Valentine's Day finds me with a rare, mid-week break. I drive up north to Loch Raven, park the car off Dulaney Valley Road, and explore Dead Man's Cove, a corner of the lake where I have never been. Turning off the path and through the trees, I walk down to the water's edge. To my north, cars bound for the city are flying by on the road bridge from the Jarrettsville Pike, their headlights like distant pairs of glow-bugs in the dark. The sun begins to creep over the trees, bathing the shoreline in a radiant pink. On my patch of dry moss, with my feet dangling over the water, I take a few shots of dawn over the lake, but am mostly content to sit and watch. On my way out of the woods, biding my time to miss the morning rush hour, I stop in Towson to read for awhile and do groceries at Trader Joe's. Valentine's dinner that night: rack of lamb provençale with roast vegetables and salt potatoes.
