The Lord moves in mysterious ways his wonders to perform.

            William Cowper said it a long time ago but he could have been talking about Uncle Jack's move to Baltimore last January from the Outer Banks of North Carolina.  He and his wife, Sue (a.k.a. Mrs. U.J.)., had originally planned to spend a couple of months helping her daughter cope with her newborn son, her four- and five-year-old daughters and her career, and then return to Nags Head where they had lived and worked for more years than they cared to remember.

                                                Home, Sweet Home, in Bawlmer


          That isn't the way it worked out.  Even in the dead of winter Charm City worked its magic and by the end of January they were the happy new owners of a condo in Charles Village, right across Charles street from the Johns Hopkins Homewood campus, where they hope to reside for the rest of their lives. 
           This was not widely considered to be a particularly wise move, especially among those of his friends who had derived their impressions of Bawlmer from repeated viewings of the award-winning TV series, The Wire, which did a magnificent job of portraying some of the  less-charming aspects of Charm City.  Many of the longtime readers of Uncle Jack's Outer Banks blog (www.obxconnection.com)  thought he had gone quite mad as did the two young Baltimoreans who moved a truckload of furniture from  Nags Head to his new digs in Charles Village.  "Are you sure you know what you're doing?" they asked,  after seeing Uncle Jack's South Nags Head home for the first time. After nine months in Baltimore, though, he is more sure than ever that he and Mrs. U.J. did the right thing; this is a fabulous city.
           Uncle Jack's intention in this blog is to "unwire" his adopted city---to seek out and celebrate the many charms of Charm City as he and Mrs. U.J. discover them over the coming months. Wherever he goes his camera goes, too, so there will be lots of pictures like these:

                                            Part of the incredible view from Federal Hill

                                           Sherwood Gardens tulips in bloom, April 23

                                            One of Monument City's lesser monuments


           Uncle Jack's Baltimore blog will reflect a journey of discovery for him and hopefully provide some insight for others into why he has been so completely smitten by this vibrant, beautiful city.  He hopes you will join him.