February:<\/strong> Spend one winter afternoon writing letters to Republicans in Congress, urging them to extend the prescription drug benefits<\/a> of President Biden\u2019s Inflation Reduction Act. \u2026 Visit \u201cLynching in Maryland,\u201d<\/a> a permanent exhibit that opened in October at the the Reginald F. Lewis Museum of Maryland African American History & Culture \u201cto honor the victims of the 38 documented racial terror lynchings that occurred in the state between 1854 and 1933.\u201d<\/p>\n March:<\/strong> Get to a bookstore: Greedy Reads, The Ivy, Charm City or, on the Eastern Shore, The Bookplate in Chestertown.<\/a> … Cook something challenging: Try to bake a timpano, the Calabrian pasta-meat-cheese concoction, shaped like an upside down kettle drum, made famous in the film, \u201cBig Night,\u201d and featured in Stanley Tucci\u2019s cookbook. (This was on my list last year, but I didn\u2019t get to it.) \u2026 Bonus suggestion: Actually attend Baltimore\u2019s Saint Patrick Parade on Sunday, March 16.<\/p>\n April:<\/strong> At mid-month, drive to Darlington in Harford County, park near the Stafford Road Bridge and find a place to watch the herring and shad run up Deer Creek. If you don\u2019t spot fish there, drive across Conowingo Dam to the hamlet of Sleepy Hollow; you\u2019re bound to see the migrating fish in Octoraro Creek from the Dr. Jack Road Bridge. \u2026 On a rainy day, make a long-overdue visit to a public library.<\/p>\n May:<\/strong> If you\u2019ve never actually seen a Baltimore oriole in the flesh \u2014 or, pardon me, in the feather \u2014 get some binoculars and head to Cromwell Valley Park<\/a> in Baltimore County. Your chances of seeing one are good there. Look for them in tall sycamores, and near Minebank Run. … If you\u2019ve never actually seen Baltimore\u2019s Kinetic Sculpture Race<\/a>, do yourself the favor and mark it on the calendar: May 3.<\/p>\n June:<\/strong> There are a couple of times this month when the Orioles play a day game away. Watch it at the Swallow at the Hollow<\/a>, York Road and Northern Parkway. It\u2019s a great place to hang out and talk baseball (or any sport) with customers and bartenders. \u2026 In the first week of the month, you can watch artists painting street scenes in Annapolis<\/a>, en plein air.<\/p>\n July:<\/strong> You can work up a nice sweat and then cool off by hiking the upper Gunpowder River trail in Baltimore County, finishing at the Prettyboy Reservoir dam. The mist from the bottom-water of the reservoir spilling into the pool below the dam drops the air temperature 10 to 15 degrees. \u2026 If you haven\u2019t been to Prigel Family Creamery<\/a> in Glen Arm for an ice cream, this is the time to do it.<\/p>\n August:<\/strong> Head to Garrett County and hike up Backbone Mountain<\/a> to the highest point in Maryland (3,360 feet). \u2026 Or go to Snow Hill, Worcester County, and rent a canoe or kayak to paddle the Pocomoke<\/a>.<\/p>\n September:<\/strong> Go to a Navy football game; you\u2019ve been meaning to do that for years. The Midshipmen have at least three home games in Annapolis<\/a> and the Army game in Baltimore in December. … Look for August Wilson plays at Everyman, Spotlighters and Chesapeake Shakespeare during the fall, part of the ongoing Wilson celebration<\/a> at Baltimore theaters.<\/p>\n October:<\/strong> Give yourself the Charles Street Challenge: Starting at the old Pabst Brewing Company on the south side of the city, walk Charles Street all the way to Bellona Avenue on the north. (This will probably take more than one day.) … Visit Green Ridge State Forest<\/a> in Allegany County and enjoy the fall foliage (and perfect solitude) from the observation deck there.<\/p>\n November:<\/strong> This is the start of a great time to see the migrating bald eagles along the Susquehanna River at Conowingo. It can be an epic experience. \u2026 Open your house for board games \u2014 Monopoly, Ticket To Ride, Stratego, Scrabble \u2014 set them up on different tables, invite your friends and neighbors to drop by and play. You\u2019ll wonder why you didn\u2019t do it before.<\/p>\n December:<\/strong> The annual illumination at Antietam National Battlefield<\/a> happens as darkness falls on the first Saturday in December: 23,000 candles on the fields where thousands died to save \u2014 and thousands more died to end \u2014 the union during the Civil War. \u2026 Do all your holiday gift shopping in thrift stores or in neighbor bulk trash; it worked out beautifully for me this year.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" For the new year, a list of 12 things you’d like to do — one per month.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":99999,"featured_media":11077197,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"apple_news_api_created_at":"2024-12-31T18:35:08Z","apple_news_api_id":"1bbe85a1-9eb9-454b-9556-92404c0b095b","apple_news_api_modified_at":"2024-12-31T18:35:08Z","apple_news_api_revision":"AAAAAAAAAAD\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/w==","apple_news_api_share_url":"https:\/\/apple.news\/AG76FoZ65RUuVVpJATAsJWw","apple_news_coverimage":0,"apple_news_coverimage_caption":"","apple_news_is_hidden":false,"apple_news_is_paid":true,"apple_news_is_preview":false,"apple_news_is_sponsored":false,"apple_news_maturity_rating":"","apple_news_metadata":"\"\"","apple_news_pullquote":"","apple_news_pullquote_position":"middle","apple_news_slug":"","apple_news_sections":[],"apple_news_suppress_video_url":false,"apple_news_use_image_component":false,"subheadline":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[83,96,99],"tags":[24457],"feature":[],"location":[223],"type-of-work":[],"coauthors":[404],"class_list":["post-11077157","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-latest-headlines","category-opinion","category-opinion-columnists","tag-social","location-maryland"],"post_status":"","edit_last":0,"edit_lock":0,"highlights":"","original_byline":"","original_canonical":"","original_category":"","original_email":"","original_id":0,"original_pubdate":"","original_source":"","primary_section":"99","primary_tag":0,"print_workflow_body":{"deck_headline":"","print_title":"Dan Rodricks: A totally optional, merely suggested month-by-month to-do list for 2025 | STAFF COMMENTARY","print_subheadline":"","print_priority":"","print_placement":"cover","print_planned_ready":"","print_pub_date":"","print_slug":"TBS-L-RODRICKS-0101","print_budget_line":"","print_excerpt":"For the new year, a list of 12 things you'd like to do -- one per month.","print_notes":"","photo_limits":"Photo limits are: 1 featured image, 5 featured gallery images, 5 embedded gallery images and 5 in-article embedded images. Articles that exceed these limits will not export. Please adjust images to reflect these limits.","print_featured_gallery_richtext":"","print_inline_galleries_richtext":"","print_inline_images_richtext":"","print_content":" My annual list of totally optional, merely suggested things for Baltimore Sun readers to do in the new year begins with this: Don\u2019t make resolutions.<\/p> Instead, make a list of 12 things you\u2019d like to do in 2025 \u2014 just one per month \u2014 then check them off as you go.<\/p> This is more practical than making resolutions that invite futility and, ultimately, make you feel like a loathsome sluggard.<\/p> I\u2019ll make two suggestions for each month (plus one, for a total of 25 to go with the new year) to get you started. But come up with your own \u2014 12 things you\u2019ve been meaning to do for a while \u2014 and stick the list on the refrigerator.<\/p> January:<\/strong> Buy some stationery \u2014 in Baltimore, there\u2019s Paper Herald<\/a> on St. Paul Street \u2014 get a good pen, and spend one afternoon writing (yes, by hand!) a few, brief letters to a few old friends. ... Attend the Jan. 18 revival of H.L. Mencken\u2019s Saturday Night Club<\/a>, with music, food and drink at the Mencken House in Union Square. A fundraiser to benefit the house as well as the restoration of Mencken's piano, it\u2019s envisioned as the first in a series of Saturday night gatherings.<\/p> February:<\/strong> Spend one winter afternoon writing letters to Republicans in Congress, urging them to extend the prescription drug benefits<\/a> of President Biden\u2019s Inflation Reduction Act. \u2026 Visit \u201cLynching in Maryland,\u201d<\/a> a permanent exhibit that opened in October at the the Reginald F. Lewis Museum of Maryland African American History & Culture \u201cto honor the victims of the 38 documented racial terror lynchings that occurred in the state between 1854 and 1933.\u201d<\/p> March:<\/strong> Get to a bookstore: Greedy Reads, The Ivy, Charm City or, on the Eastern Shore, The Bookplate in Chestertown.<\/a> ... Cook something challenging: Try to bake a timpano, the Calabrian pasta-meat-cheese concoction, shaped like an upside down kettle drum, made famous in the film, \u201cBig Night,\u201d and featured in Stanley Tucci\u2019s cookbook. (This was on my list last year, but I didn\u2019t get to it.) \u2026 Bonus suggestion: Actually attend Baltimore\u2019s Saint Patrick Parade on Sunday, March 16.<\/p> April:<\/strong> At mid-month, drive to Darlington in Harford County, park near the Stafford Road Bridge and find a place to watch the herring and shad run up Deer Creek. If you don\u2019t spot fish there, drive across Conowingo Dam to the hamlet of Sleepy Hollow; you\u2019re bound to see the migrating fish in Octoraro Creek from the Dr. Jack Road Bridge. \u2026 On a rainy day, make a long-overdue visit to a public library.<\/p> May:<\/strong> If you\u2019ve never actually seen a Baltimore oriole in the flesh \u2014 or, pardon me, in the feather \u2014 get some binoculars and head to Cromwell Valley Park<\/a> in Baltimore County. Your chances of seeing one are good there. Look for them in tall sycamores, and near Minebank Run. ... If you\u2019ve never actually seen Baltimore\u2019s Kinetic Sculpture Race<\/a>, do yourself the favor and mark it on the calendar: May 3.<\/p> June:<\/strong> There are a couple of times this month when the Orioles play a day game away. Watch it at the Swallow at the Hollow<\/a>, York Road and Northern Parkway. It\u2019s a great place to hang out and talk baseball (or any sport) with customers and bartenders. \u2026 In the first week of the month, you can watch artists painting street scenes in Annapolis<\/a>, en plein air.<\/p> July:<\/strong> You can work up a nice sweat and then cool off by hiking the upper Gunpowder River trail in Baltimore County, finishing at the Prettyboy Reservoir dam. The mist from the bottom-water of the reservoir spilling into the pool below the dam drops the air temperature 10 to 15 degrees. \u2026 If you haven\u2019t been to Prigel Family Creamery<\/a> in Glen Arm for an ice cream, this is the time to do it.<\/p> August:<\/strong> Head to Garrett County and hike up Backbone Mountain<\/a> to the highest point in Maryland (3,360 feet). \u2026 Or go to Snow Hill, Worcester County, and rent a canoe or kayak to paddle the Pocomoke<\/a>.<\/p> September:<\/strong> Go to a Navy football game; you\u2019ve been meaning to do that for years. The Midshipmen have at least three home games in Annapolis<\/a> and the Army game in Baltimore in December. ... Look for August Wilson plays at Everyman, Spotlighters and Chesapeake Shakespeare during the fall, part of the ongoing Wilson celebration<\/a> at Baltimore theaters.<\/p> October:<\/strong> Give yourself the Charles Street Challenge: Starting at the old Pabst Brewing Company on the south side of the city, walk Charles Street all the way to Bellona Avenue on the north. (This will probably take more than one day.) ... Visit Green Ridge State Forest<\/a> in Allegany County and enjoy the fall foliage (and perfect solitude) from the observation deck there.<\/p>
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