The Cupboards Are Bare

Yikes.

It’s the dreaded empty shelf. The cupboards are bare at Columbia Community Care.

FOOD DONATIONS NEEDED PLEASE!!

At the end of this piece I’ve included the complete post from April Lee of Columbia Community Care, which includes a link if you would like to make a monetary contribution. (Designate Hunger Relief.)

Right now I want to tell you a story. This summer I looked at the increasing need at Columbia Community Care and felt a sense of foreboding. As Ms. Lee writes in her message, “These are difficult times right now for so many and, sadly, they will most likely get worse.” I looked at the need. I looked at my budget. I struggled with my anxiety about “running out of money.”

I looked at the things I pay for every month. Were any of them expendable? Well…one. My subscription to the Baltimore Banner, which had recently increased. Supporting local journalism is important. But I held the thought of hungry neighbors in one hand and the Banner in the other hand. 

There had to be a way.

I could access the news articles through the library if I needed to. But there was no such option for feeding the hungry in my community. I canceled my subscription to the Banner and set up a monthly donation to Columbia Community Care. 

I’m not sharing this because I want a sticker or because I want to brag about what a good person I am. I’m using my experience to make a suggestion. You see, I saw a friend mention that their family donates monthly and this absolutely influenced my decision. Up until that point I had never considered it because I was sure I couldn’t afford to.

I could. I had to reset my priorities, but: I absolutely could.

There’s a nagging voice inside of me about a verse in the Book of Matthew about not boasting of one’s charitable acts. That’s why I’ve put off writing this piece. But then I saw the post from Columbia Community Care. So here I am. 

It’s simple. Maybe you’ll read this and find your own way to help. 

We have folks in our community who have been in a financial position to give who may now need support. Others may have very little to give and still make a way to contribute and participate. The community care model means we all care for eachother.

Find a way. Make a way. Be a way.

A funny postscript to all this is that it did not take very long for the Baltimore Banner to send me a Please Resubscribe offer for one year at a teeny tiny price. I don’t know whether or not that was a sign, but I did take the offer. 

Village Green/Town² Comments 

From April Lee, Columbia Community Care:

These are pics I took this morning of the shelf units for each of our Saturday distribution sites at Long Reach, Oakland Mills and Wilde Lake. We need all three of these shelves to be filled top to bottom in order for us to have enough to open sites next weekend. These are difficult times right now for so many and, sadly, they will most likely get worse. If you are able to, would you please help us restock our inventory? The most needed items right now are: Canned proteins (tuna, chicken, Spam, black beans, red beans, pinto beans), peanut butter, jelly, ramen, pasta sauce, spaghetti noodles, breakfast cereals, mac & cheese, rice, and baby wipes. 

Donations can be made via our Amazon wishlist (link in comments) or you can drop off non-perishable goods in one of CCC's collection bins at Bethel Korean Presbyterian Church in Ellicott City, Wilde Lake Interfaith Center, or BA Autocare. Donations may also be dropped off at our pantry Wednesdays and Fridays from 10am to 2pm or Saturdays from 9:30am to 12pm. Monetary donations (link in comments) are also desperately needed so that we can purchase pantry items which are not donated (fresh fruits and vegetables, milk, chicken, etc.).

Thank you, in advance, to this incredible community. Your continuing support of CCC's work through these tough times is such a blessing to us and to our neighbors in need. You make all the difference in this world in the best ways.

Toast, Taste, Self-Immolate

Almost exactly five years ago today, my village local, the Second Chance Saloon, poured out its last drinks and closed its doors. The Oakland Mills Village Center was sold to a different set of owners in 2022. Overall they seem to have been more attentive to things in our neck of the woods than the previous owners.

The space that was the Second Chance is still empty. 

The closing of the Second Chance was covered in local blog Warren’s Beer Adventures. This exterior shot is his, not mine. (All my 2C pix are interiors.)

Image from Warren’s Beer Adventures

Comments on the blog post suggest that a future business in this space might be called “Third Chance” or “Any Chance”. I was surprised that “No Chance in Hell” wasn’t a contender. 

Here’s what it looks like now.

Images property of Klein Enterprises 

A big chunk of my life happened in this place. Just like my life, it had some beautiful high points, some appallingly awful lows, and a whole lotta “meh.” And, like my life and (probably yours) sometimes “meh”is preferable to the alternative. 

All that being said, sometimes I miss it.

Here’s one thing I don’t miss, and it’s not specific to the Second Chance. There’s something sad and sometimes downright frightening about alcohol-fueled places. 

There’s a difference between a meal with a cocktail or beer and an evening of binge-drinking that ends in a brawl or a trip to the ER. I feel like we just shrug our shoulders at that as a culture. People expect that certain life events will be accompanied by alcohol, and - - mostly - -  accept that the drinking involved may be excessive and irresponsible.

My first-born works in fine dining/hospitality and the alcohol-related things she has seen would make your hair stand on end. If you serve alcohol you need to be prepared for that, I guess. It comes with the territory.

Why do we accept that? Is it honestly that enjoyable or necessary? Are the consequences worth it?

I was mulling this over at dinner last night and was trying to put my concern into words. 

“It’s one thing to light a candle to set a romantic or celebratory mood. But this is like dousing yourself with gasoline and setting yourself on fire.”

Do you think it is possible for our culture to evolve in a healthier way? Can we educate young people before they even start drinking and help them understand the difference between one flame and a conflagration? I’m not suggesting doing away with alcohol. I’m wondering if we need to keep watching people using it as a weapon against themselves in the name of “celebrating” and do absolutely nothing.

Could it be better? Could we be better? What do you think? 

In the meantime, I do sometimes pass my old hangout and imagine turning it into a home and living there, just so I could have the quirkiest house in town. Now that there’s no Columbia Flier building to fantasize about anymore, the thought of redesigning the place with the triangle roof has its charms. And it has a lovely back patio, too. 

Hmm…

Village Green/Town² Comments

The Cycle of Ups and Downs

If you have a bit of time today, you might want to head over to the East Lot of the Broken Land Parkway Park and Ride. The good folks of Upcycled are holding a community cleanup event from 11 am to 1 pm. 

These were the words that caught my eye:

Join us this October for our final community cleanup—a chance to give back and celebrate all we’ve accomplished together.

Wait - - what? Upcycled is calling it quits?

This October, we invite you to join us for our last community cleanup as we wrap up five years of Upcycled projects. Together, we’ll spend the day caring for our trails and public spaces, removing litter, and celebrating the collective effort that has transformed over 10,000 pounds of plastic into lasting community resources. This event is more than just a cleanup—it’s a way to honor the volunteers, students, partners, and neighbors who made this journey possible. We hope you’ll stand with us one final time to leave a cleaner, brighter, and more connected community.

We will meet at the East Lot of the Broken Land Parkway Park and Ride. From there, we can walk over to the West Lot, and if time allows after cleaning these areas, we will continue on to Lake Elkhorn.

Sigh. I’m a big fan of the mission of Upcycled to give single use plastic a long term purpose. The work they’ve been doing in Howard County to support that has been amazing. (I just did a quick check and I see that I’ve mentioned them on the blog at least a dozen times.)

Upcycled was founded in 2019 by Orlando Goncalves and Freddie Striano in response to the amount of plastics they were finding on their outdoor hikes around Howard County. As they collected trash and plastics on their hikes, they challenged themselves to answer this question: how can we give single-use plastic a long-term purpose? 

In addition to community cleanups, they’ve held Waste Warrior Workshops for kids, and partnered with schools to turn collected single use plastic into benches and raised garden bed structures. All of that has added up to over 10,000 pounds of plastic being diverted from landfills and the natural environment. 

Keeping a non-profit going is hard. You need more than workers to fulfill your mission, you need funds to keep it all going. To be clear,  I don’t know why Upcycled will be ceasing operations at this time but I do know they will be missed. Having a truly creative Great Big Idea and daring to pursue it is a beautiful thing. 

The following statement on the Upcycled Facebook page describes this more as a pause than an irrevocable termination. I offer it here in its entirety.

Gosh, I hope it’s not the end. This is valuable ecological and community-building work. Also - - cool points for thanking community partners. The act of expressing gratitude is never wasted.

If you want to sign up for today’s clean up and let them know you’ll be coming, here’s the link: 

Upcycled Community Cleanup 

To Orlando Goncalves, Freddie Striano, and everyone who has participated in Upcycled: thank you. 

Images from Upcycled social media

F ³: Skyhook

 

A funny thing happened on the way to 2021. After I was diagnosed for ADHD and began taking medication, I mysteriously started doing things my mother did throughout her adult life. There was no conscious effort. One day I simply realized I was doing them. Notably:

• Doing crossword puzzles 
• Making the bed daily
• Reading murder mysteries
• Feeding the birds

If you’ve read the blog long enough you’ll know that becoming more like my mother has never been a goal of mine. Fortunately, these new habits were benign.

Of the four, the last one has proven to be the most challenging. Birdseed is not cheap. You have to keep buying it. The bags are heavy and you have to store it someplace that is both convenient and does not annoy your spouse. You have to fill the feeder regardless of the weather. 

Still, the rewards are many. Here are a few.

You will become engrossed in the lives of your daily visitors. You may even begin to ascribe personalities to them.

But then there is The Dark Side.

They come by day.

They come by night.

You may think you have found a solution. It will last less than twenty four hours, if at all. 

Friends, I love deer and squirrels. I understand they need to eat, too. But I simply cannot afford to feed all of them and the birds, too. 

When we had to move out for a while this summer, I put the bird feeding on hold. I told myself I’d restart at the first frost. But I still haven’t solved my problem. This looks promising.

But how do you fill the dang thing? I have days when reaching up over my head is downright painful. A ladder? That feels like a lot of added effort. 

Give this set up an elevator function and a remote. I’ll buy it. Who am I kidding? If it were possible to buy this with an elevator function I could not afford it. 

But I have tried affordable options. I have McGyvered creative solutions. Now I want a skyhook. 

Wanted: a birdfeeder that hangs so high that squirrels and deer are outsmarted, once and for all. Plus, it must be easy to clean and to fill. I don’t care if it hangs on a fictional hook, levitates, spins, is protected by a force field, or an invisibility cloak. 

Winter is coming. I have birds to feed. So send me your suggestions - - I’ll probably be reading murder mysteries or doing crossword puzzles. (After I make the bed.)

Village Green/Town² Commentss

Ketchup, Mustard, and Relishing Public Art

 

On August 14th I posted this (not tremendously good) photograph on Facebook with the words: 

True Confession - - I don’t remember seeing this before.

My concern was that it had been there quite some time and I hadn’t been paying attention. I hate it when that happens.

In fact, it was new. Although I couldn’t find the information at the time, it’s one of this year’s ARTSites sculptures. 

Columbia Association, Lake Elkhorn Park – Terrestrial Horizon by Chris Plaisted

And here is a much better photograph from the ARTSites website.

Photo property of Howard County Arts Council

I see a musical note that might be swimming through the water rather like a shark. Or a bunny rabbit with ears of differing length.  According to HoCoArts, 

Terrestrial Horizon is a striking, bright yellow sculpture of steel. Its vibrant color stands out against the backdrop of the greenery and sky, symbolizing hope and creativity. The elongated forms and delicate curves contrast sharply with the vastness surrounding it, effectively conveying the theme of human insignificance in the grand cosmos. 

Wow. I’ll never understand public art. And that’s probably a good thing, because it clearly encourages divergent thinking.

Terrestrial Horizon reminds me a bit of another well-known Columbia artwork. Can you think of what I mean? Hint: it’s red. I used to call it the Big Red Thing but that was before I knew it had a name.

It’s Sail, by James Robert Benson.

Photo property of the Columbia Association 

Depending on how long you have lived here, you will wonder either when this photograph was taken or why you’ve never seen this sculpture in that location.

That’s because Sail was originally located on the lawn next to to what was once known as The Rouse Building. (Now Whole Foods) It was moved from this site to make way for Millie Bailey Park. Some time later it reappeared near the intersection of Little Patuxent Parkway and South Entrance Road

Images from Downtown Columbia Partnership social media

I don’t want to suggest that I am an expert in placing public art and, more than that, I don’t want to hurt anyone’s feelings. But I really disliked this location. It just didn’t feel worthy of the sculpture to me. Yes, I know, everyone’s a critic. (I also suspect that they re-seated it at least once after choosing this site. But I can’t prove it.)

Well it looks as though Sail has been having trouble getting comfortable*, because I saw it recently in an entirely new location.

I don’t know when it was moved and I suspect I wasn’t paying attention in this case, because it’s already featured on the Merriweather District website.  Who knows? Maybe it’s gradually trying to make its way home?

Why do I find them similar? 

Well, they are both brightly colored, probably made of the same material, and I feel like they are from the same school? genre? style? of public art. 

Looking at them side by side I can’t help but see a ketchup/mustard vibe going on. Can relish be far behind?

Just kidding. This is New Growth by Caroline Del Giudice. It’s located in Chandler Park in Detroit. I simply couldn’t resist the juxtaposition.

Question of the day: do you think that Sail will stay put or do you expect we will see it on the move before long?

Village Green/Town² Comments

Photo Finish

 

I’m not in this photo. But I certainly could be.

Image saved from a post on Bluesky

I’m white, retired, and have been known to write advocacy letters and turn up for public meetings. 

This is not in Howard County. But it certainly could be.

Image saved from Bluesky

Another evening of "This is why your city has a housing shortage."

Why do the anti-housing crowds always look the same regardless of jurisdiction?

Sigh.

You can’t possibly understand community needs when only one slice of the population gets heard. You can’t possibly meet overall community needs when only one kind of person is in the room. 

Are any of these people in crisis because they have nowhere to live? I can’t be sure. But I am sure…wondering.

I have reached the age where I feel that I’ve had some valuable life experience. It feels good to be able to give helpful advice when asked. I miss a certain sense of self-worth that came with my career as a teacher. I miss some things about life that just don’t exist anymore.

None of this entitles me to be the only person in the room. I don’t necessarily “know better” by virtue of race, age, experience, educational background, or financial status. 

Now, it isn’t as though I don’t have strong opinions. There are certain topics on which I wish everyone thought like me: arts education, for instance.  But I also understand that there are areas where the world is changing and that I am slow in catching up with or accepting. (This blog would be an example. I persist in blogging in a TikTok world.) 

On the one hand I’m not going to adapt to TikTok. On the other hand I’m not crying out for its immediate destruction, either. It’s a weird place to be. 

Everyone wants to have value. Everyone wants to feel significant. The folks in the photo above have something to say. They want to be heard. This is only human. The people in the photo and many others like it are not inherently bad. The continuing scenario where they are the only people in the room is very, very bad. 

People in our community who need housing want to be valued. The people for whom renting is the better financial choice want their needs to feel significant. They are human, too. 

As one Bluesky comment summed up so succinctly:

Many of these people have found community through activism (commendable). It is a community built around keeping out newcomers (reprehensible).

Surely there are better ways to build community.

Village Green/Town² Comments

The Words Are on Fire!

Extra, extra! Read all about it!

Starting at about fifteen hours ago, an account on Bluesky begin posting the following:

Allegations of dishonesty shake the foundation of a liquor license application in Howard County, raising critical questions about integrity and transparency in the process. 

Click to read more!

Tensions rise in Howard County as the Alcoholic Beverage Hearing Board grapples with a contentious liquor license application amidst community opposition and procedural debates. 

Click to read more!

The Alcoholic Beverage Hearing Board faces a heated debate over a new liquor license in Howard County, where community opinions clash and expert testimonies weigh in on the future of local business. 

Read the full story

The Howard County Alcoholic Beverage Hearing Board is grappling with the contentious decision of granting a liquor license that could reshape the local business landscape and community dynamics. 

Click to read more!

The debate over a new liquor store in Howard County is heating up as officials question its necessity amidst market saturation and community needs. 

Get the details!

Do you think they want you to click?

The account is Citizen Portal News Maryland, a part of a larger network called Citizen Portal AI. Here’s what I found at the Citizen Portal AI website.

Revolutionizing Civic Engagement with AI

Citizen Portal AI is the ultimate tool for staying informed and holding leaders accountable. Get direct access to what elected officials say and do—no spin, just facts. Empower yourself with clear, reliable information straight from the source and make smarter decisions with confidence.

Each of the posts above link to actual government meetings. So where does AI come in?

NATURAL LANGUAGE PROCESSING

Our AI uses smart algorithms to analyze meeting transcripts, picking out key themes and details accurately, so there's less chance for human error.

Okay, I’ve never said this on the blog before, but: I call bullshit.

Look at the language used in the Bluesky posts above, specifically:

Allegations of dishonesty shake the foundation…

Tensions rise in Howard County…

…a heated debate…community opinions clash…

…grappling with the contentious decision 

…debate is heating up…

This is emotional language. It borders on melodrama. This is the kind of language that inserts opinion directly into the framing of the piece. Whether there is a human being that writes these or they are concocted by AI, they are trash.

Real journalism doesn’t tell you what to think or how to feel in advance. It presents the facts and lets you decide. 

Journalism tells you who, what, when, where, why. 

• Who is at the hearing. Who will be impacted. Who will make the decision.
• What business are they conducting. What decision needs to be made. What is the language of the decision.
• When did they meet. When do they need to make a decision. When will their decision go into affect.
• Where did they meet. Where is the property in question. Where do those giving testimony live, if relevant. 
• Why are they having the meeting. Why are community member testifying. Why is there disagreement. 

I don’t pretend to know exactly what this stuff is, but it is not journalism and it is not helping.

If we want people to take more interest in meetings of the liquor board (or other government meetings) maybe we should have a free dish night. What Citizen Portal AI is doing is not much different than the old school melodrama device of holding up signs encouraging the audience to cheer and/or boo.

Please tell me that we are still teaching young people enough about critical thinking skills that they are capable of seeing this for what it is. I truly hope so. The sad thing is - - apparently nobody taught AI.

Village Green/Town² Comments