Skip to main content

Everything But the Kitchen Sink



I woke up to a world awash in the royal wedding. More coffee, please. No criticism from me; I just didn’t have it in me to get up that early. If Twitter is any indication, I should be running the text of  Presiding Bishop Michael Curry’s address in place of a blog post today. It’s not available yet, from what I can tell. Perhaps tomorrow.

 On the local front, today is Oakland Mills 50th Birthday kick off celebration. The events of the day have been adjusted due to inclement weather. I think the most updated schedule of events can be found here.

 Wine in the Woods will be squishy this year, on account of the weather. I know from past experience that this will not deter devotees of our local rite of Spring. I also know it’s going to rip up the grass something fierce. Can’t wait for that new pathway system to go in...

 County Council member and candidate for County Executive Calvin Ball did have an event scheduled for this afternoon but it has been moved to June 9th. I’d say that’s a good call.

 There’s going to be a free community square dance happening today at Clarksville Commons from 3 to 5 pm. That event will be happening rain or shine. Learn more here.

 Something to plan ahead for: the Building Families for Children Agape 5K.  
Building Families for Children is anon-profit Christian organization that provides family stability services within a 50 mile radius of their office in Columbia. This includes foster care, therapy services, material assistance drives, and volunteer family coaching/hosting services through Safe Families for Children. The Agape 5K is their major annual fundraising event. From their Facebook page:

Register before 5/25 to reserve a free athletic race t-shirt!
Use promo code 1MONTH TODAY ONLY to save 10%!

 LOOK FORWARD TO...
✔ Athletic Agape 5k T-Shirt
✔ Chip Timing (Racine MultiSports) 
✔ Raffle Prizes & Swag Bags
✔ Convenient Early Packet Pickup (Road Runner Sports)
✔ Delicious Post-Race Snacks (bagels, donuts, bananas, muffins, and more!)
✔ Awards & Prizes (top 3, age categories, largest group)
✔ Supporting Programs That Help Maryland's Most Vulnerable Children Thrive in Families! 

 Already signed up? Invite friends to join your team!
We still need 40 VOLUNTEERS! Sign up on the event page. 

 Yeah, there’s that Preakness thing happening in Baltimore again. I’m just hoping that wet conditions don’t cause serious injury to any of the horses. The people on the infield will need to fend for themselves.

 In closing, I can’t let the day go by without sharing this local story:
“Was there a part of you that was like, ‘This isn’t real. This could not happen at my school?’” the interviewer asks.
“No. There wasn’t,” Curry replies, with a bitter laugh.
“Why so?”
“It’s been happening everywhere,” she shrugs. “I’ve always felt it would eventually happen here too.”
It. Will. Happen. Here. Don’t want it to be a local story? Do something.



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

F ³: We Are Not Entitled

  A college student went missing. His family and friends were distraught. The community was encouraged to be on the lookout and spread the word.  Days passed.  They must have been agonizing days for those who cared about the missing student. Thoughts that foul play had been involved cannot have been far from their thoughts.  Then, at last, the student was found. Alive. The news was shared with the public.  So. Much. Relief. A family had been reunited with their child. Even though we know that life is complicated, I think it is okay to accept this as a happy ending and leave it at that.  But the world of social media says no. For every expression of joy at the news came questions and even judgement. It became clear to me that some folks felt entitled to an explanation. They wanted the backstory. It’s as though they felt that, by enlisting the help of the public on social media, the authorities now owed them all the details. Television dramas often weave curr...
2 comments
Read more

Separate and Unequal

  Remember “Separate but equal”? Remember how that really meant that Black schools languished in  broken-down buildings without adequate heat or toilet facilities, with cast-off, ragged learning materials, underfunded and largely ignored? The Supreme Court struck that down in 1954. The evidence was clear that separate was not equal. Plessy v Ferguson had led to - - no, endorsed - - deeply unequal schooling and opportunities. We tend to think of Brown v Board as being purely about racial integration. It was not.  It was about the logical consequences of segregation. And they were not, not, not equal. The ruling in 1954 didn’t transform public education for non-whites into a land of milk and honey by any means. But it articulated some essential truths in a way that made including everyone a legal precedent which could be relied upon and built upon. It was better than what came before it but it rested upon unsteady ground. It did not necessarily change the hearts or minds ...
1 comment
Read more