The Mystery List

I keep a running list of things that might make a good blog post. Unfortunately, once I put something on the list, I tend to lose all interest in writing about it. 

This is an ongoing mystery to me. Anyway, here is the current list:

• Cycling without Age
• People on the Go Maryland
• The Gathering, a new monthly salon at the library
• Patapsco Literary Festival
• Former Ellicott City preschool reopens in Sykesville 
• China Day October 4
• CEI Harvest Gala October 16
• SEEDS
• Cradlerock partners with Queen Takes Book

Other mysteries include the appearance of multiple fire trucks and more than one ambulance at Elite Spice in Jessup yesterday morning. This would not be such a big deal were it not for a pending lawsuit against the company and reports of EPA violations. Of course, this could be completely unrelated. I am not an investigative reporter. This is beyond my level of expertise.

A mystery which seems likely to be benign: the sighting in Owen Brown of - - a large rolling…horse? sporting an American flag decoration.  These are the kinds of things one learns on Reddit. Yes, there’s a photo. I’m not sharing it because it isn’t my photo. Cool points to the local wit who responded, “Citizens of Troy, be not alarmed.”

In “The Jokes on Me” category, reports of a Big Bird appearance in Columbia were not what I  was visualizing.

Hope springs eternal. I love that big yellow guy.

A complete mystery to me: folks who show up eager to argue the meaning of the United States Constitution with the County Executive.

The best mystery: readership of the blog has increased significantly in the last serveral weeks and I have no idea why. It doesn’t appear to be tied to any one particular type of story, either. I don’t know if the algorithm on FB has shifted to make the blog more visible or whether it’s some sort of organic/serendipitous development. 

Whoever you are, it’s nice to have you along for the ride. 

Village Green/Town² Comments

Today Only! All Roads Lead to Rain

Rainy day.

Nice Weather for ducks.

If you’re a teacher the words “indoor recess” may make you shudder with thoughts of anticipated chaos. 

I have tried in past blogs to get people excited about thinking of the best places to go in Howard County when it rains. This effort was not successful. Either all of you hate rain or you can’t think of even one good local place to go when it’s wet outside. 

I will not attempt this again. Besides, today is Wednesday: you’re very likely going to work, and most kids are at school. There’s no time in the schedule for fun rainy day activities, anyway.

Whether you hate rainy days or love them, the fact is that we’re behind on rain this year. And, gosh darn it, we need rain. I went looking for a list of reasons why rain is important to us and it didn’t go exactly as planned. I searched “why rain benefits communities” and the vast majority were “the benefits of rain gardens in the community.”

One outlined the benefits of storing rainwater. It was from a rain barrel merchant.

Well, if you’re interested in either, Howard County has opportunities for you.

Here’s a desperate plea for engagement - - an informal reader poll! (Humor me.) Today’s comments section devoted to the following:

• I love rain, and this is why.
• I hate rain, and this is why.
• Meh. (Include explanation, if any.)

A personal recommendation for the day - - your local library has all your rainy day preferences covered. Love rain? They’ve got all kinds of rain-themed materials to enhance your wet weather joy. Hate rain? Explore a multitude of other worlds and activities where not one drop falls to spoil your mood. Meh? Our library system has so many different kinds of materials and offerings to spark your imagination and lift your case of the blahs.

You can listen to the sounds of the pitter patter at the East Columbia branch. 

Or you can see how the plants enjoy the rain in the Enchanted Garden at the Miller Branch.

Don’t forget to bring your library card so you are ready for your #librarycardadventure. I know mine is around here somewhere.

Village Green/Town² Comments 

HoCo Stuff. And Nonsense

Once upon a time I saw a cartoon that showed a kid at someone’s door promoting the school fundraiser. The gist of it was, no one wanted to buy the product du jour. But when the kid offered to take away stuff the homeowner was trying to get rid of - - for a fee, of course - - it suddenly became the best fundraiser ever. I wish I had saved that cartoon. It was meant to be humorous but I still think it’s a brilliant concept.

I hate throwing things away knowing they’ll just go in a landfill. I find great satisfaction matchmaking my no longer needed items in my Buy Nothing Group. But there’s a sort of let down or sense of failure when nobody wants Your Thing. Case in point: two well-loved plastic cutting boards. 

I can’t convince anyone to give them a new life with some kind of creative reuse and if I throw them away they will sit in a landfill forever. So they are sitting in my house instead. My house: the secondary landfill. 

Bah, humbug.

The topic is on my mind this morning because of something I saw on Facebook about an ecologically friendly way to pass along unwanted stuff. Somehow I got the impression that it was a County initiative. So this morning I looked in all the places one might find announcements of County initiatives.

Zip.

I finally located a screenshot - - in my collection of eight million screenshots - -  and it’s not County related whatsoever. What I saw was an advert. Here it is:

GreenDrop® is a for-profit company and registered professional fundraiser where required. We accept donations on behalf of and pay our nonprofit and charity partners for your stuff, helping them to fund programs in your community.

Why did I come away with the impression that this is a County initiative? Probably because I saw that the drop off was located at the Library and because the text is full of green, eco-friendly language. To be honest, it’s also because I was skimming and didn’t take the time to truly process what I was seeing.

If I had blithely shared something I had only a vague impression of…Well, that would be a lot like what happens on the Internet every day. Oof. 

So, here’s the deal. The GreenDrop drop-off location is in Ellicott City. It looks like this:

GreenDrop is operated by Savers Value Village. That’s a link to the Wikipedia entry, which is…interesting. I’d be interested in your thoughts. 

The charity that will benefit from the Howard County drop-offs is the American Red Cross. 

GreenDrop certainly isn’t the only company soliciting drop-offs of your cast-offs in Howard County. It’s just the newest kid on the block. They want things that are potentially re-sale able (is that a word?) in their Value Village stores. Think new or lightly-used. They are not in any way a recycling operation.

I didn’t get any clear idea of what happens to the donated items that can’t be sold. What do you think?

If there’s a lesson here, it’s this:  I was so invested in wanting to believe I was seeing some sort of Cinderella experience for unwanted stuff that I read into it positive attributes that weren’t even there. That bothers me. I think of myself as a savvy consumer. I let myself down here.

I still want to believe there’s a magic wand on that end when the magic is probably needed more on the other end: don’t bring more stuff into your house in the first place. 

If you want those two cutting boards or have ideas for their creative reuse, let me know.

Village Green/Town² Comments 

Unfiltered

My morning schedule is off due to what might be labeled “moderate oversleeping.” I’m usually up between four and five and, believe it or not, it takes all of that preparation time for my brain to be ready to form words I’m comfortable putting out into the world.

I don’t usually do this, but I’m just going to rant a bit. You have been warned.

“One Size Fits All!”

Have you ever seen this claim for a product? Has it ever, ever been true?

I am frustrated this morning with the practice of blaming everything on one particular cause or claiming that your one solution will solve all problems. The proponents of this approach are zealous. 

My opinion: this does not help. 

We cannot have one balanced discussion about classroom overcrowding (or many other local topics) without someone uttering the word “developer” and derailing it. It’s no longer a discussion. It’s the equivalent of what happens when someone yells “Fire!” in a crowded theater.

Then we have those who are sure that the only solution to problems on their side of town is to snatch away opportunity on the other side of town.  The only solution.

I don’t believe it. I don’t believe that there’s just one cause for blame or just one solution for what you want.

One size does not fit all. 

After awhile these claims begin to feel like the ubiquitous ads on YouTube for that “viral, miracle pink salt treatment that works just like Ozempic!” Loud, relentless, and almost impossible to believe.

I’m not suggesting that there’s anything disingenuous about this. I think that these folks are sincere in their beliefs. I, too, am sincere. And I would like to respectfully disagree with them. 

It’s never just one thing. I wonder if we could learn more and do more good if we took a step back and tried to learn how all the pieces fit together.

Village Green/Town² Comments

The Spirit of Columbia: Aglow

Some years back, during that window of time when I really, really cared about being involved in Columbia Association happenings and goings on, I found myself singing the same song over and over again on my blog and in meetings of the CA Board of Directors.

Why are we making decisions when young people and families with young children aren’t in the room? Why don’t we make it easy for them to be in the room? It looks like the powers that be don’t want them to be in the room. 

I was pretty passionate about it. 

My reasoning was that, if we want Columbia to live on into the future, we need to be including people of younger generations every step of the way. And not just including them, but empowering them. The exhilaration felt by participating in the creation of Columbia ought to be shared by newer generations as they participate in having significant roles in its continuation. 

This was not exactly a welcome message. I decided that I was done fighting those battles with those people.

All of those memories came rushing back when a friend shared a recent news article, complete with video, from The Banner. 

The Glow: An underground circus thrives in a Columbia backyard, Lillian Reed, Baltimore Banner

This is the accompanying video piece.

What’s this? An underground circus? In Columbia?

For the past five years, “The Glow,” an underground variety show that runs just two days a year, has hidden in plain sight in the Columbia village of Kings Contrivance, its cult following so word-of-mouth that many in Howard County don’t know it exists.

Even if you can’t access the article, watch the video.

My immediate thought: honestly, I didn’t know that Columbia was so cool. There’s life in the old gal yet.

My second thought: here they are. This is the younger generation that was consistently not invited to the table when decisions were being made. Young folks. Families with young children. Even if they seemed invisible during those long and ponderous meetings of the select few. 

Here they are. Building their own Columbia. Celebrating their own community experiences. Making their own creative worlds. I must say, it doesn’t look at all the way I imagined it and that’s probably why I love it so much. Here is the zany, collaborative spirit that lit an earlier generation on fire circa 1967. 

Cardboard boat races? Inflatable college buildings? Meet underground backyard circus.

Silly me. I should have known. When you don’t invite the younger generation to your party, they make their own party. 

Do I have any concerns as I view the video footage of a cheering crowd and brightly-arrayed circus performers? Sadly, yes. I’m waiting for the inevitable “neighbors complain to city council” piece on Fox 45. 

I sure hope that doesn’t happen. We have enough killjoys right here in River City. They don’t need any out-of-town assistance. 

“The world is full of uncertainty, especially right now,” said Caitlin Weiger, an aerialist who performs in a duo with Cooper. “It’s so nice to have a base of people that love you, support you no matter what, let you be your most authentic, weirdest self.”

Well, what do you know? Cities are fun. 

Village Green/Town² Comments

Colorful, Fresh! And…Prohibited?

 

At six-fifteen am the temperature is 56 degrees, it’s foggy and the humidity is 100 per cent: ugh. Projections are for sun, though, and pollen will be middling. 

What? Don’t you check the weather before you make plans?

There are plenty of things to do around town and you know where to look for them by now, I guess. And you know I’m always going to put in a plug for the Farmers’ Markets: Clarksville Commons and Old Ellicott City.

I’m personally intrigued by this event:

Your new favorite outdoor art hangout!

SCRIBBLE! A DRAWING HANGOUT FOR MARYLAND CREATIVES PRESENTS:

SCRIBBLIN IN THE PARK SEPTEMBER 13 11-1 PM CENTENNIAL PARK

Your favorite outdoor art hangout! Pack your supplies, projects, something comfy to sit on, and enjoy an afternoon of sketching, painting, and creating in good company.

Please watch posted video on our Facebook and Instagram pages for walking guide to find our spot!

ALL ART STYLES, SKILL LEVELS, & MEDIUMS WELCOME!

CENTENNIAL LAKE BOAT RAMP LOT 10000 CLARKSVILLE PIKE ELLICOTT CITY, MD 21042

 @WEBESCRIBBLIN - RSVP LINK IN BIO

They’re also doing regular meetups at Busboys and Poets, so check their Facebook and Instagram. Since they recommend bring something comfy to sit on, this suggests that you’ll be working on your lap as opposed to a flat surface like a table - - but, I could be wrong.

It’s free but they do ask you to RSVP.

*****

The local story that is, frankly, blowing my mind is the one about fruits and vegetables.

'They fit in with the town': Eggplant, giant peach sprout controversy in Ellicott City, Tommie Clark, WBAL 11 TV

You know about the eggplant. It started as an ArtSites exhibit in front of the Howard County Tourist Center. Through the efforts (and probably funds) of a local group it stayed on as a fixture at The Wine Bin. Then in June The Wine Bin posted a welcome to a new sculpture on Main Street: a peach at Georgia Grace Café. I’m pretty sure it is the work of the same artist, Jan Kirsch.

 

My opinion? They’re fun. They make people smile. I bet folks enjoy taking their pictures with them, too.

I was flabbergasted to learn in the WBAL 11 TV story above that the Historic Preservation Commission wants none of this and seems prepared to run them (roll them?) out of town. Their objections: you didn’t get permission, they’re not historic enough, they might be offensive…(yes, I know about the emojis. I have seen no evidence that these sculptures have anything to do with that.)

Oh, brother.

This makes about as much sense as Victorians putting skirts on piano legs. (Although that story is, apparently, a myth.)

Sure, Main Street in Old Ellicott City is historic. It is also primarily a retail/dining district. It could be the most perfectly preserved historical promenade and yet still die without active commerce. Main Street is not Colonial Williamsburg. The Commission has neither the money nor muscle to operate it as a museum.

Historic preservation is important. But are the actions being taken in Ellicott City an appropriate use of the Commission's role? 

This part of the article puzzled me:

Don Reuwer, who manages numerous Main Street properties as president of the Waverly Real Estate Group, helped gather hundreds of signatures to keep the sculptures.

"Unfortunately, the chairperson told me that they weren't interested in the petitions that actually said that the merchants are only temporary, so they don't matter. And frankly, that was just the straw that broke the camel's back for me," Reuwer told 11 News.

I’m aware that news articles don’t always contain every piece of information and that quotes are sometimes partial or inaccurate. Or I may be misunderstanding entirely what Reuwer said. But…

This appears to suggest that the Preservation Commission views business owners as itinerant vendors, the sort who set up to hawk their wares at a carnival. They, the Historic Preservation Commission, are eternal. Others will come and go.

If I were a business owner in Main Street that I would find that deeply offensive. Think floods. Think recovery. Think coming back from pandemic losses.

I posted the news article on the Howard County, Maryland Facebook page. There were a few people trying to explain the emoji reference to me, bless them, but most thought the objections were misplaced. Will the opinions of the community have any sway here? I don’t know. But I wish they’d ponder at least one of those comments which sums up everything to me:

They're quirky and smart and so is Main Street. They need to stay.

What do you think?

Village Green/Town² Comments 

F ³: Good Intentions

 

The road to hell is paved with good intentions. It’s an old saying. We don’t exactly know how old. Considering how vividly we are experiencing the road to hell these days, without any good intentions whatsoever, it can be hard to believe that good intentions could go amiss.

Case in point: in pondering the murder of conservative media personality Charlie Kirk this week I found myself mulling over something which has been upsetting me for a long time: laughing at/celebrating the suffering of others. In light of that, I posted the following on social media:

You always lose something when you laugh at the suffering of others. It isn’t simply demoralizing to people you don’t like. You damage yourself. You chip away at the most precious part of what makes you human.

My words received positive feedback. I felt I had done the best I could with the feelings I had. Then I came across a post on Bluesky, unrelated to mine, that gave me pause.

Whiteness only demands civility and grace in response to calls for accountability and responsibility for whiteness and white supremacism.

The poster was someone I have come to trust and respect. The words made me uncomfortable. Is that what I was doing? I didn’t mean to do that. It troubled me. I know from past experience that “not meaning to” is not the same as not actually doing the thing. 

Later in the day, someone I know in real life called me on my words. Again, this was someone I have come to trust and respect. 

It doesn’t feel great when that happens. But, perhaps because of what I had read earlier, I was ready to address it. 

I agree with you completely. I have not one redemptive thing to say about the deceased. No one should be forced to say kind things that aren’t true nor should anyone be forced to silence truthful dissent in the name of “civil behavior.”

But I do believe that outright laughing and enjoying the suffering of others is deeply…damaging. 

I could be wrong. This is an opinion I have arrived at and not the result of scientific study. It could simply be a touchy feely tender hearted notion. 

When I see how unashamedly the British are still laughing at the demise of Hitler, well - - it makes me wonder.

The response was pretty blunt: you’re wrong. You’re wrong, and this is why. The reasoning was solid. I felt a little naked.  “But I didn’t think…”

Hello, road to hell. I meant well. But I didn’t think. And now I really needed to. I responded:

Then I need to examine how I got here, and understand how to do better, and make that change. Thank you for taking the time to call me out.

So how did I get here? I thought about how much is upset me when people on the Right laughed at and celebrated human suffering. So it was only fair that I should be equally opposed to people on the Left doing it. Sure, it’s easy to pass judgement on the other guys. How easy is it to keep your high standards when the shoe is on the other foot?

Makes sense, yes?

But what kind of suffering has been breaking my heart over the last year? Genocide in Gaza, masked enforcers disappearing people off the street, horrific conditions in what can only be called concentration camps…

I do think that the growing ability of people to laugh at that is scary. But I guess this is where my good intentions went off the rails.

The murder of Charlie Kirk was the murder of someone who actively promoted harm to people he didn’t like or didn’t agree with. Who is to say if he laughed but we do know that he said that God gives us rights which must be protected by accepting regular gun deaths.

1. This actively promotes harm while wrapping it in some kind of religious mandate.
2. It’s heresy. But that’s another story altogether.

At the very least, I was comparing apples and oranges. Or establishing a false equivalency, if you will. So, that’s how I got here.

My friend pointed out that grief is personal. And that’s true. I had been so absorbed in setting up a perfect and fair balance in my own mind that this is the part I completely missed. People respond in different ways. How was I to know what it would feel like to be someone who had been explicitly and repeated targeted by Kirk as they reacted to the news that he was no more?

What if someone killed your abuser? How would you feel? Or if it were someone who invaded your country or stole your good name?  Honestly you might laugh because of the sheer unexpectedness of it. Or you might laugh in relief that the bad things would cease. Humans are weird/wired that way. 

I wasn’t even thinking about that. And here’s the part that makes me squirm and why I am making myself put this out in public: I was probably thinking about “folks like me.” The people I can see my reflection in so well that I forget there are other people. 

God help me. I do not mean to do the things I do. But I placed myself at the center of the world here.  

We have a choice. I have a choice - - to stop and think. To examine the experiences of others. To be open to those moments when people call us out. I haven’t always been. Am I learning?

Not as fast as I’d like.

Village Green/Town² Comments