Skip to main content

Drive-by Views



It seems as though I’m doing quite a bit of driving these days, what with the weekday Baltimore commute. The first few trips were all about paying attention to the directions. After that I could relax and become more aware of my surroundings as I drove. One unexpected sight became the start of a rather entertaining Facebook thread:

Why is there an abandoned backyard grill in the median on Route 175? Odd place for a cookout.

Somewhere, there's an abandoned Plymouth on someone's patio and their grill is missing. Imagine how confused they are right now.

We saw that yesterday!

You’ve got to grill when the spirit hits you!

Police are grilling suspects right now.

Thanks for the fyi on the BBQ!

I saw that grill today myself. Its legs were detached and so it is stuck there.

Wait - - so you mean it won’t be able to walk away?

Not unless an EMT stopped by and fixed it up!

I am blessed with many witty friends.

How would you just happen to drive by and eject a barbecue grill on Route 175 while driving? No one’s car windows are big enough to roll down and then chuck the thing out. And, then - - why?

Twitter told me there’s an even more fascinating sight I didn’t see on 95 South, in a spot I pass almost daily.

In case anyone in Maryland wants to start a carnival, there is a teacups ride abandoned on the side of 95-S, before the exit for Columbia.

What? A teacup ride? Seriously? I needed to know more.

Which side of the road? The right-hand side as you are driving south from Baltimore to Columbia?

Correct. Southbound, right hand side, just before exit 38 for Columbia. Folded up, similar to this.



Friends, I never saw it. Did you? I’d love to know that story.

Back to Route 175. It looks to me as though whatever is growing in the median strip this year is different. Rather than the usual scraggly suburban lawn grass we are used to, it appears to a mixture of grasses, some of them flowering. Perhaps it’s an intentional assortment of native plants that will look good even as they get longer and help absorb rainwater and reduce runoff?

Am I hoping too hard here? 

If you work for the country and know exactly who I should reach out to, I’d appreciate direction. I sent an email but haven’t heard back yet. How often do they get letters saying, “I love the media strip?” 

I promise I won’t ask them about the barbecue grill.









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

Getting Fresh

One of my favorite days in the Spring comes when this year’s list of Farmer’s Markets is released. That happened this week. New this year are markets in Old Ellicott City and the “Merriweather Market” which, according to the address, will be located here . I mistakenly thought at first glance that it was in the new-construction part of the Merriweather District. I find the name confusing considering its actual location. I’m going to guess that this market is an initiative of the Howard Hughes Corporation because the name seems chosen more for branding purposes than anything else.  Alas, the market in Maple Lawn is gone. The thread on the markets on the County Executive’s FB page will provide you with quite the education in who actually runs the Farmers Markets vs what people often think is going on. Short answer: they are not  chosen nor run by the county. Each market is an independent entity, sometimes started by community volunteers, other times supported by local businesses...
1 comment
Read more

They Can Wait

This is not a typical Saturday post. That’s because, in my community, it’s not a typical Saturday.  Oakland Mills High School, after years of deferred repair, needs massive renovation. It’s pretty simple: when you don’t fix a problem it gets bigger. The school system itself said the the OMHS school building was  "no longer conducive to learning" back in 2018.  2018 .  But Thursday the Boad of Education voted to push it out of the lineup of important projects which will be given the go-ahead to proceed soonest.  In my opinion it’s a terrible decision and sets a dangerous precedent. To explain, here’s the advocacy letter I sent in support of Oakland Mills High School. I was rather proud of it. I am writing to ask you to proceed with needed renovation at Oakland Mills High School in the most timely and comprehensive manner humanly possible. I have read the letter sent to you by the Oakland Mills Community Association and I am in complete agreement. You are extremel...
1 comment
Read more