from the list of scheduled speakers that there would be a lot of preaching to the choir going on. Robertson himself delivered a ringing keynote address heavy on commitment to family values and populated with straw men methodically shot down, to the cheers of the faithful.At one point, the famed televangelist defended the right of "Christian believers" to engage in the political process, arguing that if they couldn't, "then by definition only those who don't believe" would be able to participate.

Some people crave variety, others of us are satisfied with sameness. Some people are forever searching for a new way, a way they've never gone before; others of us are happy doing it the way we've always done it. It takes, I am glad to say, all kinds.Walking with my little dog, I have a fixed routine. It pleases me, and I think it pleases him. His manner as we walk together -- his steady stride, the proud way he holds his shaggy head and tail -- seems confident, happy. As for me, I believe I could find the way with my eyes shut, as if my feet all these years had been carving ruts in the road.

I DON'T NEED to fork over $15,700 for one of Volkswagen's New Beetles to recapture the spirit of the 1960s. I've still got it - or at least I still have what supposedly embodies it: My 1968 VW Bug.That's right: It's the same Beetle I've been driving for 30 years. And let me tell you, driving an icon isn't all the New Beetle marketers would have you believe it is. It wasn't then and it isn't now.No power steering; no power brakes; it's blistering in the summer with no air conditioning and freezing in the winter because the heater hasn't worked in years.

Horse racing fans talk about their sport not having a Triple Crown winner in nearly 35 years much the way baseball fans lament the fact that their favorite game has gone more than twice as long without a .400 hitter. Undoubtedly, in the days leading up to the 138th Preakness at Pimlico Race Course on Saturday, there will plenty of discussion about Orb's chances to repeat what he did at the Kentucky Derby and, if victorious in Baltimore, what he might do next month in New York at the Belmont Stakes.

Just months after Erickson Retirement Communities filed for bankruptcy, the company's new owners say they are poised for expansion with the same business model that seized up along with the housing and credit markets last year. Local entrepreneur Jim Davis, whose Redwood Capital Investments LLC bought Erickson for $365 million this month, said the Catonsville-based company is more financially sound than ever after wiping out most of its debt through the bankruptcy. That will enable Erickson to move forward in the next year with new housing at about a dozen of its existing communities that are not fully developed, he said.

She had a cool name and a hot jockey, but Fiftyshadesofhay didn't look like she had much of a chance for most of Friday's 89th Black-Eyed Susan Stakes at Pimlico Race Course . Riding the 3-year-old filly for the first time, Joel Rosario also gave the horse a new reputation for being able to win coming from behind. Running near the back of the six-horse back for most of the one and an eighth-mile race, the Bob Baffert-trained horse chased down Marathon Lady to win by a neck in 1:53.73.

As gas fumes force it out of its underground home, it scurries -- disoriented -- through overgrown grass. But before it can make a break for freedom, the shovel comes down and WHAM!Baltimore's growing rat population is minus one renegade rodent.But it is a mere dent in what seems to Stephanie A. Brooks an infinite number of pests. Brooks directs the city's Rat Rubout Program. She says the 50 to 100 rat complaints that come in each day -- many from previously rat-free neighborhoods -- and reports from the field indicate the rat population has swelled this summer.

Megan Childs and her four sisters came away safely from a private plane crash in Chesapeake Bay yesterday, thanks to what one official called a perfect emergency landing by her father.Megan, 12, and one of her sisters opened the doors to the plane as it settled into the water just south of the eastern end of the Bay Bridge, and she passed out life jackets while boats from a marina sped to their aid."We're all really good swimmers," said the Magothy River Middle School student, who is on a swim team.