Village Green/Town²

  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...

  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 ...

  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...

  What’s the scoop? I caught this quick video about a place called Sweet Finishes on YouTube and I realized that I had no idea where it was. Aha! The Business Monthly covered their opening in June.  Apparently they’re in the TCBY* space on Snowden. Have you been there? Any recommendations? You can find Sweet Finishes on Instagram but, at the moment, they’re pushing out a bunch of AI slop so I’m not going to link to that here. Here’s a menu I found online if you are curious. (Their use of fonts made my eyeballs itch.)  Sweet Finishes is an independent, Black-owned business in Columbia, a place where we bemoan the proliferation of chains yet somehow inexplicably fail to patronize the mom and pops. I hope they’ll be able to succeed in their new incarnation.  There’s talk on Reddit that Meadows in Hickory Ridge is going to close due to issues with Kimco. I thought I had heard long ago that the current Meadows owner wanted to retire and was looking for someone to take i...

  The thing I found this week on Facebook Marketplace that completely creeped me out: a bear head. Yes, just the head. For two hundred dollars you think you’d get the entire bear. I think it’s safe to say that I have a soft spot in my heart for teddy bears but that does not extend to large, disembodied teddy bear heads. Yikes. In better bear-themed news, a recent read from HCLS through Libby was about a much smaller fellow. Probably my favorite part of the reading experience was learning this from author Katherine Applegate: Soon after I began working on POCKET BEAR, I learned about a company in London called “Loved Before.” Their motto is, “Saving the planet, one teddy at a time.” I loved the idea of recycling toys. Pretty soon, The Second Chances Home for the Tossed and Treasured found its way into my book. Loved Before? Remember them? I’ve been fangirling over Loved Before since 2022 when I imagined what it would be like to spend one’s life surrounded by plush friends looking fo...

Are they playing your song? The Ellicott City Partnership alerted me to this opportunity: And here’s a post about it from HoCo Rec and Parks: CALLING ALL MUSIC LOVERS! Come join us at the new Capitoline Center (the old Ellicott City Courthouse) from 11am-3pm on August 29 as we celebrate International Play Music on the Porch Day. We have space in the front and back of the building. Bring your own chairs, instrument (s), a few songs to lead or share, and your enthusiasm! Come out for a wonderful time making the world beautiful one note at a time. You can learn more about the origins of Play Music on the Porch Day at the official website. HoCo ARTsites 2026 are officially installed and ready to be viewed throughout Columbia/HoCo. You can see the full list of works and their locations here plus a few photographs as well.  Yet again I’m going to challenge myself to actually get out and visit all of them. I think I’ll start here. "Two Birds, One Stone" by Robert Donovan at Inner A...