Village Green/Town²

Friday night at the theatre. The setting: Slayton House Camp of the Arts, located in Wilde Lake. No, this is not a theatre review. It’s a tiny sliver of life in Columbia, Maryland that you won’t read in the newspaper or see on the evening news. First off, Slayton House has stood through all the changes in the Wilde Lake Village Center rather like The Little House in the old picture book . They even have the original brick from its construction  in 1967. I stood outside after the show, enjoying this familiar view. This space has seen many summers of children from the arts camp (and the Karate camp) running about and playing on their lunch breaks. The choices for an apres-theatre repast are bountiful these days in The New American City. My lovely companion had a hankering for Bon Chon. I don’t know if you can envision this in your mind’s eye, but Bon Chon is a straight shot from the Wilde Lake Village Center. We got in the car, and “poof!” we were there. Now,...

Here’s a question to ponder.  If you were stopped right now and asked to prove your citizenship, could you?  (I couldn't.  And I shouldn't have to.  And neither should people who don't look like me.) The question comes from a Howard County parent who has an adopted child from another country. A child who does not look like her parents. A child who, by virtue of physical appearance alone, might stand out to ICE as “not American.”  More and more we are reading stories of ICE taking minor children into custody purely because they don’t “look right”. In some cases they are disregarding the fact that the children are, in fact, American  citizens. What that looks like in Howard County is anxious parents afraid to send their children to school or into public spaces without “papers”. Fearful that papers won’t be enough. ICE has been permitted to extend its reach far from border areas. And they have shown that they will spring into action if  ...

I’ve been mulling over this article for a while now. Rent in this quirky N.J. town is unbelievably cheap — but there’s a catch  , Cassidy Grom for NJ.com A little place that time forgot, which the decades cannot improve. Owned by the residents. Rented back to themselves at amazingly low rates. The waiting list to get in is 25 years long, and residents sometimes pass on homes to relatives. At first the thought of this quirky little place appealed to me. The more I think about it, though, the more it feels really creepy. The opportunity to have this small but comfortable and affordable housing is controlled by the residents themselves. That could be a good thing. It could also be insular and exclusionary. What do you think? I raise this issue today because I’m looking forward to the upcoming episode of the Elevate Maryland podcast. Their guest will be Howard County Housing  Commissioner Peter Engel. The Housing Commission’s watchwords are: quality, inclusiv...

Here’s a message for those who say that local politicians should stay in their own lane and should have nothing to say about national issues: Are you getting it yet? Have you figured out that you can be going along, minding your own business, and national politics can just up and punch you in the nose? Yesterday seems like a good example. Tweets by a sitting president, targeting a duly elected representative and his district, polluted both the national and local conversation. I’ve seen plenty of well-meaning people pushing back by pointing out that Elijah Cummings’ district includes Columbia and Howard County. They feel his comments show Trump’s ignorance. They want people to know they love their home. It’s not dirty or “infested.” I respectfully counter that this misses the mark. The ugly words we are all talking about are based on a simple assumption: that a Black man could only be representing an urban district, and that an urban district is full of Black and Brown peo...

The closest I get to watching reality tv is reading people’s comments on Twitter. And nothing I have read there through the years has induced me to watch. This statement, though, seemed like it might be the beginning of a whole new reality tv concept: The neighbors next door that I hate put their house up for sale!!! Thankfully, they will be gone soon. Maybe some hot single bachelor will snap it up. I know it won’t be on the market long at all. #HoCoMD We’ve all seen shows like House Hunters where couples are looking for the perfect house. But what about a show where the next door neighbor is on a quest for a hot bachelor? Or bachelorette? Or a nice family with kids who will play with their kids? Watch with amazement as Suzy neighbor conspires to shoo away the serious-looking retirees or works with realtors to lure in that perfect single, swoonworthy house buyer. No, of course I am not serious. But would it be any more crazy than most reality tv produced these days?  Le...

More surprising than the possibility that Woodstock might be reincarnated at Merriweather Post Pavilion is the fact that some people don’t like The People Tree. Shocking, I know. The first hint I got was this statement on Twitter which seems to suggest that the writer believes the statue was meant to be a replacement for religious expression in the New American City: Also, Howard County, or “HoCo” is home to Columbia, MD, developed by James Rouse. It’s sort of a quasi-Marxist utopia. They don’t allow churches there. But they have the “unity tree” by the lake. Oh it’s just splendid . Well, alrighty then. And over on Facebook the news of the new Azlon sculpture in the Merriweather District brought this response: Please tell me this is replacing the “people tree”?! I have to admit that the first time I saw photos of the new sculpture I thought of The People Tree, and whether Howard Hughes was looking to rebrand using Azlon as the symbol of the new Downtown Columbia. If ...

Two shootings. Two victims: Gerardo Alberto Espinoza, 46, of Chantilly, Virginia Taiwon Dashon Dorsey, 21, of Jessup Howard County seems to be fascinated with the details surrounding the story of how Mr.Espinoza met an untimely end in a well-to-do neighborhood in Western Howard County. His family and friends have come forward to speak in his defense. Because of them, and the press coverage of the story, we have seen sympathetic photos of Mr. Espinoza and his family. We know details of his professional and family life.. I went looking last night for similar stories about the other victim, Taiwon Dashon Dorsey. Here is what I found: Nothing.  No photograph of Mr. Dorsey in happier days. No stories of his life, work, or hobbies. There are plenty of articles listing him as the victim of a shooting. There was an argument, an ongoing dispute.  That’s it. In addition, there’s no death notice or obituary in the paper, no page on the Legacy website. Taiwon Dashon D...

The sunlight woke me up this morning. I knew right away that it meant I had I overslept. My internal body clock has been waking me at around 5:45 this summer and today I slipped by an hour. Yikes. I know it is summer vacation but I may need to start setting an alarm. On the other hand, vacation will be over soon enough and I’ll be compelled to follow a work day schedule. Why rush it? I’ve been driving my daughter to work every morning, which means daily trips to the Wilde Lake Village Center. It’s definitely one of those “life comes full circle” experiences as she is now a counselor at the camp where she spent many happy summers of her childhood. As you might expect, she has changed a lot over the years. So has the Wilde Lake Village Center. For many summers the trip to camp involved navigating what felt like a vast wasteland of empty parking lots. Now it is a hub of activity, both a neighborhood center and a neighborhood unto itself. I imagine that long time residents may ha...

It’s no secret that I use Twitter as a jumping off point for information about local stories. This one came to me by accident. It began as a simple comment: Baltimore twitter is a wild place boy. But then it took an unexpected turn. This is true. I get involved as well, but let's be real: my county likes to drive around with magnet bumper stickers that read "Choose Civility". City folk treat Howard like it's the Emerald City: far and somewhat mythical. HoCo: the Emerald City? Hmm... I often think of Columbia as Stepford. Now, wait a minute. That’s going a bit far, don’t you think? I don't think of Howard County as anything remotely mythical or sparkly.  I think of Howard County as...like, if TGI Friday's became a whole county. Lol...damn..exactly! Ouch. Well, that’s what happens when you are essentially eavesdropping on other people’s conversations, which Twitter allows you to do. And I do find it fascinating to s...

The other day I opened my front door to a young man who was making the rounds telling people about the Streets for All initiative. It was a punishingly hot day. When we were done talking I said, Try to stay cool! You shouldn’t be out in this heat ! And he looked back at me, tired, and said, Ma’am, I have to make a living. When I closed the door and went back to my comfy chair in my air conditioned house I felt a sense of shame. What an idiotic thing for me to say to someone who doesn’t have the privilege that I have. To admonish someone for doing something that they must do, whether it is physically wearing or not. I have choices. It’s very likely that his choices are far fewer. What was I thinking? That he was doing it for fun? Add to this that I am a white woman and he was a black man,calling me ma’am,  and the careless stupidity of my remark still burns me with embarrassment. The history of this country is full of white people telling black people what they ought t...

I had coffee with Erin Logan of Balt Sun/Howard County Times recently. She had issued an open offer on Twitter to anyone who wanted to have coffee and ask her any questions about local reporting. I really enjoyed the experience, although I found myself talking way too much and I didn’t ask nearly enough questions.  In the end, almost 100 per cent of what was discussed was off the record so I can’t tell you much more than that she is a delightful person and astute journalist and we are lucky to have her. One question I wish I had asked is, “What’s the deal with BaltSun/HoCo Times maintaining two separate editorial boards?” Both papers are owned by the same corporate entity. Both papers are headquartered in Baltimore with no local Columbia/HoCo offices. Who decides who will be on those editorial boards? Is there an underlying worldview that each paper is trying to maintain through their editorial pieces? Or is there one person with two hats who pounds out one point of v...

I was somewhat startled to see this news yesterday: The Howard County Public School System is actively seeking a new chief financial officer after Rafiu O. Ighile resigned late last month .  In her piece for the Baltimore Sun, Jess Nocera notes: In an interview, Ighile said his reasoning for leaving Howard was “purely family.” A father to six daughters, the oldest being 16, he knew his priority needed to be his family. Without knowing anything about the particulars, I think that, after a budget season like this year’s, I would want to spend more time with family, too. The phrase “wanting to spend more time with family” is a well-known exit line, along with, “leaving to pursue other interests.” They have come to represent a multitude of sins, or, perhaps more accurately, as a stand-in for other, more complicated explanations. I found the following article extremely helpful: Canned Phrases for Making an Exit , Kate Hafner for the New York Times Ms. Haf...

Signs that you may be getting old: You start getting spam for senior dating, walk-in bath tubs, and hearing enhancement products in your email inbox. The waitress gives you a Senior discount without your asking for it. You get fancy invitations in the mail for events about how to manage your estate. But the big one for me lately is this: what on earth have they done to my Target and why can’t I find anything? As my mother used to say, “If it says new and improved, it probably isn’t.” Part of getting old is a lack of mental/emotional flexibility and I guess I have met my match with Target. I’m not finding it to be a fun new adventure. So far it’s just a pain in the neck. Despite the fact that I have previously waxed eloquent about “noodling around” Target, that doesn’t mean I want to wander aimlessly without ever finding what I came to buy. It pains me to hear myself talk like this. I never wanted to be one of those people who complained about change and went on ...

The other day, Board of Education Member Vicky Cutroneo asked the following question in a local online education group: Educators:  what materials of instruction (MOI) do you run out of first/need to supplement with your own income the most? She received 191 responses. If I were the mathematical sort I would have counted and sorted the responses and made a bar graph. I didn’t. Instead, I looked on with a sinking feeling as the post confirmed what I already knew: it’s very expensive to be a teacher. This is the time of year that we see ads with special discounts for teachers to buy material s for their classrooms for the upcoming school year. On its face, it’s a nice gesture. But it hardly addresses the underlying problem: Why do we expect teachers to use their own money to provide materials which their jobs require? We already know that teacher salaries in almost all locations have been stagnant for quite a while. Adjusted for other financial factors, teachers actua...

National news is so dreadful that the high point of my day yesterday was a good checkup at the dentist. I got “roughed up” on social media twice yesterday (no blood drawn) and I’m worn out. Some folks think we'd all get along together if we just sat down and talked with each other more. After yesterday I’m upset that such people exist. Forget wanting to sit in the same room with them to have a chat. No thanks. Some things that are on my mind today: The proposal to offer more healthy food options in County vending machines. The draft report from the Area Attendance Committee. The upcoming Coral Reef Encounter at Macgill’s Common Pool this weekend. Lawns : who needs ‘em? The Fundraiser for Matcha Time Café this Sunday. Yesterday wore me out. I’m going to do my best today to stay away from the news and the internet and recover. See you tomorrow.

For a brief shining moment yesterday I entertained the notion of getting a witty hashtag to trend on Twitter. This is what happens if you have a) delusions of grandeur, or b) too much coffee. As I waited for my Venti iced coffee (just cream, no sugar) I noticed one of those little chalkboard signs announcing a new product. Now, when you order your drink “with a shot”, you can have it “updosed”. Wait, what? That’s right, “updosed”, a made up term which means you can chose how strong you want the added shot of espresso to be. At least, that is my understanding from reading the chalkboard before I drank my morning coffee at the Wilde Lake Starbucks. I got it into my head that I was going to make “updosed” a thing. You can now have your espresso “updosed” at Starbucks . Congrats for coming up with a word we didn’t know we needed.  “What’s wrong with him?” “Don’t know. Looking a little...*updosed* I’m thinking” Your turn. Use #updosed in a sentence, Starbucks fans. ...

Since I generally have no qualms about revealing my ignorance on local topics, I’m going to jump right in with this one. What’s up with Route 32 after the Clarksville exits? The other day there was an incident on 32 which messed up traffic for hours. I got the feeling from posts I saw that traveling on 32 was the only way they could get home. I don’t drive out that way as much as I used to, and I certainly haven’t tried to navigate without access to Route 32. But it strikes me as crazy that there are no alternate ways to go. A lot of work has been done in recent years to streamline entrance/exits on this position of the road, and I seem to remember former County Executive Kittleman and Governor Hogan announcing major improvements. That’s all well and good, but what happens if that’s the one route, it’s out of commission, and you can’t get home? Hmm...this reminds me of something ... Is this a case where people need to know back roads better, or is it truly that “you ca...

I have a gig this morning at the Chrysalis, so I’m going to make this short. Remember Bree Newsome Bass? She’s the activist from Columbia who (quite literally) rose to national prominence when she scaled the flagpole in South Carolina and removed the Confederate flag. I’ve been following her on Twitter ever since. In light of the multiple issues we face as a community as we contemplate school redistricting, I want to share this quote from Ms. Newsome Bass: We already have solutions for racism, poverty, immigration, etc. It's not about a lack of solutions, it's that *not everyone wants solutions*.  A powerful segment doesn't think it's a problem. They are actively opposed to equality & democracy for all. That's the issue.  We have to stop acting like the issue is a lack of solutions & not an ideological battle over white supremacy vs multiracial democracy.  This is the fundamental ideological battle that has existed since USA's ...

My husband was charmed. As we sat in the courtyard, eating our summer treats from Rita’s he watched a little boy zooming around on his little bike. Soon his smaller sister appeared, on a much smaller bike that had no pedals. She was managing it expertly, using her feet to move herself along. Then came a mom, or perhaps a nanny, with a baby in a stroller. “What a great mom, bringing them here to be able to have this big, safe space to ride around in. It’s wonderful,” he remarked. It was quite hot. We had each gotten our favorite Rita’s offerings: chocolate custard for him, watermelon ice for me. A few other folks sat at tables enjoying cold treats. Every so often the little boy would pedal past, helmet on securely, a bit of a wobble as he rounded the corners. Now and again a patron for one of the courtyard shops would pass through. It was pretty darned near idyllic. One little thought nagged at me, though. As we went back to our car I checked the posted rules for the Village...

An unexpectedly delightful summer discovery: Pepperjacks Subs in Scaggsville. They’ve been there for a while, (since 2003) but we have just belatedly found them. Pepperjacks has a decidedly old school vibe. Built in an updated/renovated Amoco service station that dates from 1932, the restaurant has a comfy, back-in-the-day atmosphere. It’s the kind of place you might visit on vacation. We definitely felt as though we could have been at the beach or someplace away from ordinary day to day life. The service is friendly and helpful. You order at the counter and then find a seat. They’ll holler for you when your order is ready. All the food we’ve had has been solidly good, and the regular sized subs have sometimes been filling enough that half would do for a meal. The root beer floats are stellar. And for me, it wouldn’t be summer without a good root beer float. It’s a small place, but there is seating inside and out. They have their own Little Free Library on site as wel...

The summer of 2019 will be known as The One Where the Goat Ran Away. For the past two days Columbia/HoCo has been abuzz with reports of a goat on the loose in the area near Howard Community College. I suggested to my family that it was the beginning of a very small agricultural program. They weren’t impressed. I pointed out that it was better than if it were a runaway from the culinary arts program. I was sternly admonished for even raising the possibility. Let me just say that everyone, and I mean EVERYONE, has been ahead of me on this story. WBAL TV, WJZ TV, the Howard County Times, and even all the good folks on NextDoor, where the goat’s wanderings launched a thread of more than one hundred posts. And let’s not forget conversation on Facebook and Twitter. (and a lot of really bad goat jokes.) WBAL’s post was the first one I read and there’s something vaguely poetic about it. Eventually the goat was spotted by numerous residents in the Hawthorne neighborhood, including...

It’s all connected. I can’t tell one story without another one appearing. So let’s just make this one of those posts that are all about the links. Our starting point is this piece by Jessica Contrera for the Washington Post: A black principal, four white teens, and the ‘senior prank’ that became a hate crime  If you haven’t already read it, you should. Ms. Contrera takes an in-depth look at the four seniors who defaced Glenelg high school with messages of hate in the Spring of 2018. Its an odd thing to feel one’s own community get that kind of scrutiny from a nationally known publication. And, truthfully, it would have been easy to get it wrong. But this article shows excellent journalism and superb storytelling. If it makes me squirm it is because of how true it is, not how false. Fresh from the experience of having my breath taken away by this piece, I read the next one with a kind of horror: Reporter’s food-bank trips highlight issue of low pay in local j...