Village Green/Town²

The house where I live belonged to my husband before we met.   When I moved in, we went through an awkward period of adjustment, since both of us were adults with complete sets of furniture, dishes, and the like. It’s not a big house, and it took a lot of shedding of personal belongings before we even came close to feeling like everything fit. I decided that, although the house was small, it would feel big to me if I just pretended that it was a house at the beach.   My husband has indulged me in my fantasy, and when we did some work on the first floor and kitchen, we gave everything a beach-y feel.   I set up the living room furniture to face into a corner of windows that look out on our neighborhood.   In my mind’s eye you could sit on the couch and look out at the ocean. In fact, it was more a nook, of sorts, centered around the television.   I tucked my big comfy chair right where I could get away from it all.   It was my quiet place, and I ...

One of my favorite family activities is the "What If?" game. What if we were going to cast all of our friends as characters in the Muppet Show? Who would they be?What if you could design any house you wanted--what would it be like? What if you could pick your favorite stores for the Mall? This game has helped to pass the time on many a car ride or restaurant table wait. I admit that I have occasionally played, "What if you could re-make the Wilde Lake Village Center?" on several occasions. (Remember, this is a game. For one's own amusement.) For a long time I was stuck on the idea of making it a kid's birthday party center. A bouncy castle/inflatables place in a village center? Wow! I was pretty excited about adding all all the shops to surround it--a place to buy birthday presents, and a coffee shop for parents to hang out when kids were at parties...There are a lot of kids' parties happening each year, and I could imagine Wilde Lake being the dream h...

The room grew quiet. It was a depressed kind of silence, as if no one could think of anything to say that would help or make things better.  Finally, someone spoke. "The problem is that we keep hoping for the Great Good Developer who will be to us what we think that Rouse was--and it ain't gonna happen." He went on, "The County is our Government, and that's where we need to be going if we want things to change.  This kind of magical thinking isn't going to do anything." We were talking about the Bridge Columbia Project , an idea which would benefit Columbia and Howard County alike.  But we could have been talking about any significant challenge that Columbia faces today.  Insomuch as we have to work with HHC or GGP to get something accomplished, we cannot make them into something that they are not.   They are not like the God-like force protecting the Edo on Star-Trek Generations , looking out for our every need, protecting us. That'...

Alas, my favorite blogger, @sommeilbienivre, who can be read over at http://househoney.blogspot.com/, won't be joining me for the upcoming Hocoblogs party at The Corner Stable in Kings Contrivance.( http://hocoblogs-corner-stable.eventbrite.com/ )  Unbelievably, she has a prior commitment. I've already signed up for two spots, and I'd love to know I'm going in there with an instant friend to hang out with from the get-go.   My qualifications:  I promise to be a good listener, I am occasionally witty, and I am "relentlessly cheerful."  I will also buy your first drink. Transportation to and from provided upon request.  Drop me a note in the comments if you are interested. Cheers! hocoblogs@@@