Hey its mid summer, what do we do in Maryland? We eat crabs and lots of them. One of my favorites meals prepared many ways, all of which are satisfying. From sitting at a picnic table with newspapers as the tablecloth and a pile of fresh crustaceans in front of you to maybe a crab imperial or crabcake or stuffed shrimp or maybe a crab scampi. Of course don’t forget the soft shell options.

 

Well of course that cost money, and that is why we work. But my work week is done and I’m feeling better after getting dehydrated in the sun this afternoon. I think a late night drive might be in order. Maybe some attempts at night shots. I did take the tripod upstairs earlier.

I read today where Maryland is ranked the 48 worst state to retire in by this site. Well here are my short feelings about that. Yeah cost of living is through the roof. Yeah its on the wrong side of crime on average. The highest ranking we got in any category was in weather and that was ranked 20th.

I almost painted a 4 on one butt cheek and a 8 on the other to take a picture and send to them, but then paused and calmed down. Lived here all my life and I love it. I will most likely pass here if my children and friends are still here. And those two look like pretty strong bets. You get all 4 seasons here but not usually extremes at any. If you live mid state (and its a small one if you haven’t looked at a map) you can be at the ocean or mountains in less than 3 hours. You have the Chesapeake Bay (one of the most beautiful waterways in the world). You have cities and rural areas.

You have one of the best Atlantic beaches. Lakes and waterways. Hunting and fishing in any direction. You’re a stones throw from the Nations Capital and all the wonderful sights there. Or maybe the Civil war battlefields at Antietam or just across the state line in Gettysburg.

You have some of the best schools in the country along with some of the worst ones. Work is plentiful if you want it. Or if you don’t you can snow ski or water ski in the same state. Lets see you pull that off Florida.

Yes it has changed. It used to be a much more friendly state. It used to be more of a blue-collar state but government and tech have boomed here so it’s a lot more white-collar now. It’s also far more diverse than it used to be and you see people struggle with it.

The worst plague on it seems to be the explosion of people and endless development. Infrastructure isn’t keeping pace and never really did in the last 5 decades I’ve been observing it. The endless traffic causes a lot of hostility. But then on the flip side if you’re not opposed to some late night rides you have some of the best roads around.

It’s a great sports state. Tons of very good college and pro teams within a short drive to support. Culture galore (obviously I haven’t explored that too well). I do know there is a fairly high degree of intelligent people here. There are also no shortage of selfish self focused folk also. But I meet far better than worse.

I love the Maryland flag. But all that stuff, except for the part about family and friends being here is the only one that matters. Yeah I could sell my home for a nice profit, I can take my very small pension and miniscule savings and social security to another state when its time to retire and make things stretch further. But then I would be dead from sadness in short order.

I know nothing in my own family and friends will ever stay exactly the same. But I kind of hope it does in terms of our locations. And that is here in Maryland and I’ll be glad to retire here. I mean once I don’t have to drive in and out of DC each day life will be a piece of cake. As in crabcakes with OLD BAY. To everyone else. I’m sorry, we would be #1 if we were including seafood in the rankings. But its always #1 in this household.