Village Green/Town²

  Today is a day I truly didn’t expect to happen. I learned something useful on NextDoor. New park in 2025 WBAL News had a feature today on a new play ground, baseball fields, and basketball courts coming to the area next to East Columbia Library. Work starts spring 2024 and planned to take 1 year. So of course I Googled it. And, here it is! Howard County Announces Purchase of 16.5-Acre East Columbia Library Park Property , 10/30/2023 If you have ever been to the East Columbia Branch Library, you have seen the grassy fields at the back of the parking lot. And, if you haven’t visited the East Columbia Branch, what are you waiting for? It’s a very cool library branch, in my (somewhat biased) opinion. At any rate, I’ve never thought much about those fields until now. From Google Maps, here’s the Library and its parking lot. . Now see how the library property is actually surrounded by playing fields. That’s East Columbia Library Park.  I didn’t really understand the layout until I...

Howard Hughes Corporation runs adverts on social media about why Columbia is the up and coming place for “ the best talent .” Howard County Tourism and the Columbia Association entice you with beautiful vistas, appealing amenities, and engaging activities. But those folks you don’t know on Twitter, well…they get straight to the heart of it. All they build in PG County is Chick Fil A’s and Townhomes. Move to Howard County or Caroll County. You get the country, farms, plenty of open land + townhouses and chick fil a within 2 minutes of each other. I’m imagining a whole new slogan: Howard County: sure we have Chick Fil A and townhomes, but there’s so much more! Oof. Yes, I’m still going through Twitter first thing every morning looking for local stories. At best it’s a shadow of its former self. But I love coming across snippets like this because I enjoy seeing how other people think. It’s the homebody equivalent of DCist’s Overheard in DC. The Howard Hughes Corporation warned us that, wi...

  Yesterday I awoke with one thought on my mind.  “Today is the day I will get apple cider donuts. If I wait any longer it will be too late.” The most reliable choice was a trip to Frank’s . I got some there last year. Going to Frank’s in the fall makes you want to be back in preschool when all that mattered were stacks of colorful, assorted gourds and row upon row of shiny orange pumpkins. Yes, there are all sorts of edible items for purchase but, as a preschool teacher at heart, I yearned to buy an enormous assortment of The Fall Stuff. Ahem. Frank’s has made sure you don’t just drive on by with an impressive display along the road. Have you ever wondered what a fifty dollar pumpkin looks like? Look no further. Walking through the bins of different apples was a sensory experience. I inhaled the appley fragrance and looked at the variety in shape and coloring. I wondered if I should buy some to make applesauce. In the end I bought one perfect butternut squash. They’re labeled...

 It’s that time. The big day is Tuesday and the community is awash with Jack-o-lanterns and candy. Last year I had a little fun with some local “scary” stories using Halloween as my jumping off point. Columbia/HoCo Halloween. And Horrorshow Let’s look at this year’s top six: The People Who Don’t Value Libraries. Discussions around the planned Downtown Library at the Columbia Lakefront brought out quite a number of folks who have no use for libraries other than downloading novels. This one honestly keeps me up at night. The Time They Suggested Cutting Down the Time for Resident Speakout at CA Meetings. How could they? Sure, hearing from residents in a public meeting takes up time. Imagine how efficient they’d be if they could just toss that portion of the meeting in the bin. The Dreaded Onslaught of Teen Customers at the Mall. In which the Mall management adds multiple levels of policing to deter the only people who think being at the mall is actually fun. Moms4Liberty Comes to HoCo...

This just in! From Howard Magazine, the question that’s on everyone’s mind: Quick takes: What appliance could you not live without?, Allana Haynes, Howard Magazine I don’t know why I found this so hilarious. I just did. I’m sure the idea for the piece came quite some time ago and no one imagined it would fall during a week of death and destruction. I mean, who knew? The premise of these puff pieces is pretty simple: put a spotlight on local notables by asking a question that is mildly engaging but not in any way controversial. This provides an opportunity to put their picture in the article along with details about what they do.  Does it matter how they answer the question? I’m not sure if that’s even the point. It’s not life or death. It’s pleasant and mildly informative. Part of me is contemplating how much fun it would be to ask a completely ridiculous question, for instance: Which sock do you put on first? How do you eat pizza? What’s the weirdest dream you ever had? Of course...

Death and destruction in Israel and Gaza. Dysfunction and bad leadership choices in the US House of Representatives  Another mass shooting, this time in Lewiston, Maine.  It’s not a pretty world. In our own little bubble people get up to live another day. If we remember, we are grateful for the beauty of nature around us, the food we eat, the schools that nurture our children, clean water to drink. We reminisce over places that used to be here. We get excited about things that are to come. Sometimes, we worry about them.Will Columbia/HoCo still be the place we want to be? The place that we remember? A place we feel at home? Every day inside our bubble we have reasons to be thankful and reasons to complain. No one claims this is paradise, except possibly realtors or the tourism folks. It isn’t paradise. Some folks struggle a lot. But then I look at the world outside our bubble and shrink from the violence of it. The hatred and injustice. It is every small failure, disappointmen...

It is five twenty six and I’m driving someone to the airport in less than an hour. So, I’ll make this quick. This summer I had an opportunity to attend a meet and greet event for Prince George’s County Executive Angela Alsobrooks, who is running for the Senate seat which will open when Benjamin Cardin retires. I found her to be experienced, confident, capable, and more than ready to take on the responsibilities of the job. In addition, I’ve been pretty vocal on the blog that Maryland needs more women, especially Black women, in positions of elected leadership.  Why? Because representation matters. Different perspectives matter. When voices are missing then all too often needs and aspirations are overlooked, or worse - - seen and yet still neglected.  I left the event feeling that I’d be happy to support Ms. Alsobrooks.  And yet. I haven’t said much about this publicly, but I came to know one of the other candidates several years ago, when I taught one of Will Jawando’s ch...

Well, they gave it the old college try. David’s Natural Market, brought back from the brink a year or so ago, is really and truly shutting its doors. As much as their fan base wanted to see them survive, my guess is they didn’t shop there enough to help the business succeed. And, as obvious as it sounds, if David’s had been selling what the Wilde Lake area wanted and needed, they might have been able to make a go of it. This is not meant as a criticism of the good folks at David’s but is rather an acknowledgment that the business model that many in town remember so fondly didn’t mesh with current consumer needs. Operating costs in the commercial sector have risen over time as well: food, rent, labor, heat and air conditioning… Wanting to preserve David’s Natural Market was indeed a good-hearted mission. But do we sometimes want to preserve things without truly understanding whether they will function successfully in 2023?Maybe? I read on Facebook (because: of course I did) that a repla...

In a completely unscientific poll on Twitter, sixty one per cent of the respondents had coffee tables. This is not even remotely useful information but more a sign that it is easy to make polls on Twitter and not on Facebook.  Every once in a while I hit on a topic that people are eager to talk about. It turns out that coffee tables bring out good conversation. That was fun. Last week a package was delivered to my house and it was actually for me! Even better, it was full of fun, gifty things from the SECU Kindness campaign. I guess some thoughtful soul told them about my blog post.  Thank you, thoughtful soul. It came with a set of kindness cards and I am contemplating dispersing them around town to spread the message a bit further, rather like kindness rocks but less lumpy. Howard Community College hosted a Fall for All Festival on Friday, opening the Quad to the community for some fun, kid-friendly activities while public schools were not in session. I must say that’s a gre...

  One of the most interesting houses in my neighborhood was built during the last year. Well, it isn’t exactly in my neighborhood, and it isn’t exactly in Columbia. It’s in an adjacent outparcel. I guess you’d call it “infill” housing? I watched its progress as I drove down our main road. It became visible from behind the familiar row of houses I’ve passed since 1998. I was intrigued. It was clearly taller, and more interestingly shaped, than any of the other houses that have been put into that little patch. It looked like it was shaping up to be a weird and wonderful house. Watching the house move towards completion became a sort of guilty pleasure. In Columbia/HoCo the prevailing opinion on a new house going up it that it’s A BIG PROBLEM. Aren’t we all supposed to wail and gnash our teeth at the site of new housing? “We don’t have room” “Schools are overcrowded” “Resources and amenities will collapse” “The traffic will overwhelm us.”  You know the drill.  As childlike ...

  Barbie’s back! Or maybe she never left. This summer’s movie craze rolls into Columbia today in the form of a Barbie Truck, of all things.  The Barbie Truck Tour will make an appearance Saturday in Howard County. The Barbie Dreamhouse Living Pop-Up ​Truck will be set up from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. at The Mall in Columbia. - - Columbia Patch And, here’s more from WJZ Baltimore. Image from WJZ Baltimore social media In my imagination this entire van would pop up, slide out, unfold and more to become the physical embodiment of a Barbie Dreamhouse. I don’t think it does. I think it is coming to sell Barbie merch:  The newly-redesigned Barbie Dreamhouse Truck will offer an array of brand-new apparel, along with home goods and accessories inspired by a day in the life of Barbie in her Dreamhouse, including: Graphic T-Shirt; Hoodie; Denim Jacket; Baseball Cap; Throw Blanket; Corduroy Tote; Embroidered patch set; Necklace; Keychain; Pouch set; Coasters; Glass Tumbler; Glass Mug; Acc...

  A piece of furniture that I grew up taking for granted was the coffee table. We always had one, suitably placed a careful distance in front of the couch. (Our family said couch, not sofa. My grandmother said davenport.) On the coffee table were the several magazines my parents subscribed to, a bowl of Japanese polished stones, and perhaps a small puzzle like Instant Insanity or a Soma Cube. When visiting a friend’s house, I could tell a lot about their family by which magazines were laid out, what fancy books. Would there be a bowl of nuts or a candy dish? If there were coasters it meant that you were allowed to bring drinks out of the kitchen - - a rarity at my house. There was never ever any coffee-serving going on at the coffee table at my house. The one exception was on Christmas morning when my father would’ve been completely unable to manage present-opening without it. He was not a morning person. In fact, as a young child I processed the two words as one word, “coffeetab...

  Every so often I find myself taking a peek at THREW Mikes EyEz , a local blog by Mike Hartley. This morning his words made my smile as he closed out a recent post with: My mind has been elsewhere all day so I’m going to go wandering trying to find it. I think some of it flew off the tracks at some point. Be good all. This is so often the case for me. It’s reassuring to see someone else describe that experience so succinctly. It’s also reassuring to see that he’s still writing. A lot of the local folks whose writing I enjoyed have stopped.  I wrote about Hartley back in 2022 in a piece called Seven Days.  I love his thoughtfulness, his self-deprecating humor. I don’t think you can come away from his posts without thinking a little bit about life and how you want to spend it. And there’s definitely an undercurrent of gratitude in there as well. Hartley’s photographs are just so good. They are the work of someone with an excellent eye and the patience to keep working and k...

In area micronews, I have seen the vehicle used for repainting stripes in area crosswalks and it is adorable. It looks rather like a ride-around mower. It was paying a visit to the Oakland Mills Village Center the other day so I expect our crosswalks there are now all spruced up and easy to see. For that matter, I finally caught a glimpse of the mini-vehicle used to clear debris from the bike lane on Oakland Mills Road. I wonder if they are the same vehicle with different attachments? Two stories I cannot offer any in-depth coverage of: a clown parade at Lake Elkhorn and a chicken found in the Merriweather District. They are both the kind of stories that make my heart sing but I don’t have much more than that at the moment. If you do, let me know. I stopped by the Columbia Association table at Howard County Pride to let them know I enjoy the weekly newsletter. I was introduced to Ashley, who is responsible for CA’s social media. I told her I wrote a community blog and she said, “Are yo...

I found the information I was looking for at the NBC News website. Take a look at the photograph. Image from NBC News Website. Original photo in the Library of Congress.   Caption reads:  This photograph of a scene in Antietam, Md., was taken by Alexander Gardner, who worked for a time as an assistant to Matthew Brady. Some felt that the bodies were possibly moved in order to keep the church in the background.  - -  Library of Congress Why was I looking? This: Image taken from post by HoCo APFO Page on Facebook Caption reads:  The day after Howard County passes a general plan.Who won the battle over adequate public facilities?  My first response to this post on the HoCo APFO Facebook page was one of revulsion. I commented, “This is a wildly inappropriate photograph.” That was four days ago. There has been no response. In the meantime, their most recent post shows a toddler stuck in a toilet.  The image that HoCo APFO selected to communicate their messa...

In light of the fragmented way that we receive information, I was curious to see if my readers knew about the recent move of Grassroots Crisis Intervention Center. Most had not. From the press release: Grassroots Crisis Intervention is excited to announce that we have moved in order to substantially expand our 24-hour crisis intervention, mental health, substance use disorder, housing support and suicide prevention services. This expansion will help Grassroots meet the increased demand for urgent and ongoing mental health and substance use disorder services in Howard County. Individuals can access enhanced free, 24-hour walk-in crisis stabilization and related services, counseling, homeless services, resources and more at 8990 Old Annapolis Road, Suite A in Columbia. When most of us think of Grassroots, we think of the shelter on Freetown Road, and possibly the Route 1 Day Center. Those facilities aren’t moving. While the Grassroots Emergency Shelter will remain at its current location...

Last week, when I wrote about the Hops and Harvest Festival, I received an interesting message from a reader. Reader: Hey, I read your article this morning. Something I found really interesting is that I had not heard the Harvest and Hops festival was going on this weekend until THIS morning when I read this.  Just makes me think how fragmented the information we receive is, which in my mind is all sorts of problematic.  Just food for thought.  Me: Wow! I have felt inundated by it. That’s really good to know. I assumed they were coming across to everyone this way. That is really food for thought, thank you. Reader: Yep it really made me think especially since you and I would probably see similar things. What we see is really creating our reality. Wow.  Cognitively, I knew that our experience on the internet is carefully tailored according to all the choices we make - - carefully monitored by those “cookies” we are always hearing about. And yet I still thought t...

  It can be a paralyzing feeling to know that anything you say will probably be the wrong thing and no matter how you word it someone will be angry, hurt, or feel betrayed. In the face of that a lot of people won’t say anything at all. It’s too complicated. They don’t want to make a mistake. ***** On the day I learned of the Hamas attacks on Israel, I noticed yet again the big difference between Facebook and Twitter: As per usual, Twitter is full of the news of the Hamas attack on Israel while Facebook is full of fall festivals and the O’s.  I can’t be silent. The long standing turmoil in the Middle East is complex and I am no expert. But my heart aches at the violence, destruction, and loss. It was a very general statement and it could have been a whole lot better. I was moved by this exchange on Twitter later in the week: Dr. Mia Brett:  I am desperately trying to hold a place of humanity for everyone right now but please Jews need some too. Our generational trauma is t...

I’ve been thinking about Jimmy Rouse’s letter to the Baltimore Sun, because: Rouse. Jimmy Rouse: We need a new Harborplace vision in Baltimore, not destruction, of my father’s legacy  , Readers Respond, Baltimore Sun In my mind Jimmy Rouse will forever be associated with the late, great Louie’s Bookstore Café and that time I found his runaway turtle under my deck. Now he’s making a pitch to save the buildings at Harborplace that were put there by his dad. That’s only natural, I suppose. It brings to mind the multiple occasions when we have planned for the future in Columbia - - sometimes growing, somethings changing, sometimes removing things that were put here at the beginning. Every time there has been at least a handful (if not more) of residents loudly clamoring for the preservation of Rouse’s legacy. I find it odd that Jimmy Rouse blames the demise of Harborplace on out-of-town developers. Harborplace fell into its present sorry condition largely because it fell into the hands...

  Today is National Coming Out Day.  I’m bringing back a piece from 2014 when we were still reeling from the ridiculousness of “ Condomgate ” at the HCPSS Board of Education. In the intervening years the school system, in partnership with dedicated advocates, has made a lot of progress.  Forces on the horizon propose to take us far, far backwards. Backward, October 13, 2014 What made Howard County go backwards? In the 1990's frank and open discussions about condoms with our high schoolers was essential because AIDS was out there, it was a death sentence, and the most important thing was to protect our kids. Now even saying the word condom in front of a high schooler is publicly condemned and all our sex education is abstinence-based. This is just crazy. I saw two films over the last week that I'd like to recommend to you and to the Howard County School System. One is Coming Out, from Nick News and Linda Ellerbee, and the other is Let's Talk About Sex, directed by James Ho...