Village Green/Town²

  Food for thought: This tweet brought into sharp focus for me the motivation of our local Re Open Howard folks: comfort breeds a lack of empathy.  As most of us planned very different, and smaller, Thanksgiving celebrations this year, the folks over at ReOpen Howard saw fit to post one of those tawdry photoshop jobs* for which our local Republican Party has become infamous. There, standing on the the outside looking in a dining room window, table set in holiday finery, lurks the County Executive.  The photo is captioned:  The typical Thanksgiving scene across Howard County today. (Look closely ) There you have it. There’s a world-wide pandemic and the amount of human suffering is continuing to balloon beyond what most of us can comprehend but, that’s not the problem for ReOpen Howard. No, they want to make sure that you know the real problem: there’s a Black man outside your window who doesn’t belong there and he wants your stuff. Really, if the Republican Party doe...

    I can’t remember exactly when it was, but, I was definitely well into adulthood when the creepiness of this song from a popular children’s Christmas program struck me. (“Santa Claus is Coming to Town”, Rankin Bass, 1970) If you sit on my lap today A kiss a toy is the price you'll pay When you tell what you wish for -- In a whisper Be prepared to pay At this point in my life I was the parent of a young child and an early childhood educator. The implications of placing a child in a stranger’s lap and the suggestion, however light-hearted, that there should be some kind of quid pro quo going on there chilled me to my core. As a child my grandmother took us downtown to Higbee’s, one of the old Cleveland department stores, to see Santa. We had lunch in the department store dining room “The Silver Grille” and visited the Twigbee Shop, a tiny store within-the-store set up just for children to do their Christmas shopping. We were wearing our Sunday best, school picture best, part...

Today’s post may not at first appear to be local. Bear with me. I want to share with you a short video, around three minutes in length, called “A Love Letter to Black America.” Please take the time who watch it. I’m aware that most of my readers are not Black. Watch it anyway. A Love Letter to Black America The video, produced by the Black Coalition Against Covid-19, addresses distrust in Black communities about the upcoming vaccine and encourages participation, as well as continued cooperation with public health guidelines such as handwashing, masking, and distancing. It acknowledges the history of untrustworthiness of the American medical community towards Black citizens. It challenges the viewer to get involved and stay informed.  Since Black communities are so heavily impacted by the spread of Covid-19 these words are timely and crucial. Since the white medical establishment has not always been a trusted partner in advocating for Black health, the messengers in this video are e...

  Your local story of the day comes from right over the county line in Laurel. For owner of Venus Theatre in Laurel, every picture tells a story  , Katie V. Jones, Baltimore Sun Media There has been plenty of coverage about wholesale closures of performance venues all over the country. And certainly many local families have experienced personal heartache over student performances that will never be, due to the pandemic. But lost along the way are a patchwork of small arts institutions like Venus .  Now in its twentieth year, Venus Theatre is kept alive through the relentless vision and persistence of its founder Deb Randall. Its mission has always been the empowerment of women.  Playwrights from as far away as Australia and Greece submit plays to Laurel's Venus Theatre. Critics laud the theater's edgy and provocative vision. Audience members drive in from other states. ... Yet seating at this acclaimed venue on C Street maxes out at 30. It has 15 seats on either side...

 Like almost everything in American History, the story we have been told about the First Thanksgiving is a lie. It’s not a celebration of fervent thanks to God for salvation in the wilderness. It’s not a day of sharing with those who are different. It’s only the beginning of a career of genocide and colonization brought by Europeans to a land not their own. That’s not the day I celebrate today. But gratitude, unto itself, is worth celebrating. Especially this year, when struggles have been so deep and fear and grief ongoing, I feel it especially important to lift up the people and things who have made a difference for me and others in our community this year. You have your own list, I’m sure of that. What would we do without them? These people remind us we are not alone.  It goes without saying that my family and friends come in at the top of the list. I won’t go on and on here so as not to embarrass them. They know who they are. 2020 List of Community Thanks Erika Strauss Cha...

  In the continuing saga of “Not the News”, I turn your attention to this post from the summer: Not the News Again, our community has been stirred up by piece of writing which is not news. It’s an opinion piece in the Howard County Times about the very same issue, the ongoing legal case about the Symphony of Lights display. People have very strong feelings about this topic and it has been easy to catch the public’s imagination with suggestions of a big bad Grinch’s malintent. But it’s not the news.  It appears to be a highly successful piece of persuasive writing, and it’s backed by the kind of pass-it-on organizing that helped to save Merriweather Post Pavillion. It stirs us up with wanting to help David take on Goliath. But when a piece of writing encourages you to set aside your critical thinking skills and go full steam ahead with your emotions, you lose something. I have been reticent to write on this topic because I’m a well-known advocate for the Inner Arbor Trust/ Merr...

  Yet another mention of my beloved Buy Nothing group for you this morning. I’ve been finding new homes for a stack of those ornately designed coloring books for adults. You know, the kind that are supposed to reduce stress but actually remind you just how poor your fine motor skills are. Little by little folks have been dropping by the house for contactless porch pick up. But the last two had a bit of an adventure. The recipient informed me that she was now quarantined and would be getting a COVID test the next day. I offered to drop them off instead. That’s when the adventure began. I had her address, put in into my GPS app, and off I went. In circles. My route took me to the intersection of Thunder Hill and 175, off to the right into Blandair Park, past a construction site for a beautiful new destination playground and...around Sohap back onto Thunder Hill Road.  Huh? And then around again, 175, Blandair, very cool playground - - when will that be open, I wonder? - - Sohap,...

I’m not a big crier these days. I was, in my youth, but, in recent years I’ve lost the facility. Yesterday I cried three times and it was an unexpected relief. It all hit me yesterday. Unsurprisingly, it was a song that set it all in motion. From our Zoom church service came “We’ll Meet Again” as interpreted by one of our choir members from his home. It’s not a religious song, but it struck a deep and profound note as the events of this past year washed over me. If you want to hear it as performed, here’s the YouTube link. It begins at approximately 1:00 in from the beginning of the service. If you’re a purist, you’ll want the version by Vera Lynn.  Some background from Wikipedia: We'll Meet Again" is a 1939 British song made famous by singer Vera Lynn with music and lyrics composed and written by English songwriters Ross Parker and Hughie Charles...The song is one of the most famous of the Second World War era, and resonated with soldiers going off to fight as well as their f...

I wrote the other day about the loss of two important Columbians. Today I want to touch on a story about one of them: Bob Moon.  First I want to recommend the exquisitely written obituary by his wife, Jean Moon, whose writing so many of us have read in so many different contexts through the years. Having helped to write my grandmother and my father’s obituaries, I know how hard it can be. It is a gift of of love. And it requires your best work. Take the time to read Ms. Moon’s piece on her husband’s full life and many achievements. Long time community advocate Bob Moon closes out a "happy life" Beating the odds, he survived for 27 years after heart transplant I want to draw your attention to this section: He was a strong advocate of Richard Louv's movement to combat childhood nature-deficit disorder and designed a Children's Garden & Playground for the Grassroots Crisis Intervention Center. This is how my younger daughter and I came to meet him. In 2010 I put out ...

  First order of business: congratulations to our friends whose long-anticipated baby arrived safe and sound yesterday. Truly a bright spot in a dark time for all of us who know them. Welcome to the world! You have a great big village welcoming you. Kudos to actor and hometown-raised Edward Norton for his recent pointed and perfectly crafted statement on Twitter about post-election Trump machinations. There’s quite a few Columbians on Twitter proud to rep Norton’s Columbia connections.  Thanks to everyone who stepped up last night to provide information for an upcoming blog post on job benefits. Between responses on Facebook and Twitter, I’ve gotten a wealth of information. My immediate take: I’m thrilled for the people who have had awesome and creative benefits and I’m sad for the few who checked in to say they have never received any. Interestingly enough, I’m not angry that some folks have more than I ever have. I wonder why that is? A post-script: over the summer we expa...

  According to local photographer Charles Jackson , the well-known Poinstettia Tree is up and ready for your visits at the Mall in Columbia. The holidays may be wildly different this year, but at least this time-honored Columbia tradition lives on. I have a confession to make: I don’t have a personal attachment to the Poinsettia Tree. Certainly it’s lovely, and festive, but it doesn’t hold the kind of mystical holiday appeal for me that it does for many long-time Columbia residents. After all, I’ve only lived here for 21 years. I didn’t spend my formative years here. I do appreciate it. A lot of work goes into that thing, and a lot of people enjoy it.  I find myself more inspired by initiatives spearheaded by a newer generation in Columbia: Merriweather Park at Symphony Woods (Nina Basu), Columbia Community Care (Erika Strauss Chavarria), community Ecology Institute/Freetown Farm (Chiara D’Amore). All three women are building on the foundation of Rouse’s Columbia to enhance t...

Most mornings you can find me looking for a good little story that sheds some light in the local scene. I’ve been looking for a story with some positive lift to it since about five am. It’s not happening. The local scene is weighed down with a whole lot of anger and grief.  I read on Twitter that blogging is obsolete, so perhaps that’s my problem. What can you expect if you’re persisting in an obsolete medium? Some friends of ours in Baltimore got married in a tiny, physically distanced ceremony over the weekend. It wasn’t the kind of wedding they had envisioned, due to the pandemic, and it wasn’t the timing they had planned on, either. Recent changes on the Supreme Court concerned them enough to move up the date. The love and joy on their faces in their wedding photo far outshines the restrictions, the timing, or the fear of what the future might bring.  Other friends here in town are awaiting the birth of a child. It feels as though all their friends are waiting breathlessly...

  When you write something and put it out into the world, you can’t control how people will receive it. That being said, there have been some oddball responses to my blog post yesterday. A condensed version of my intent might be: Here are two examples of verbal abuse on social media that cross the line. No one deserves this kind of treatment. Social media has amplified this kind of behavior. How can we change this? Some people who read the post seem to have gotten my point. Others went off in all directions. The SMOB shouldn’t have a vote! There isn’t any abuse. I haven’t seen any. Those Republicans are terrible. Of course, readers are permitted to believe any of these things. That’s outside of my control. But the conversation about how we treat each other on social media largely fell by the wayside. Some interesting “logic” surfaced along the way, however.  Some folks seemed to be saying that the reason the SMOB received such unacceptable treatment was because he had a vote, ...

  I did not expect that football would inspire today’s blog post, but, there you have it: Ravens’ Matt Skura says family received ‘hateful and threatening messages’ after loss to Patriots. "They do not deserve to be scrutinized for something they did not do.”  This information comes from an article by Jonas Shaffer in the Baltimore Sun. It’s yet another indicator that toxic online behavior is a serious problem in our culture. What is it that emboldens ordinary human beings to explode the boundaries of decent behavior and reach out to hurt others? What makes them feel justified?  The reason this is weighing heavily on my mind this morning does have a more local source. I’ve been catching up on local reactions to the Board of Education decision last night to remain fully virtual for the third quarter of the school year. While I expected that some would be disappointed, frustrated, or even angry, what I did not expect was the outpouring of insults and accusations against the...

    Ran across this cartoon by Stacy Holmstedt this morning. It got me thinking. If they were giving out free samples of self-awareness right here in Columbia/HoCo, would we try it? What might we learn? In casting about for a decent definition of self awareness I came across an article from the Harvard Business Review which divides it into two parts: internal self-awareness, [which] represents how clearly we see our own values, passions, aspirations, fit with our environment, reactions (including thoughts, feelings, behaviors, strengths, and weaknesses), and impact on others. external self-awareness, mean[ing] understanding how other people view us, in terms of those same factors listed above.  Now here’s where I’m going to take the big leap and I may lose you. Buckle up. Think of two local movements that are very active right now: Columbia Community Care, and the Reopen Howard County Schools group. Both were founded in response to a perceived problem. But I would posit t...

  This story took me back. Way back.  My high school years were spent in Stamford, Connecticut, where there was nothing to do. At least, nothing to do for teenagers. I survived by belonging to the church youth group and participating in music and drama at school. This was years before the Mall was built. Options for fun ranged from going to the movies, bowling, and the indoor mini-golf in Norwalk. In summer: the beach. And so it came to pass that there arose a spate of property crimes in Stamford that were clearly perpetrated by teenagers: street sign stealing, and mail box polo. No, I didn’t participate, but, I knew people who did. One of my friends proudly displayed a sign she had “liberated” on her bedroom wall. I always wondered what her parents thought of that. So, when I saw the following post from the Columbia Association, I had a feeling of recognition. I think I know the kids who are doing this. Not literally, of course. But this seems awfully familiar. I suspect that...

  Today is Friday the thirteenth. The last one was in March: the last day I was at work and the last day many local children were in school. Eight months. Wow. Yesterday the Governor expressed frustration with a lack of communication/guidance from the White House on the COVID-19 pandemic and I could almost hear the sound of county executives all over the state of Maryland chuckling. They’ve been calling for greater communication from the Governor for months now.  Food blogger HoCoNomNom is back after a bit of a hiatus with a catch-all post about all the area restaurant comings and goings. I continue to be interested by the local food news even though I know I won’t be able to set foot inside a restaurant for a long time yet. Perhaps HoCoNomNom should do a write-up of all the Columbia/HoCo restaurants offering take-away Thanksgiving feasts.  Tonight the public is invited to a launch party for the Community Ecology Institute Auction to raise funds for the Maker Space at Fr...

  It must be the rainy weather. I slept a full hour later this morning and my coffee is not bringing me up to speed as fast as I would like. Still, I wanted to make sure to remind you about this: The good news: more than one point of view will be represented. In addition to HCPSS staff, panelists will include @HCPDNews Chief Myers and Captain Yetter, Peers Not Perps, and HoCo.Convo – Youth in Conversation. The bad news: all questions will be pre-selected from pre-submitted entries. Not exactly a true Town Hall.  Nonetheless, I am hoping the event will allow for a balanced exchange of views and factual information. Tune in tonight to find out.  Reminder: you must pre-register for this. You can learn more about this event here .

Bringing back this piece from 2014 to mark Veterans Day today. - - jam   Dad Didn't Talk Byron Cornell Jackson, born in 1927, enlisted in the army and was on a troop ship on the way to Japan when the Armistice was signed. He served as a staff sergeant running a military post office in the Army of the Occupation.  That's about all I know.  My dad didn't talk about his military service. He once said, "My generation doesn't want to put on our uniforms and march in parades. We went there, we did what we were supposed to do. There's nothing glorious about it." I still don't know how my father actually got accepted into the army. He was dyslexic, asthmatic, allergic to numerous things, had suffered pneumonia and lung collapse more than once, and had terrible eyesight. And he may have been underage. It was the end of the war, I guess. I do know that he went voluntarily, and that it was probably the roughest thing he ever did in his life. He was not a "ma...

  On November 8th, County Executive Ball recognized STEM/STEAM Day on his official Facebook page.    Almost immediately someone jumped in to denigrate the inclusion of Arts Education, labeling it as mere political correctness. It was clear that this poster judged fields of study purely by how much money one could expect to make. If it wasn’t going to be a lot of money, he posited, then study of the arts and/or humanities was selfish. I am happy to say that his statements did not go unchallenged. But I’d be naive to think there aren’t more people out there with that attitude, especially in upwardly-mobile, results-driven Howard County. Nonetheless, I find these arguments not only wildly ignorant but also disheartening. Devaluing Arts Education doesn’t make STEM programs stronger. In fact, the inclusion of Arts Education provides students with vital creative and problem-solving experiences. Arts Education in combination with other STEM learning provides a kind of “leavenin...

  Tonight at seven pm: Re-imagining School Safety, a teach-in hosted by the Anti-Racist Alliance. Here’s the link to register.  From the event page: We will hear from experts in the legal system and restorative cultures as to what schools can look like without the harmful presence of SRO’s. I see a lot of pushback online from people who don’t believe schools can be run safely without policing, and assert that there’s no viable plan to replace it. Tonight’s presentation could be eye-opening for such folks, but I somehow doubt they are open-minded enough to participate.  But, you might be.  This statement from writer @bmoredoc has been stuck in my brain since I read it: When folk have a zero-sum ideology, when people are rising up, they think they are going down. Black success means Whites are "losing." Women rising feels like men are "left behind." LGBTQ rights is rendered as "straight oppression." There is no sense of collective victory. Teach the children...

It was an extraordinary day, It might have been summer yesterday, the weather was so warm. If it weren’t for dry leaves crunching underfoot, the clear blue sky and bright sun might have convinced me I was back in June or July. I had dressed for Fall, but then went back and changed my clothes. When I walked to my car it was warm enough for a short-sleeved shirt and no jacket. It was a gloriously beautiful November day. Driving down Little Patuxent Parkway - - the part that runs towards the hospital - - I found myself stopped at a traffic light near the shopping center with the new 7-Eleven. I watched as four boys rode in to the parking lot from a cross street. It made me smile. I remember riding my bike to the corner store back in the day. Seeing those young men (middle school, maybe?) out on an adventure on such a lovely day felt like a positive sign of life for a road that’s largely dominated by car traffic. They parked their bikes, took off their helmets, surveyed their surroundings....

 Introducing a new neighbor in Oakland Mills: Welcome to the new business in the Oakland Mills Village Center: Laundry Force . It fills the long-open space next to the grocery store. That space has languished ever since the first grocery after the Center remodel (Metro Food Markets) shut down their prepared food operations and walled off that portion on the store. That was quite a while ago. The search for the right business to fill that spot has been long and frustrating.   Laundry Force is primarily a self-service laundromat, but will also offer a drop-off service for wash, dry and fold. They’ll also provide pick up and delivery. I see that they have some of those impressive double size washers that make washing large comforters a whole lot easier than wrestling them into a small home stackable.  I wrote in February (“ Sometimes a Laundromat ”) about how requests for a laundromat were received by some in Oakland Mills. To them a laundromat and a dollar store were the eq...