Skip to main content

Whatever Floats

It's raining. And raining. I'm thinking about the power of the storm Tuesday afternoon, and about the rushing waters* in Ellicott City. Then I wonder about what long-term progress has been made to help residents and businesses in Old Ellicott City deal with chronic flooding. And I think about how much polluted stormwater runoff that storm generated that headed directly into the Chesapeake Bay.

It reminds me of the old joke:

Hey farmer, when you gonna fix that leakin’ roof?


Well, stranger, when it’s a-rainin’, it’s too wet to fix it; and when it’s dry, it’s just as good as any man’s house.

Still, all of this is merely a prelude to this question: what about the Columbia Patuxent Rotary Boat Float? (Yes, I went from rain to storm to rushing waters to run off to boats.) Have I missed it? Are they having it this year? I've never been, but every year I tell myself this this will be the year to go down and experience this uniquely Columbian event.

Did I put it off too long? Has it ceased to exist? Is it one of those things I just assumed would go on forever and still be there when I finally decided to go? I don't know, and a quick Google search was no help. In the meantime, here's some YouTube footage from 2013 featuring well-known local emcee extraordinaire (and Rotary member) Dave Bittner.

Maybe I'll just go play with boats in the bathtub.

*****

Update: I have learned that the Boat Float is no more. I wish I had taken the opportunity to see it. That's the price of putting things off and taking things for granted.



*Scroll down on the County Executive's Facebook page for two short video clips of Ellicott City during the storm.

 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Teacher Gifts

Today is the last day of school before the Winter Break. It’s a good time to remember the far-reaching nature of our public school system. You may not have children. You may have sent your children to independent schools. It matters not. You will be impacted one way or another. Yesterday I read a long thread on Facebook about several waves of illness in the schools right now. There’s influenza A and norovirus, I believe. And of course there’s COVID. Apparently in some individual schools the rate of illness is high enough for school admin to notify parents.  When I was little the acceptable holiday gift for a teacher was one of those lovely floral handkerchief squares. (I don’t know what it was for male teachers. They were rare in my elementary years.) These days the range of teacher gifts is wider and I have fond memories of Target gift cards which I have written about before. I think it’s safe to say that giving one’s teacher Influenza, norovirus, or COVID is not the ideal holiday...
1 comment
Read more

They Can Wait

This is not a typical Saturday post. That’s because, in my community, it’s not a typical Saturday.  Oakland Mills High School, after years of deferred repair, needs massive renovation. It’s pretty simple: when you don’t fix a problem it gets bigger. The school system itself said the the OMHS school building was  "no longer conducive to learning" back in 2018.  2018 .  But Thursday the Boad of Education voted to push it out of the lineup of important projects which will be given the go-ahead to proceed soonest.  In my opinion it’s a terrible decision and sets a dangerous precedent. To explain, here’s the advocacy letter I sent in support of Oakland Mills High School. I was rather proud of it. I am writing to ask you to proceed with needed renovation at Oakland Mills High School in the most timely and comprehensive manner humanly possible. I have read the letter sent to you by the Oakland Mills Community Association and I am in complete agreement. You are extremel...
1 comment
Read more

Columbia Chance Connection

  Last night, as my husband and I were about to sit down to dinner, our front door swung open and a cheery voice announced, “I’m ba—ack!”  We weren’t expecting anyone. Clearly the only people who’d walk right in to our house would be one of our offspring. I had my reading glasses on so I wasn’t seeing too clearly. It seemed too tall for our youngest, but we knew our eldest was at work. I took off my glasses to see a friendly but confused face scanning our living room. When her gaze landed on us we all had a sudden realization. We didn’t know eachother. “Oh I’m so sorry! I’m in the wrong house! My daughter just moved in and she needed hooks for the kitchen so I ran out to get them.” She waved the package. “All these houses look the same and I don’t know the neighborhood yet. I thought this was my daughter’s house.” We were all getting a bit giggly. “That’s okay. For a quick second we thought you were our daughter,” said my husband. I told her our names and said she should defin...
Post a Comment
Read more