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The Wilds of Dunloggin

  It only takes one variable to change your day. I needed to pick up a few things that my own Walgreens did not have in stock so I put in an order at the one on Route 40 in Catonsville. I entered the destination into my GPS and headed out. I soon found myself lost, more or less, in what I would call The Wilds of Dunloggin. It is not a terrifying thing to be aimlessly drifting through Dunloggin but it was unexpected. A little checking revealed that my GPS was inexplicably set to “avoid highways.” So I was not lost. I was taking the scenic route. Since I spend so much time inside the Columbia Bubble it’s honestly educational for me to visit neighborhoods that deviate from my expected norms. I took in the differences in architectural style, how the lots were laid out, and I wondered what it was like to live on these streets when they were new.  I felt like I had pretty much gotten the hang of where I was going when a vision off to my right startled me. It looked rather like a chi...
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Markets, Mission, and Music

  Farmers Markets this weekend: Clarksville Commons and Old Ellicott City today, Oakland Mills tomorrow.  Pollen and humidity will be high and yet my weather app says air quality will be excellent for outdoor activities. Go figure. There’s a cool new activity getting up and running over at the at the Nonprofit Collaborative of Howard County today. You can help Bridges to Housing Stability turn their shredded paper waste into new paper that will be donated to participating HCPSS art classrooms. I’m fascinated by this. Organizations shred documents which contain confidential information. That’s a responsible thing to do. But the resulting shreds can’t be put in our regular paper recycling process. Now what? By creating Waste to Wonder, Bridges to Housing Stability aims to: dispose of confidential paper waste responsibly, turn it into a usable resource for classrooms, and - - probably the most significant, to my mind - - connect with new community members who may not know about t...
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Bathroom Blues

  At the risk of dating myself: the year is 1975. I’m ducking into the girls’ room across from my ten o’clock algebra class. It’s filled with girls. And cigarette smoke.  Smoking at school was allowed in those days -  - outside. Of course it didn’t just stay outside. I hated it. I hated the smell of the smoke which clung to my clothes and made it hard for me to breathe. I hated competing for the few stalls available when at least one contained someone standing on the toilet seat and burning a message into the ceiling tile with their lit cigarette. It never ceased being a hostile environment to me. By my senior year they had started locking many of the student restrooms. By that time I had figured out which of the faculty bathrooms I could slip without being caught.  All this is to say that if anyone tells you that kids today are so much worse than back in the day…Are they? Howard County schools can’t keep up with bathroom vandalism. Their solution? Lock them , ...
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Shipwrecked

  The problem with allowing the general public to name things is this: Columbia Association  During routine lake management operations at Lake Kittamaqundi, an aqua mower (Chompers) capsized. All Columbia Association (CA) staff are safe. While no fuel or oil leaks have been noticed, protective measures will be in place. CA is conducting a full investigation and coordinating a safe recovery of the equipment. Oh, no. Not Chompers! Notice how differently it comes across in this brief mention in the Baltimore Fishbowl:  Aqua mower capsizes in Lake Kittamaqundi,  Aliza Worthington  It’s “Chompers goes under” vs “Aqua mower capsizes.” Do you see it? Feel it, even? Alas, poor Chompers! I knew him, Horatio. In 2021 the Columbia Association - - possibly inspired by Mr. Trash Wheel? - - held a contest to name the new Aqua Mower for Lake Kittamaqundi. A nine year old named Quintin won for the name “Chompers.” Excerpt from Night and Day , Village Green/Town² The use of anth...
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Cozy Season

  Cozy:  1 a : enjoying or affording warmth and ease: SNUG b: marked by or providing contentment or comfort - - Merriam Webster Dictionary  It’s the first of September and in Maryland that means high humidity, outrageous pollen counts, and a prediction of ninety degree weather.  Still, that didn’t stop me from getting a bit excited when I saw this post from Columbia’s own indie bookstore Queen Takes Book. It’s a Cozy Fridays Events List which begins in October, so maybe the weather will be cooperating in a more seasonal way by then. Going down the list of activities sparked a yearning to have that seasonal cozy feeling even though I’m in an air-conditioned house drinking a glass of iced coffee. It’s funny how that works. Suddenly you’re envisioning being cuddled up under a blanket with a good book in your lap and a warm drink nearby. Speaking of warm drinks, Visit Howard County did a lovely roundup of cozy cafés last year. Do you have any you’d add to their list? Coz...
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The Tree-Cycle

  Trees. I’ve decided that trees are at the center of the HoCoLocal universe.  The county runs an annual tree giveaway. Images from HoCo Rec and Parks social media  And don’t forget how every new project in town must face the outcry over trees being removed. This includes false accusations that trees in Symhony Woods were decimated to build the Merriweather District. (The Merriweather District isn’t in Symphony Woods.) Of course trees are important. Much of our existence is intertwined with them.  That’s why these two recent stories caught my eye. Human composter plans to spread soil on Eastern Shore site, Brian Shane, Baltimore Banner  A funerary business that transforms human remains into compost as an alternative to burial and cremation says it's buying land on the Eastern Shore, where the loamy byproduct will be used to cultivate a forest of native trees. Columbia Wood-Processing Facility To Focus On Locally Grown Trees , Kristin Danley-Greiner, Columbia ...
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Get Off My Lawn

  I was trying to find someone’s house yesterday in a perfectly lovely neighborhood in Columbia. And I just about gave up and went home. Beautiful houses, beautiful yards.  Very few house numbers. I realize that this is a relatively minute topic to be carping about, but: aren’t dwellings required to have house numbers?  Perhaps I am wrong about this. Perhaps labeling your house is a free choice activity. Or perhaps we have a surprising number of locals whose homes are enrolled in a witness protection program.  I did some quick checking this morning. Howard County does have regulations pertaining to house numbers, primarily to aid first responders. That makes sense. I’m curious as to the reasoning behind leaving one’s house unlabeled. It seems like the oddest “you can’t find me” game ever. People often complain about all the rules in Columbia pertaining to the exterior of one’s home. And there are a lot of them. Color, style, windows, doors, fences…I hate to be the p...
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