Village Green/Town²

  Here we go. From WBAL TV Weather:  Suggestions from the good folks from the Capital Weather Gang: Staying safe in the heat wave , Dan Stillman, Capital Weather  Extreme heat kills more people in the United States than any other weather hazard, according to National Weather Service data. Somewhat closer to home, this notice at the top of the Howard County Libraries web site: During extreme heat, our library branches are cooling centers. Click this link for a list of additional cooling centers: https://www.howardcountymd.gov/community-sustainability/warming-and-cooling-center-information The link takes you to this map on HoCoGov. While you’re over at the library website you might as well check out what they’ve got going on this summer. Right now the May/June program guide is up but that will be changing over soon. Howard County Library System Program Guide: May/June Did you know that HCLS is interested in your library stories? This link will tell you what you need to kno...

A tip of the hat to local Redditors who have alerted me to the following sightings in our area. As a local social media platform, Reddit isn’t perfect, but, it sure beats Nextdoor by a mile! From r/columbia, yesterday:  Watch your feet while hiking. Saw this little guy on Wincopin Trail today.  It was identified as a juvenile Eastern Copperhead in the thread. No, the photographer was not this close. They zoomed in to get the image. The post was entitled “Snake Season.” Do snakes have a season? Why do I not know this? From r/ellicottcity, a few days ago… Recently spotted a bear this morning while taking our foster dog for a walk down our long driveway. This was our neighbor's home so I alerted them since I know they like to leave their garage open. I had to pull my dog away since I'm sure it wanted to...engage the bear. I saw a post made on this sub-Reddit about 5 year ago, so if anyone was wondering - yes, the bear is still here LOL. Secure your trash, keep your garages closed...

  " Hyperlocal" is an adjective used to describe something as being "limited to a very small geographical area" and, in particular, to anything "extremely or excessively local". It is applied in particular with regard to media output aimed at narrowly focused populations.It has otherwise been described as "information oriented around a well-defined community with its primary focus directed toward the concerns of the population in that community" - - Wikipedia In recent hyperlocal news: The snow plow tracker is a lie. I don't believe that Oakland Mills Road has been plowed in the last four hours (June 20th, 10am) My favorite response: I just drove by it. Can affirm that it's totally clear of snow. Great work HoCo! ***** Big, if true! Spirit Halloween store sighting in Columbia, Maryland. Hickory Ridge? Kings Contrivance? You tell me.  ***** In the “Location is Everything” department: I’m hearing that Pollo Campero, the third competitor in...

Me: It's feeling like a no blog day. I'll keep you posted. Mike: It's early, don't give up hope. Thanks, Mike. I needed that. Mike is, to my knowledge, the only other HoCo Blogger who writes seven days a week. So, if he says that: he knows. ***** The truth is, I find myself overwhelmed (again) by the general hopelessness of the country. It’s hard to make myself write about interesting local things when a little voice keeps telling me it’s all pointless. Why go anywhere? Why do anything? You see my problem. I also seem to be suffering from a case of the Get Off My Lawn virus, if there is such a thing. And it’s clearly giving me writer’s block to some degree. In order to excorcise it, I’m going to allow myself to rage about one current pet peeve.  Feel free to push back. Or share one of your own. Here goes: Having an event? Great!  Tell me where it is. Don’t make me click to find out. I am not going to invest one scintilla* of effort to head in your direction if you can’t...

  Yesterday I felt like I was running on fumes. I went on Facebook and asked:  Anyone out there feeling inspired this morning? Results were mostly no. Two were enthusiastically yes. For those of you who like to analyze* the numerical breakdown:  9 responses in total 2 yes 5 no 1 I don’t know yet, just woke up 1 a little  This one tugged at my heart strings: A little - - did you need some shared? Today’s not much better, I’m sorry to say. I love to be whimsical on Fridays and I’m just about fresh out. I’m full of heavy thoughts, not to mention assorted complaints. I’m going to spare you those. Here’s a thought for your day: I am so grateful for all the folks who don’t have much and still respond to their neighbors: I have a little - - did you need some shared?  Have a wonderful Friday. If you have any whimsy, please send some my way. Village Green/Town² Comments *Small sample size. Results not statistically significant.

  I went looking for something on Facebook recently and discovered I was dead.  Let me explain. I discovered some time ago that I could search my past Facebook posts by typing my name plus probable key words into the search bar. This has also helped me track down photos that for some reason I hadn’t saved to my iPad. The last time I did this something very different happened. I was looking for a thread in which I asked someone “are you lost?” and this happened. Excuse me? This must be a mistake. I tried it again, with slightly different search words. Friends, I am not dead.  My arm hurts, my shoulder hurts, and I am homesick. But I am not dead. I am mightily sick and tired of the stupidity of AI as it degrades more and more of daily life. Imagine my surprise when I searched Instacart to see if a particular store carried muffins. Did you mean muffins, puffins? Why do you ask?  Do many of your customers come looking for muffins, puffins? Are they also looking for eggs...

  I have never won any elections, with the exception of somehow becoming President of the Concert Choir in 12th grade. The other two things I ran for did not go well.  It is very hard to lose. I’ve been there. Today the primary election is over. It won’t be a happy day for everyone. My heart goes out to all the folks who fought the good fight, believed in something passionately, and did not see the result they had hoped for. My heart does not go out to people who fought dirty, told lies, spread rumors, encouraged the basest kind of behavior, and did all they could to poison the local discourse.  You and your candidate(s) did not win. You have damaged our community in a way that will most likely live beyond the primary season. People used to use the expression, “We’re better than this!” when something troubling happened in Columbia/HoCo. Let’s be honest: clearly we are not. We are not “better than this.” We could be a whole lot better than we have shown ourselves to be. ...

 Two things I’d like you to do today.  1. Vote (if you haven’t already) and encourage at least one other person to vote. 2. Watch this video. Triumph of the Human Spirit: Dr. Lorenzo Pace It’s five minutes and forty-five seconds long. You have time.  The film focuses on Dr. Pace’s sculpture “ Triumph of the Human Spirit ” which stands in Foley Square in NYC and the events which led to its creation. Dr. Lorenzo Pace  : artist, author, master storyteller and performance artist, and lecturer What motivates me to create art is the precious opportunity to inspire others to think higher, deeper, and larger; to think about the value and necessity of caring for themselves, others, and our planet; to think simply of other ways of being, seeing, learning, loving and manifesting a greater degree of peace in our world. - - Dr. Lorenzo Pace Here’s more from the Office of the Mayor, New York: On Juneteenth, Mayor Mamdani Releases Video Honoring the Legacy of Black New Yorkers Zohr...

From Window Dressing, March 19th, 2023: Ex-Gov Ehrlich tells Howard County Republicans they still have a chance. This photo accompanies a piece on Maryland Reporter entitled “Ex-Gov Ehrlich tells Howard County Republicans they still have a chance.” (Len Lazarick, Maryland Reporter, 3/12/2023.) The caption for the photo reads: Former Republican Gov. Bob Ehlrich on the stairs speaks to a crowd of Howard County Republicans during a Feb. 25 fundraiser at the home of Marleen Eck, far right, in Glenelg. Next to her is the county's GOP Chair Beth Lawson.  Well, it looks as though Howard County Republicans are taking an interesting chance in this election by running just about no one. It’s hard for me to say if this is because no one wants to run or they do but they don’t like their chances. The national face of the Republican Party has done Howard County no favors. Many, many local residents do not want what he is selling: selfishness, cruelty, racism, violence. This does not mean that t...

  Who/what is “a regular person”? For that matter, who isn’t a regular person? What is the difference? How could you tell? Why do I ask? Well… So, I'm doing something a little crazy - I started a podcast about what it would take for a regular person to run for president. It's called Why Not Me? 2028. If you have 20 minutes, I'd love for you to check it out - and if you like it, share it . - - Shana Bynon  I was encouraged by a friend to listen to the most recent episode of Why Not Me? 2028, a podcast created and hosted by HoCoLocal Shana Bynon. It’s an interesting question: what if a regular person ran for President? What kind of a regular person would you ask? Where would you find them? The podcast began a year ago and has released fifteen episodes so far. While it starts with a focus on the presidency, it soon expands its reach of inquiry into other avenues of public service. And then it even gets local. I mean - - it makes sense that you’d be able to find regular people...

  A year ago today I had surgery to repair an umbilical hernia. So far the fix has held up well, although it somehow managed to cause our bedroom ceiling to collapse.* It’s not surprising that I woke up with a mix of those memories swirling around in my mind today. It’s a Saturday and there are plenty of things to do. I’m just not plugged into that mood this morning - - my apologies. Three things: 1. Interesting house for sale in Brookeville which is somehow Howard County. I don’t quite understand how that works. Shouldn’t Brookeville be Montgomery County? It’s interesting to see a style that I remember being so new and challenging the status quo now looking so…dated? humbled? I can’t quite explain it. What do you think? ***** 2. I’m still troubled by a Thursday post on Facebook by the Howard County Historical Society. Here it is.  The Historical Center & Archives will be closed tomorrow Friday, June 19th, 2026 in observance of Juneteenth. We apologize for any inconvenienc...

  Today is Juneteenth. Freedom Day. JUNETEENTH FREEDOM DAY We commemorate Juneteenth, on June 19, 1865, when enslaved peoples of African descent in Texas finally gained their freedom. We remember them. We honor their memory. We celebrate freedom for all. What kind of freedom? We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness . - - Thomas Jefferson, from the Declaration of Independence  Is this freedom? Mississippi officer put on leave after killing baby in car outside Walmart , Marina Dunbar, The Guardian Is this freedom? Trump facing pressure to condemn UFC fighter for disparaging Michelle Obama , David Smith, The Guardian Is this freedom? Pete Hegseth removes all women and some Black service members from navy promotion list , Richard Luscombe, Joseph Gedeon and Aram Roston What kind of freedom is that?  Hold ...

  Things I didn’t know: The Restore is closing. My initial response: oh, that’s sad. The Restore, an initiative of Habitat for Humanity of the Chesapeake, supports their mission of providing safe, affordable homes for those who are in need of stable housing. The Restore also helps reduce waste by keeping otherwise usable home furnishings out of landfills. Learn more here: Restore A friend posted that this week is their last week. I checked out their website and found - - whew! - - that it’s not as final as all that. They are moving, so will be closed for a while. I believe this is their second move. Didn’t they used to be around the corner? In the meantime,  they are having a big sale!  Columbia, Maryland Restore  You know what else I didn’t know? I had no idea that the Dancel Y in Ellicott City has an enormous outdoor pool. Did you? No? That’s because they don’t. I went to their website to double-check. But they are running multiple adverts right now that would def...

Everybody smiles for the cameras. A ribbon is cut, the story runs across multiple media outlets. Some people heave a sigh of relief or say, begrudgingly, “It’s about time!”  I am sad.  Columbia police open new satellite office at the Mall in Columbia after fatal shootings, WBAL  TV 11 Our community has been ablaze with hateful and unsubstantiated rumours about a project to create a community center for young people. But everybody smiles about more police at the Mall.  Why?  I’d smile if they were opening a special hub for teens at the Mall. Let me know when they do that. This is how we spend our money. This is how we think we can address complicated problems. What are we calling it these days? Crime prevention? Rapid response? Investment in public safety? Crime prevention is meeting the unmet needs that cause suffering and put people into a continuous cycle of crisis and failure. Rapid response is truly paying attention, in real time, to vulnerable and distres...

Yesterday was a rare, low-humidity day in June - - shocking! I took this as a sign. After several days of false starts I managed to get myself into the car and head over to St. John Baptist Church for early voting. I don’t know if you remember, but there was a bit of an uproar when St. John Baptist built their new church on the corner of Tamar and 175. Some people seemed to suggest that James Rouse had forbidden church buildings as a part of the Columbia Plan. Since then I’ve observed so many ways that this congregation has connected with the community and opened its doors to educate and to serve. I wonder if the naysayers have noticed? A few things. Something yellow caught my eye in the parking lot. What office is the duck running for? I’m serious. That’s a duck. Apparently it’s associated with Linfeng Chen, whose enormous sign you can see in the center of the photo. I don’t know if there are any electioneering rules which expressly forbid duck signs. But what would happen if every c...

 Image you see the following signs. What’s the difference? We probably think of “adult books” as ones containing overtly sexual content. The kind that we generally limit to “special stores” away from children.  Then what’s an adult book fair? A book fair with naughty books? I’ve found myself pondering this as two of our local indie bookstores have hosted adult book fair events: Queen Takes Book, and The Novel Refuge. Despite any initial giggle I might have had, I was pretty sure these were book fairs for adults, not book fairs selling Adult Books. There’s been quite a bit of online discussion in recent years about nostalgic memories of childhood book fairs - - largely the Scholastic ones. For example: Those rosy-hued reminiscences have grown into a full-blown phenomenon. The events in our own community are a part of a national trend. Just one thing, though. I’ve noticed something about the use of the word adult in many of these events. It often means more than simply “adults ...