Village Green/Town²

  This is a blog post about: Wildlife Michael Oberman Fishing Columbia Nature photography  Columbia Association Wait. Let me see if I can get my ducks in a row. Photo by Michael Oberman   This is a blog post about persistence. Columbia photographer Michael Oberman, who focuses primarily on nature photography, is not only well-known locally for images like the one above. His photographs have been featured in national and international publications. It has occurred to me that local wildfowl come out to look their best if they see Oberman headed their way. He’s that good.  His well-trained eye hasn’t just contributed to capturing engaging pictures of local wildlife. His observant nature also identified something far more deadly. It seems that a careless habit of human visitors to Columbia’s lakes was putting the birds he loved in danger. It had to do with fishing. Beginning in June of 2012, and continuing even today, Michael Oberman has posted at least twenty two warni...

  Baltimore public radio station WYPR has an ongoing feature entitled The Maryland Curiosity Bureau . Hosted by Aaron Henkin, it encourages listeners to send in their questions about unanswered Maryland mysteries, such as: How did jousting become Maryland’s official state sport? What’s the deal with Pit Beef? What’s Baltimore’s Negro Leagues baseball history? There’s a process in which questions are solicited from listeners, are put up for a vote from the listening public, and then the winners are researched and presented on WYPR. I think it’s an engaging project and I’ve learned a lot by following along. If there were actually a physical place called the Maryland Curiosity Bureau, or a physical set for a television show, one can imagine tables and shelves crammed with assorted Maryland oddities and souvenirs. Filing cabinets would be overflowing with old newspapers and assorted ephemera, and the staff lounge would be well stocked with Berger cookies, Smith Island cake, and Ol...

  Have you ever read Baltimore-native Anne Tyler’s An Accidental Tourist?  Yesterday morning, as I ended up in an entirely new place, I mused that there are days that my blog might be subtitled: Field Trips of a Confirmed Homebody. Big adventures for me these days are often somewhat behind the curve for everyone else.  Nonetheless, they are still big adventures for me. I’ve been working on a longer blog post that requires more than the usual amount of thought. I decided that I needed a change of scene. I headed over to Busboys and Poets, which is conveniently located adjacent to Merriweather Park at Symphony Woods, my own personal center of the downtown universe. I’ve had a visit on my to-do list ever since I learned that friend Candace Dodson Reed has photographs on display there.  Why not breakfast? I thought. I can get some work done and then take a look around the place afterwards. I was greeted by Karen, who, once I had confessed I was a first-time visitor, bec...

  I managed to change my alarm from five am to five pm. It did not go well. Interestingly enough I was having nightmares about an unsuccessful struggle to make coffee. Yesterday I had the opportunity to visit the newly-opened Harriet Tubman Cultural Center. I’m going to share my photos with you today. Look for the words to go with them this weekend. To learn more about the Harriet Tubman School and Cultural Center, visit their page on the Howard County website.  Look for a follow-up post this weekend.

I had an unexpected moment of synchronicity on Saturday morning when I finished writing my blog post and opened up the weekly HiLights newsletter from the Howard County Library. Right there in front of me was an interview with United Way’s Laura Johnson, who I had just finished writing about. Interview & Invitation: Join us at the Longest Table Ms. Johnson will be one of the hosts at this Saturday evening’s event , which will be held at Howard Community College, beginning at 5 pm. Johnson describes The Longest Table: I love the experience! We are all so busy, and we don’t always stop to see people and connect – beyond “hey, how are you.” This event allows people to stop for a moment and connect for a moment in time – to SEE each other.  On how The Longest Table connects with issues of racial equity: We all come from different places and lived experiences, so this provides a respectful and safe access point to build common ground. It also pushes us to acknowledge the internal wo...

  Shana Tova! I saw these words echoing across Facebook last night as sunset marked the beginning of Rosh Hashanah. I think that widespread engagement in social media has increased awareness of non-Christian holidays and culture. It certainly has for me. The sheltered world of my childhood taught me little about Jewish religion  or culture. I knew of certain Jewish foods from local delis. We drove past synagogues which looked so different from what I thought of as houses of worship. That’s it.  I don’t think I learned anything about the existence of the Islamic religion during any of my years of education. Culture and religion in places like India or China may have been a paragraph in a textbook or something to learn in a book report. They were far away and unconnected to me. If you weren’t white Anglo Saxon Protestant (or close enough) you were “exotic”. We were taught all the time about how America was the “great melting pot”. But what we weren’t taught was that all aro...

  Oh my. I am truly sorry I missed this event. From the Rotary Club of Columbia/Patuxent:  JOIN US this Friday, September 23rd, 2022 @ 7:30 a.m. at The Periodic Table - Columbia. Our guest, Wayne Robey, Clerk of the Circuit Court shares everything you'd like to know. As you may have guessed, this post isn’t about Wayne Robey or the Rotary. It’s about qualifiers. In this event posting, there aren’t any. Our guest, Wayne Robey, Clerk of the Circuit Court shares everything you'd like to know. Everything. Everything? Most people would be able to read this and keep on going. You already know I am not most people. The thought that Mr. Robey was tasked with “sharing everything you’d like to know” set off the wheels of my imagination. My first thoughts were, shall we say, less than serious. Boxers or briefs? Best recipes to get dinner in the table in twenty minutes? Pet Peeve? Favorite restaurant in HoCo? Where does the Tooth Fairy get her money? This is why the world is better off th...

  I received an invitation this week to attend the opening of United Way’s Columbia Family Center on October 4th. This one means a lot to me. You may remember that I wrote in June of 2021 about being able to attend a groundbreaking event for this center via Zoom. I recently had the opportunity to participate in an online celebration/presentation about the groundbreaking for a new United Way Family Center, which will focus on care for infants and toddlers.* At the time I found myself mightily impressed by all the various entities that were needed to come together and commit to making this new center happen. I’m going to be writing more about that particular event soon. It made a big impression on me.  Like the Bauder Education Center in Long Reach, the United Way Family Center (to be located in Gateway) will provide more than childcare. In fact, each of the two centers will support families in additional ways, connecting them with needed help such as opportunities for further...

  It’s Free Form Friday! Anything goes! Today is my half birthday. I know not everyone observes them. When I was growing up my mother would make half a cake on that special day. It took years for me to figure out what happened to the other half. (She only made one layer, split and stacked it. There was no other half.)  At any rate, thinking of days gone by made me think of things my parents used to say. I suspect that everyone’s parents had a few quirky expressions that were particularly unique to them. My mother: If they say it’s new and improved, it isn’t. He doesn’t have the sense God gave a grasshopper. If she told you to jump out the attic window to see if you would bounce, would you? He’s a pill. Her face would stop a clock.  God stacked the deck against Adam and Eve. He put that snake in that garden. My father: That’s where the old road used to go. (When answering the telephone) Howdy! (Pause) Pretty fair, yourself? Down the road apiece (when asked by children how ...

  Alas. Someone is wrong on the internet. (Well-known cartoon by XKCD )  It has come to my attention that there are people in Howard County that don’t believe in  Banned Books Week . They think it’s imaginary.  Now, there are plenty of things that one is not obligated to believe. Religious beliefs. Things which are a matter of opinion. But, for Heaven's sakes, facts which are clearly available and documented are not in that category. From the website of the American Library Association: Banned Books Week celebrates the freedom to read and spotlights current and historical attempts to censor books in libraries and schools. For 40 years, the annual event has brought together the entire book community — librarians, booksellers, publishers, journalists, teachers, and readers of all types — in shared support of the freedom to seek and to express ideas, even those some consider unorthodox or unpopular. The books featured during Banned Books Week have all been targeted for ...

  If three things make a blog post, then this must be the day for Howard Community College.  I’ve been hanging on to this image from last week because it made me realize I had never given one thought to whether HCC has its own food service on campus.  The caption reads: ROUND UP for the Fueling Dragons When you stop by HCC’s Café on the Quad for a snack or lunch, the Fueling Dragons program benefits from your generosity when you round up! Learn more about our Fueling Dragons program: https://bit.ly/3CqReoK The Fueling Dragons programs at Howard Community College encompass a number of initiatives designed to meet the dual goals of: 1) providing immediate support for students who are facing hunger or food insecurity; and 2) working to build sustainable nutrition, food sourcing, and preparation skills through educational experiences and workshops.  The program includes: a campus food pantry, campus garden, nutrition and health education, cooking classes, and meal kits t...

  Here we go again. It wasn’t on my calendar. National Hispanic American Heritage Month had somehow never penetrated my consciousness. Social media posts from the Howard County Library and the Howard County Local Health Improvement Coalition got my attention. In case you haven’t heard, here’s some background from the National Hispanic Heritage Month website: Each year, Americans observe National Hispanic Heritage Month from September 15 to October 15, by celebrating the histories, cultures and contributions of American citizens whose ancestors came from Spain, Mexico, the Caribbean and Central and South America. The observation started in 1968 as Hispanic Heritage Week under President Lyndon Johnson and was expanded by President Ronald Reagan in 1988 to cover a 30-day period starting on September 15 and ending on October 15. It was enacted into law on August 17, 1988, on the approval of Public Law 100-402. Here are some offerings from the Howard County Library System: Happy Hispani...

  Back when Mondays found me back at work each week, I’d often be asked, “How was your weekend?” Then I’d get that deer in the headlights look because - - I know it’s ridiculous - - I’d already forgotten. Whether it was eventful or just the same old laundry/carry out from Maiwand/chilling out/church on Sunday, when put on the spot by a coworker’s question I’d draw a blank. Over time I’ve found that taking the time to write in my journal or simply spending a few moments to reflect on what’s happening in my life seems to help it “stick” better. Continually rushing forward in an attempt to get things accomplished left me with big gaps when it came to where I’d been and what I’d done. I think this is part of why I enjoy the Facebook Memories feature so much.  So, what did I do this weekend? I’m glad you asked. Friday night was date night at Pepperjacks with the most perfect weather for outside dining. As we sat down with our drinks, the country song that was playing assured us tha...

  Two things came together in my head this week: a video that was shown at the Rise to the Challenge event and an essay in USA Today by columnist Connie Schultz. Here’s the video, made to honor those in the community who came together during the worst of the COVID-19 pandemic to help others: Here’s the essay by Schultz: COVID-19 is still deadly real. Why do we allow disinformation to persist? It occurred to me, as I watched the video, that some will watch it and see it as a prime example of everything that’s wrong with County Executive Calvin Ball. It was impossible for me to take in the images without remembering the steady drumbeat of naysayers throughout that time, denying the seriousness of COVID. They’re not in the video. But their self-righteous rants on social media became an unavoidable part of the soundtrack of my life during the last few years. I found myself grieving as the images passed in front of my eyes. How much more could we have done as a community if we had been ...