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Eerie



One year ago today:

The Main Drag: HoCo Holler

I dropped off two teens for a day of fun yesterday. Their destination? Old Ellicott City. As I turned on to Main Street I couldn't help but recall the horrific scenes of flooding last summer and its devastating aftermath. And now, as I pulled over to let the kids out, I was witnessing such a different scene: a sunny day, folks out and about, many shops beautifully restored.

It's amazing.

I know that there is still work to be done, I know that some businesses suffered losses from which they could not recover. Even taking this into account, the overall recovery of Old Ellicott City is astoundingly good. So many people worked in so many ways to make this happen. Love, determination, hard work, cash and in-kind donations. Creative thinking and problem solving, too.

The recovery in Ellicott City is rather like the proverbial ice berg. You know--the one about how so little of an iceberg is visible. About 7/8 of it is below the surface. There are visible faces and names to the recovery effort in the form of local leaders and partnerships. But I think that all of them would be quick to emphasize the importance of all the unseen helpers who worked together to make this happen.

So the girls went to the Forget-Me-Not Factory and Sweet Elizabeth Jane. (My daughter liked their new location.) They had lunch from River House Pizza and dessert from Scoop-AHH-Dee-Doo. They met up with my husband for the ride home at the parking lot by the Wine Bin because my daughter knew she could find it, having been to a movie night there. There was something so lovely to me in watching her share her love of this place with a friend.

A fervent and grateful HoCo Holler to everyone who has worked and is working to bring back Old Ellicott City and to assure its viability in the future. Your work looks really, really good.

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*****
Sunday, as it became clear that this flooding was worse than the last, I wrote:
This is going to profoundly affect all local political campaigns from here on out. We are going to have bigger things than campaign signs and lit drops to work on.
Some local candidates seem to get this. Others do not. I am hoping that voters pay attention to those who are putting aside self-promotion for the common good, and those who use this tragedy as an excuse for a photo op.

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