The family farm.

Southern Maryland, USA

August 9th, 2026

Dear Reader,

I’m writing to you from my family’s farm in Southern Maryland. My dad purchased the property 40 years ago to have a place near where he grew up and where his mother and aunt still lived.

During the week we lived in West Baltimore, in a town house which my mother and dad bought on the cheap and restored to elegance. On Friday nights we’d pile into the car and drive an hour to the farm where we stayed at a few different housing structures my dad built on the property. There was The Barn, made all of wood, and The Underground House, made of concrete and built into the side of a hill.

My mother always kept chickens, and at one point we had goats, sheep, and milking cows. Now there is a bigger house which friends say looks like a French country manor. A herd of cows graze in the field and a flock of chickens live in a spacious house made all of wood.

The cows graze.

The peach trees are full of sweet, fuzzy fruit, and yesterday my niece helped me make peach preserves.

Peach preserves.

Tomorrow I’ll drive back up to the city where I’ll spend the week.

More to come.

Abrazos,

Mariah

P.S. For those of you in Baltimore, I’ll be performing a few songs as a guest artist with pianist Marcus Dagan at Sammy’s Trattoria (1200 North Charles Street, Baltimore, Maryland 21201) in Mount Vernon from 6 - 8pm. Make a reservation for dinner or just come by for a drink. I’d love to see you!