Lifestyle

Dear Answer Angel Ellen: Don’t you just love it when a favorite product is discontinued?! There is an ultra gentle shampoo I’ve used for years (ever since my prior shampoo from Clinique was discontinued). Now I can’t find that particular product at my local beauty supply store or online. Looks like they discontinued it. I have sensitive skin and also prefer no fragrance. Otherwise, my hair is healthy, not dry, not damaged, not colored, not thin, not frizzy. Can you recommend a gentle, fragrance-free shampoo?

HAVRE DE GRACE, Md. — The wood slabs in Tom Deno’s workshop are knotty and gnarly, pitted and crooked — a homely look that only Mother Nature could love. Or Deno, who fashions custom furniture from the twisted chunks tossed out by lumber mills. From those orphaned slabs come countertops and coffee tables, mantels and headboards, each a kitschy creation forged by Deno’s hand in Havre de Grace.

Q. My ex’s new girlfriend is simply trying too hard and it’s really upsetting me. I can see she wants us all to get along. I can see she loves my kids. I’m not intimidated by any of it. What does bother me is that she is doing the special things I have always done with my kids and it hurts my feelings. That is our time. I feel stupid saying something. What’s good ex-etiquette?

BALTIMORE — Araba Maze noticed neighborhood kids gathering around her as she read children’s books to her niece on her front stoop. As she wrapped up storytelling, one of the kids asked, “When are you gonna do this again?”

BALTIMORE — During an internship with the Baltimore Police Department this summer, Yasmine Bryant met the mother of a city homicide victim struggling with acute grief and growing frustration: Despite repeated attempts to contact detectives about their open investigation, she heard nothing from law enforcement in more than five months.

It’s peach season. Time to pull out your rolling pin and celebrate the juicy stone fruit with the free-form pastry known as a crostata.

To my surprise, I didn’t get any death threats after my recent column on how animal agriculture may be one way to mitigate climate change. In fact, even the folks who disagreed were extremely pleasant. Some questions did arise, however.

COVID-19 may be the most prominent virus of concern in the U.S. now, but public health officials also are preparing for seasonal influenza. And indications are it could be a different season than what the U.S. experienced the past two years.

PITTSBURGH — Dr. Natalie Gentile stands in an exercise studio in Pittsburgh’s Strip District, leading a workout class as soothing music plays and images of Pittsburgh flow on a massive screen.

LIMA — When he is not performing his music on tour, Jonathan Foster is a practicing biologist.