Prizes and Procrastination

The contest has closed! Winners have been selected!

And I can’t tell you because I forgot to ask any of the entrants for their consent to share their names on the blog.

Oh, bother. Look for all that - - and more! - - in tomorrow’s post. You would not believe what I have learned about creative reuse.

*****

In the meantime, take a look at the latest on The Merriweather Post about CA’s proposal to remove a few pools and replace them with splash pads. I feel like he does a good job looking at the pros and cons. I have been gathering my thoughts on this since I heard about the proposal and I will be writing about it soon.

It’s a difficult issue for me because one of the pools likely to be removed is my neighborhood pool. As you might imagine, I have feelings.

*****

Hats off to the local man who offered to give free shoveling lessons to all and sundry in the convenient location of his own driveway, all supplies provided. No, he wasn’t serious. It was delightful to read something humorous that wasn’t at all mean-spirited. (Perhaps he might give free lessons in that.)

*****

There appears to be some dirty pool going on in the County Executive race. I don’t want to get into the weeds here but, if you see a letterhead that looks like this it’s important to know what you are looking at.

This group is a voluntary membership-based nonprofit. It is not the actual police department. They are an advocacy group. Can they express opinions? Sure. Can they speak on behalf of the Howard County Police Department? Absolutely not.

It would be interesting to know who is generating all the energy behind this.

*****

One last thing: mark your calendar and offer up good vibes for cooperation from the weather. This is Saturday.

Howard County is partnering with local entrepreneur Althea Hanson for a community charitable event this Friday. Learn more in this television interview on Fox 45 News.

It’s easy to be weighed down by our own woes right now. Jamaica continues to struggle after the damage wrought by Hurricane Melissa. This this is a local opportunity to reach beyond our bubble.

Stay warm today if you can.

Village Green/Town² Comments

Comments

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...

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...

Columbia Chance Connection

Last night, as my husband and I were about to sit down to dinner, our front door swung open and a cheery voice announced, “I’m ba—ack!” We weren’t expecting anyone. Clearly the only people who’d walk right in to our house would be one of our offspring. I had my reading glasses on so I wasn’t seeing too clearly. It seemed too tall for our youngest, but we knew our eldest was at work. I took off my glasses to see a friendly but confused face scanning our living room. When her gaze landed on us we all had a sudden realization. We didn’t know eachother. “Oh I’m so sorry! I’m in the wrong house! My daughter just moved in and she needed hooks for the kitchen so I ran out to get them.” She waved the package. “All these houses look the same and I don’t know the neighborhood yet. I thought this was my daughter’s house.” We were all getting a bit giggly. “That’s okay. For a quick second we thought you were our daughter,” said my husband. I told her our names and said she should defin...

Village Green/Town²

Search This Blog