Village Green/Town²

  I can’t remember the exact date that it first struck. It was definitely during the summer, though. Or maybe when a friend shared a post from the library system. I started out thinking it might make a good blog post but the amount of information coming my way got overwhelming pretty quickly. I feared that I didn’t know enough to do it justice. Apparently I don’t get a choice in the matter because it just. Won’t. Give. Up.  You can run but you can’t hide.  No matter how hard I have tried to get away from this topic it was determined to pursue me. Did you know there’s a class offered through HCC? And then the topic popped up on the CNN podcast Engagement Party (Audie Cornish, Ari Shapiro) . Take a look at the last line of the synopsis for the August 21st episode: RushTok is Southern Soft Power This week, the internet turned its eyes to an annual 2020s tradition: watching freshman girls rush sororities at big Southern state schools via an endless stream of social videos. Wh...

  It’s coming. It’s one of my favorite days of the year and now it’s just around the corner. That’s right,  it’s the Oakland Mills Fall Festival: this Saturday, October 3rd, from 11 am to 3 pm. The festivities begin with the music of the Oakland Mills High School Band in front of the Other Barn. If you don’t know which one is the Other Barn, it’s right across from the Dunkin.   You can visit the Fall Festival website to learn more about the Children’s Area, Entertainment, Food, and Vendors. I see that the OMHS Food Pantry folks will be there so bring some non perishable food items to donate if you can. Oh! Here’s something interesting. The Oakland Mills Fall Festival is connected to Howard County’s Walktober initiative . Come enjoy the Festival and get your steps in, too. Interested? Follow this link for a code to join.  There will be festival food vendors on hand in case you are hungry. Plus there are always OM’s own restaurants to try, as well as a chance to exp...

  So you’re selling your house. You definitely want to show it off to its best advantage. Let’s take this example from the BBC Panel Show QI. A charming, three bedroom cottage in Kent. Potential buyers who turned up to view the home were greeted with a remarkably different view. The estate agent failed to inform the public that the property was 100 yards from Europe’s largest nuclear power station. More importantly, they took the real estate listing photos facing the other direction.* (This was in 2009. Dungeness Power Station is no longer in use due to operational issues.) Aside from the rather daunting view, there are an assortment of documented safety concerns in living close to a nuclear power plant. And that’s assuming the plant is running as designed. The risks go up dramatically in emergency/malfunction situations. I must say, I probably wouldn’t buy that house. Now let’s talk about something closer to home. Do you remember when I  wrote earlier  about the proposed...

  Update from yesterday: the property in question is in Baltimore County, not Howard. I still don’t understand how it can be called Ellicott City, though. Many thanks to the two observant readers who clued me in.  It just goes to show you that 27 years isn’t long enough to know everything. I stand corrected. ***** Fun coincidence for you  - - it turns out that while I was writing about the challenges of Little Free Libraries , friend of the blog Marge Neal was putting together a piece of her own. It’s altogether more cheery than mine.  No Library Card Needed , Marge Neal, Scribbles from the Margen I just may take a field trip to this one.  Bonus question: how do home-grown tomatoes figure into the story? ***** If the weather has you down, here’s an idea for your Sunday afternoon from the RBP. Learn more on their Facebook page. Have a great Sunday, no matter what you do.  Village Green/Town² Comments

  Oddly enough, the story I have for you today is probably what happens when “ What Keeps a Church Alive? ” and “ Fear of Suburbia ” intersect.  I present the following real estate listing:  Long & Foster listing: Real estate for sale - Commercial/Industrial: 2800 Westchester Ave Ellicott City - MD [List Price: $9,700,000] MLS #: MDBC2157828* This 10 acres parcel is a host to a church and conference center and day camping with several buildings .  Let’s zoom out to get the big picture. Here you see the property in question marked by red toward the center of the picture. At the bottom left is the B & O Ellicott City Station Museum. At the top right you see Hallowed Ground Garden Center and, I think, the Residences at Oella Mill. Image from Google Maps  A quick Google search brought up plenty of identical listings but one in particular caught my eye. Exceptional 10-acre Land With Limitless Development Potential  The words are from the real estate list...

  The best part of waking up? Pouring that ambition in your cup because today’s Dolly Day. The outpouring of admiration and love for the late musician and philanthropist grew into a flood of suggestions that her life be celebrated each year on 9/25 - - a nod to her song “9 to 5”. The idea seems to be catching on. California and Ohio have officially declared September 25th to be Dolly Day and other states are in the process of making that happen. We all know you don’t need official proclamations to celebrate people you love and admire. And we certainly don’t need permission. A few invitations don’t hurt, though. Some of the vendors at the Common Kitchen in Clarksville have special plans for the day: Image from Trifecto Bar social media  Trifecto Bar is bringing the sparkle to Dolly Parton Day! Stop by The Common Kitchen this Friday, September 25, and treat yourself to one of their limited-edition Dolly-inspired specials at @trifectobar: Dolly's Glitter Lemonade, $7 Tennessee Ho...

  “Everybody doesn’t like something…” goes the old Sara Lee advertising jingle. I can’t argue with that. People in suburban Columbia don’t want more density because they fear becoming “urban.” People in urban areas may harbor concerns about gentrification. Some young folks in Columbia long for the city life. But today I came across one I had not seen before. Neighbors resist western Howard County development, citing well water concerns , Jess Nocera, Baltimore  Banner People in western Howard County fear…suburbia? Becky Merrill and her late husband moved to Lakeway Drive from Columbia in 2005, looking for more space to raise a family but wanting to remain in Howard County. “We didn’t want to feel like we were living in suburbia,” said Merrill, who is among the neighbors appealing the conditional use decision. If the Elm Street project moves ahead with so many homes, it’s “bringing suburbia to this very rural area,” Merrill said. The article mentions Lakeway Drive. Here’s a vie...

  I am currently wrestling with two - - yes, two! - - posts that I told myself I really wanted to write which are both kicking my butt.  So, let’s talk about benches. Maybe I should call it “ Benches Redux : The Remake.” For some reason I seem to attract social media content about benches, largely from the UK. This one is my current favorite: Lucy Davies: 1975 - ? Not dead yet  Just loves the bench I don’t know Lucy (and she is a good sight younger than I am) but I already like her. I, too, am “not dead yet” but I love benches.  I certainly love benches more than walking, which is a continuing challenge. A friend has lent me a book entitled 52 Ways to Walk. Perhaps I can incorporate my love of benches with my reading of the book.  Each chapter could be part of an adventure: Leave house.  Seek out a park or other natural environment that has benches. Walk to said bench. Read one chapter.  Enjoy natural surroundings.  Reflect on reading.  Is ...

  I probably would have scrolled right by this photo on Bluesky had it not been for the words that accompanied it. I had friends who owned ‘em, and friends who worked at Columbia Data Products. Proudly built in Columbia, Maryland! Say what? Here comes a journey down the rabbit hole… Columbia Data Products was founded in 1976 by William Diaz. According to Wikipedia: CDP introduced the MPC 1600 "Multi Personal Computer", designed by David Howse, in June 1982. It was an exact functional copy of the IBM Personal Computer model 5150 except for the BIOS which was clean room designed.  From what I can tell, Columbia Data Products was located here, at 8990 Route 108. Image from a prior real estate listing  Except their own advert lists it here, at 9150 Rumsey Road: The advert: When was the last time you saw foresight and cunning together in an advertisement? Here’s an ad all the way from London.  I did not know anything about this. Did you? The Columbia Data Products comput...

  I’m not here to talk about sin. But I am mulling over these words: …we confess that we have sinned against you in thought, word, and deed, by what we have done, and by what we have left undone.* No, let me narrow that down: …and by what we have left undone. Right now my house and my car can bear witness to those things which I have left undone: Large bags of polystyrene coolers waiting to be taken to the EPS Recycling drop off. It has moved - - did you know? One large bag of assorted bubble wrap. One large bag of plastic grocery bags and similar plastic. Several large bags of foam plastic packing material that came in my mother in law’s meal delivery orders. These least malevolent of all this things is a box full of assorted boxes that is waiting to be put out for recycling. That’s easy. Corrugated board needs to be clean and flattened. The county picks it up. Done. But plastic is not easy. For the companies that bring it into our lives it must be quite easy - - or else they wou...