As Sands Through the Hourglass

The last day of summer vacation has arrived for me. For those of you who work all through the year, I understand you may take a dim view of my taking the summer off. For many years I couldn't afford to. My gratitude at getting this time to spend with my family is immense. The luxury of having as much time as I want to write is both thrilling and daunting.

A few local stories that are on my mind today as I watch the sands of summer fall through the hourglass:

Rouse and swimming pools. I took two teens to the Hopewell Pool yesterday and remembered what was said when I went to the Undesign the Redline event hosted by Enterprise Community Partners. Rouse made sure every neighborhood had its own swimming pool because he was making a radical statement about integration: we all swim together here. I worry that we really need to do much more of that kind of 'swimming together' in our daily lives.

Calling the police. I saw an online discussion in a community group about unfamiliar young people suspiciously looking at someone's truck. The person wasn't sure what to do, but they felt that it wasn't a good sign. Others assured them that they were right to be worried and they should call the police next time it happened.

"But they weren't committing any crime." Call anyway, people said.

When would you call the police? When would you go outside and talk to the unfamiliar young people? Would you feel safe enough in your neighborhood to do that? How well do you know your neighbors that you'd be sure that a group of young people didn't belong there?

I don't know the particulars of this situation, and I do think it's great when neighbors work together to promote communication and share concerns. But sometimes calling the police escalates situations needlessly. What's your opionion?

There's a much-promoted Blog Party tonight at Bare Bones Grill for bloggers and their readers. I'll be there with HoCoHouseHon. As the numbers of possible attendees have increased, my desire to be there has decreased. So, if there is anyone out there who for some odd reason had hoped to touch base with me, I'm probably going early and leaving early.

In closing, I think it's pretty cool that someone wrapped and covered that Confederate monument at the Howard County Courthouse. However, it never should have been there in the first place. Let's work together to get that thing removed.