The Never-ending Story

Wandering into weird territory this morning, I present two completely unrelated stories which have been hanging around in my consciousness for quite a while now. 

1. The stream restoration projects being carried out by CA (the Columbia Association.) 

2. The continued digging up of Rosa Bonheur Memorial Park.

What do they have in common? Both involve digging. Both have been going on for several years. Both have provoked a good deal of local pushback and distress.

And yet they just keep marching forward. In both cases it appears to me that nothing is getting any better. Every so often one reads a disturbing account describing what has transpired, and then - - nothing happens.

Possibly a good deal of life is like this and I just haven’t been paying attention. 

A quick Google search of Columbia Association stream restoration yields the following:

Here’s one for Rosa Bonheur Memorial Park:

What brought this to mind today? Two things.

1. A post by the Howard Courier account on Facebook asks  “What exactly changed with the Wilde Lake stream restoration project?”

Strangely, there’s no story attached. It’s simply a photo and a question. It yielded a stern and thorough response from HoCoLocal environmentalist and historian Wayne Davis. Seeing this exchange reminded me how often I have seen similar concerns - - that these projects cause destruction to the natural environment and have poor short-term and long-term outcomes. 

2. This article in the Baltimore Banner.

Pet cemetery’s mystery owner may swap graves for gas pumps, Tim Prudente, Baltimore Banner 

Image from Baltimore Banner, Caption reads: Rosa Bonheur Memorial Park, a pet cemetery in Elkridge established in 1935, occupies a little over 11 acres along Route 1. (Jerry Jackson/The Baltimore Banner)

I am not an expert on either of these topics but I am mightily perplexed by how long both of  these stories have been dragging on with no discernible resolution to community members’ concerns. 

Today I’m putting this out there to my readers. Do you have some information to add that would help explain what is going on in either case? I’d be grateful if anyone could help make some sense of this for the rest of us.

Let me know.

Village Green/Town² Comments

A Birthday Gift

Since today is my birthday I suppose I can pretty much do what I want. So I’m going to tell you about a moment in a news story that made me smile this week. 

Yes, there’s the Banner article about the Howard County flag design. Did you notice the words below?

Esen Paradiso doesn't think Howard County has straight lines. Rather, the farmland showcases the county's curves, while the aqueducts and the Chrysalis amphitheater at Merriweather Park both boast arches. She incorporated these characteristics into her design entry for a new county flag. - - Jess Nocera, Baltimore Banner

The Chrysalis.

Image courtesy of the Inner Arbor Trust 

The Chrysalis amphitheater was dedicated in April of 2017 and this week it was referenced as one of the inspirations for a new Howard County flag. That’s breathtaking. 

We live in a place where it’s almost impossible to get up at a public meeting to speak without being asked “How long have you been here?” The Chrysalis, whose dedication kicked off the opening of Merriweather Park at Symphony Woods, has become one of the definitive images in our community in less than ten years.

That makes me smile not simply because the Chrysalis is both a fun and beautiful thing to look at. It’s because of what it represents:

We often get asked “why free?” Free performances are the most fundamental way in which we can meaningfully bring arts and culture to the entire community we serve. Our mission is “to promote and nurture a park in a unique natural setting for a variety of arts and culture experiences that enrich the entire community.” To embrace the entire community we need to make sure there are high quality, inviting performances for no charge. Both to make sure that we embrace everyone across the economic spectrum, but also so we can reduce the barrier to experiencing art, especially something new. Free is far more than an obligation created in our founding documents - free is a conscious choice we make to fulfill our mission. - - Inner Arbor Trust website for Merriweather Park at Symphony Woods

The arts are for everyone. That’s not just something that’s nice to say. If you mean it, then you ought to live it. Remove obstacles. Open doors. Expand horizons. The Park combines arts experiences with the opportunity to be immersed in nature in a space that is welcoming to everyone. The Inner Arbor Trust has  created a place that is both healing and empowering. 

And you, my friends, are welcome there.

The 2025 Chrysalis season kicks off this month on April 12th. Sign up for the newsletter now so you won’t miss anything.

It has become the fashion in recent years to ask folks for birthday donations* to a beloved cause. I’d rather ask you to come to the Chrysalis this season. Bring a lawn chair or rent one. Bring a picnic or buy food onsite. Come on your own, bring your family, bring a friend. Hum along, clap your hands. 

Dance on the lawn. 

Just think. A place that was created purely to welcome everyone, to bring people together and bring them joy is embedded in what may very well be the new Howard County flag. I know that it has absolutely nothing to do with my birthday, but: it’s still a very welcome gift.

Village Green/Town² Comments

*Should you be moved to make a donation, rest assured that the Park welcomes both small change and major funding. 

Old Fashioned HoCo

 

I had no earthly idea that Howard County had a fox hunting organization. This is clearly because I live in the wrong part of town. If I lived in Mount Airy I would know.

Image from HoCoHounds Social Media

Wait. I stand corrected. It’s a “fox chasing” club. So apparently they are just chasing the foxes and not killing them. One wonders what the foxes think. 

This weekend the Mount Airy club, called Howard County-Iron Bridge Hounds, is holding a three day event called “Old Fashion Weekend”. I stumbled upon this bit of news while scanning the weekend events at the Visit Howard County website.  You can see details of the itinerary below.

Image from HoCoHounds social media 

Friday March 21, 2025

5:30P-...

Party in the Clubhouse

Open Bar, Oysters, Dinner, Sllent Auction & Dancing The Night Away - $50.00 Each

Saturday March 22, 2025

10:30A-2P

Old Fashion Point to Point/Poker Run

Ride your horse or watch the action!

Open Bar & Brunch -$35 Mounted/$25 Unmounted

If you like hunter paces - you'll love this!

CLICK HERE

For More Details &

To Purchase Tickets:

https://oldfashionweekend

2025.eventbrite.com

Sunday March 23, 2025

11A - 3P

Closing Meet with HCIBH Hounds Non- Members Welcome & Encouraged!

Full Hunt Breakfast, Open Bar Featuring Bloody Marys + Mimosas, Tally Ho Wagon For Unmounted Guests $100 Mounted/$25 Unmounted

All Weekend Discount Package:

$150.00 Per Mounted Guest

$85.00 Unmounted Guest

$75.00 Per HCIBH Member

*Individual Event Tickets Available

I’m imagining that, if this kind of event interests you, you have already registered. Just in case you have a last minute yearning to go and watch, here’s the Eventbrite link.

Something about this painting bugs me. I’m sure it’s meant to evoke something romantic about the long history of fox hunting but…

To clarify: I’m not suprised that people ride and even keep their own horses in Howard County. It’s the local fox hunting culture that I was completely ignorant of. That’s what comes of staying too much in my own neck of the woods, I suppose. 

There’s also an Iron Bridge Hounds Pony Club. I’m assuming there’s some kind of affiliation? If you are better informed, please clue me in.

It’s the first Saturday in Spring. The weather forecast looks to be partly cloudy with mild temperatures. What are your plans? Anything exciting? 

Village Green/Town² Comments 

F ³: About Face

 Look familiar?

If you use Facebook you see them frequently. They are the emoji choices provided as a way of reacting to other people’s posts. They do not encompass every single reaction one might have but, then again, there are always gifs. And, if all else fails, there are…words. Strung together in phrases, or even complete sentences, they make useful replacements for emojis. 

In a time of almost complete emotional and intellectual exhaustion, I sometimes have to remind myself of that. Me. A lifelong preschool teacher. “Use your words, Julia.”

So here are some words about a particular image you see above. This one:

New Reactions for COVID-19 

In March 2020, Facebook added a Care emoji reaction as an additional option in response to COVID-19. This is displayed similarly to a hugging face holding a red love heart. - - emojipedia

Do you remember when it was introduced? I do. I wasn’t sure at the time if I would use it. It seemed a rather facile response to an overwhelming world tragedy. People are sick and dying. You are isolated in your home. Here, have an emoji. 

I do use it now, though. It can mean: sending hugs, I feel for you, I’m with you in a hard time, I know that’s rough, I care about how you feel, I know - - I understand.

As I write those words today it’s clear that this little emoji is an endangered form of expression. Think about it: it’s the empathy emoji.

Empathy has been under attack lately. Have you noticed?

We’ve got civilizational suicidal empathy going on. … The fundamental weakness of Western civilization is empathy, … a bug in Western civilization which is the empathy response. - - Elon Musk

You can find a basic analysis here: Elon Musk wants to save Western Civilization from Empathy, Zachary B. Wolf, CNN

Just for fun, Google “empathy under attack.” Okay, maybe it’s not so fun.

As attacks on empathy have been ramping up from one side of the political spectrum, a chilling reminder has surfaced from the annals of twentieth century history.  G.M. Gilbert, the chief psychologist who interviewed the Nazis on trial at Nuremberg, wrote:

I told you once that I was searching for the nature of evil. I think I’ve come close to defining it: a lack of empathy. It’s the one characteristic that connects all the defendants. A genuine incapacity to feel with their fellow man. Evil, I think, is the absence of empathy.

As the new political administration makes its mark by removing facts from history, eviscerating public service, and even disappearing real human beings as they attempt to travel and go about their daily lives, it does look like empathy is a stumbling block for them. The path of destruction would be so much smoother if people didn’t care about other people. 

Think of how easy it would be for them if we all just lost our ability to care. To be…human. 

Would Meta’s Mark Zuckerberg make a point of eradicating something as small as a care emoji? Wouldn’t that just be a ridiculous gesture? Well, yes. But I also thought it was ridiculous when he stripped Facebook of everything that the new President didn’t like and followed it up by placing the blame for Meta’s diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives on a woman. 

Is Zuckerberg capable of bending even lower? What do you think?

Apparently there was once a “Yay!” Emoji on Facebook. I confess that I don’t remember it. So there is a precedent for removal, as silly as that sounds. I can just imagine a lame excuse like, “The Care Emoji was created as a response to the COVID pandemic and, now that the pandemic is over, it’s no longer necessary…” blah, blah blah…

Am I serious about the plight of a semi-animated image on a social media platform? Not entirely. I am serious about how desperately important it is for us to maintain our ability to care for others. Empathy is precious. We must feed it, nurture it, practice it. 

Sending hugs

I feel for you

I’m with you in a hard time

I know that’s rough 

I care about how you feel

I know - - I understand 

We don’t need an emoji to have empathy. We do need to keep on giving each other the strength to be human.

Village Green/Town² Comments

First Green

 

And today is the first day of Spring. Seasonal allergies, anyone? I heard recently on a television quiz show that there are no recorded mentions of “hay fever” until the 1800’s, which may very well mean that it didn’t exist before then. I’d love to know more about how that happened. 

Today’s weather report calls for some sun, some clouds, some rain, and pollen. In other words: Spring.

But, let’s get local. What are the usual HoCoLocal signs of Spring? I’ll start us off:

• Columbia elections 
• Blossoms of Hope
• The daily watch for high school graduation dates and times 
• Event season begins at the Chrysalis 
• Clark’s Elioak Farm opens
• Spring/ Earth Day clean up events
• SpringFest in Old Ellicott City
• A rush of inquiries about which restaurants have outdoor dining spaces so you can eat dinner while looking at your car

Now it’s your turn. Help me add to the list. What are your favorite HoCo signs of Spring? Are there any particular local events you look forward to each year? Or perhaps the best ones are small things near where you live: flowers coming up, trees in bloom, signs of the season in parks and along pathways.

Let me know.

By the day, does Rita’s still do free Italian ice on the first day of Spring? 

 

Village Green/Town² Comments

A New Look

 

Howard County has a new flag. Yesterday County Executive Calvin Ball announced the final choice, designed by local artist Esen Paradiso.

Howard County selects sunny, colorful design by longtime resident for new flag, Jess Nocera, Baltimore Banner

Esen Paradiso doesn’t think Howard County has straight lines. Rather, the farmland showcases the county’s curves, while the aqueducts and the Chrysalis amphitheater at Merriweather Park both boast arches. She incorporated these characteristics into her design entry for a new county flag.

True confession: this wasn’t my favorite of the designs submitted. Still, after reading Nocera’s article, I liked it a whole lot better. It’s growing on me. 

You probably know what comes next:

Let the carping and mockery commence. And, believe me, it has. People don’t like change. Some people especially don’t like change if it comes during a Democratic administration. And some people just enjoy making fun of things. This is not a crime. I am not inclined to make fun of it but still I found this comment somewhat amusing:

It’s not unattractive necessarily just seems like it belongs on a midwestern credit union’s Visa debit card, odd as a flag.

If I were to be uncharitable I might suggest that the new flag is a perfect embodiment of a popular sentiment: Howard County: No New Housing. 

Choosing a new flag is complicated and the Howard County Flag Commission has worked extremely hard to make this an open, engaging, and thorough process. 

Despite their diligent efforts we still have plaintive cries of: “What was wrong with the old flag?”

This is the old flag. In case you did not know, it features the Crossland banner which was flown by Maryland confederate regiments during the Civil War. Once you know that, I don’t see how it can be acceptable. 

Do we want to perpetuate a flag which honors the the Confederacy? Is that what we stand for? Is that what Howard County is all about?

I think most residents would say they don’t honor the Confederacy yet, at the same time, they wouldn’t find this symbolism objectionable. It’s not a dealbreaker for them. It’s rather like watching an entire television show and not noticing that everyone is white.

Howard County: the Confederacy is not a dealbreaker. Just don’t bring it up. 

Before I go, I want to share the following description of the old flag from a poster on Bluesky:

This flag commemorates two important events in the history of Howard county, Maryland: The Purchasing of the Dress with Fuzzy Shoulders, and the Forcing of the Christmas Tree Through the Golden Triangle. 

Changing it erases our shared history and is the act of a tyrant.

I love, love, love this tongue-in-cheek observation. I will never be able to look at the old flag without seeing the Dress with the Fuzzy Shoulders and Forcing the Christmas Tree through the Golden Triangle.

Of course, the new flag isn’t truly official until approved by the County Council. If they don’t approve it, I think they should be required to design a better one. And then listen to all the armchair critics. 

Village Green/Town² Comments

The Perfect Place

 

Did you watch “If You Lived Here?” last night? What did you think?

It was fun to see what they chose to highlight. Let’s face it, it’s exciting to see one’s own community on television when the show is meant to showcase its good qualities.

Did you see the new Horizon Foundation ad campaign last night? It struck me as rather ironic since I’d just seen the exuberant WETA real estate program. 

Image from the Horizon Foundation social media 

They are right. It isn’t the full story.

As a top-ranked place to live, HoCo is the perfect place for racism to hide.

Here, Black residents are 3x more likely to get rejected for home loans.

Hispanic women are 5x more likely to receive late or no prenatal care. 

Howard County is the perfect place for racism.

It's easy for us to miss. And possible for us to change.

It’s easy for white people to miss. For example: in last night’s episode of “If You Lived Here” how many people who were not white were featured? Korean Way on Route 40 is mentioned in passing. Benjamin Banneker, same. (Also: Banneker was not from Howard County.) I’ll have to go back and rewatch the entire episode but I’m pretty sure that there are no Black or Hispanic residents of Ellicott City in the entire thing.

Is this because the local people who worked with WETA are mean and horrible people? No, probably not. Racism is more than rock throwing or cross burning. Sometimes it is very nice people focusing on what they have always thought was important and not realizing what they are leaving out. 

As pleasant and inviting as WETA’s visit to Ellicott City was, if I were a Black or Hispanic house hunter in this area I don’t think I’d feel invited. I’d expand that to include any potential resident who isn’t white. 

It’s easy for us to miss. And possible for us to change.

The Horizon Foundation is kicking off a campaign to connect with members of the community.

Join the conversation.

We want to hear from you.

If you live in Howard County, we're inviting you to be a part of a conversation about how we can make our great county, great for all.

Even here, people of color face barriers to pursuing their best health. We're working together to change that and we're inviting you to join in.

I can’t help but feel that embarking on this initiative in the current political climate is bold if not downright frightening. It seems that one of the new administration’s highest priorities is to suppress conversations like these and disempower organizations whose goals are like those of the Horizon Foundation.

The Horizon Foundation works side-by-side with community to build power, advocate for policy change and dismantle structural racism to achieve better health for everyone in Howard County and greater Maryland. - - from the Horizon Foundation website

If you lived here you’d know that some folks find this topic uninteresting or even inappropriate. A vocal minority would like to make addressing these issues illegal. That’s what makes Howard County a perfect place for racism. 

Still, I do believe it’s possible to change. Interested?

Sign up to join a conversation on how we can update laws and policies to make this great place, great for all.

Each of these ads contains a form to enter your contact information if you’d like to learn more and possibly participate in the conversation. If I can find a direct link, I will add it in here. 

About the Ellicott City episode: I promise I will go back and rewatch it and, if my second viewing does not confirm my initial impression, I will come back to this space and clarify. I do think it’s important to realize that even the most (seemingly) benign actions can speak volumes about who we include and who we exclude. 

 It’s fun to be on television. Sometimes, though, it reveals more than we were expecting to see.

Village Green/Town² Comments