wabrams:
I lived in Baltimore for a while after college, so I know what you mean!
I used to make up stories for my daughters (each girl had to have her own special stories.) Now I make them up for my granddaughter. Once my wife wanted to know why there were no stories about her side of the family. This is the story:
You know Grandma Morton’s maiden name was Doolen. She came from Maryland, which is where all the Doolens come from. There was a Doolen among the first settlers to come to Maryland, Anna Doolen.
When people first come into a country, they have to work very hard, because if they need anything they have to make it themselves or grow it. There are no stores. They have to work so hard that sometimes they just have to do the best they can and then hurry on to do something else.
The first thing the people who came to Maryland had to do was clear land for their crops – if they didn’t do that, they’d starve. And Anna Doolen came to see.
“Yew call those fields? Look at all those stumps!”
The men said, “That’s the best we can do for now, Anna. Later on, we’ll get the stumps out.”
“Later! That’s what you ALWAYS say. But later never comes, does it? And I’ll come back in 20 years and those fields will still be full of stumps.”
The next thing was to build their houses. Anna came to see the new houses.
“Yew call those houses? They’re just old log cabins with bark roofs!!”
The men said, “That’s the best we can do for now, Anna. Later on, we’ll build better houses.”
“Later! That’s what you ALWAYS say. But later never comes, does it? And I’ll come back in 20 years and they’ll still be old log cabins with bark roofs!!”
Then they went to work to build their capital city – you can’t have a colony without a capital city. First, they laid out the streets and Anna came to see.
Yew call those streets? They’re just cow paths!!"
The men said, “That’s the best we can do for now, Anna. Later on, we’ll pave the streets.”
“Later! That’s what you ALWAYS say. But later never comes, does it? And I’ll come back in 20 years and they’ll still be cow paths!!”
Then they build the buildings for the city. Anna came to see.
Yew call those buildings? It’s so dark in there I can’t see my hand!!"
The men said, “That’s the best we can do for now, Anna. Later on, we’ll invent electricity.”
“Later! That’s what you ALWAYS say. But later never comes, does it? And I’ll come back in 20 years and those buildings will still be lit with old candles!!”
They kept working, and finally they were finished. All they had left to do was put up the flag pole. Anna came to watch.
Yew call this a capital city? It doesn’t even have a name!!"
The men said, “We’ve been working too hard to give it a name. We’ll think up a name later.”
“Later! That’s what you ALWAYS say. But later never comes, does it? And I’ll come back in 20 years and this city still won’t have a name!!”
Well, those men had had ENOUGH!! They said, “Anna, if you don’t shut up, we’re going to take this pole and shove it . . .”
But Anna didn’t shut up.
That’s why the capital of Maryland is called "Annapolis."
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