Make It Your Own

All the rain we’ve been having recently might make it easy to forget that this is Winter and all that dreary precipitation ought to be snow. But the folks at Howard County Fire and Rescue have been planning ahead in case we get some serious accumulation of the white stuff. And they want us to do our part, too.

They want you to adopt a fire hydrant.

I hadn’t ever really thought about it before, but it’s certainly true that hydrants might vanish in cases of significant snowfall, especially when shoveling or plowing builds up mounds of snow in some places. Years ago, in New Haven, I saw a snow plow take out a hydrant.The resulting spray of water was freezing as it came back down. While it was fascinating to watch, I’m sure it’s just the sort of situation that those tasked with public safety would like to avoid.

So here’s what they need the community to do:

But they’re adding some fun into the mix by creating an Adopt-a-Hydrant program. They’ll even send you an adoption certificate. It sounds like it might be a fun civic activity to do with your kids.

You are encouraged to take pictures with your adopted hydrant and share them to Facebook or Twitter using the hashtag #MyHoCoHydrant. You can also tag the Fire and Rescue Department at @HCDFRS on Twitter and Howard County Department of Fire and Rescue Services on Facebook.

Just think of the fun some savvy teens could have with this. Wait, it looks as though HCDFRS have anticipated that:

Important note; fire hydrants are the property of the Howard County Bureau of Utilities - so please do not paint, personalize or change the appearance of the fire hydrant. 

Well, alright, if you want to take all the fun out of it...

I’m sure our digitally competent citizens can find our way around that. I’m hoping to see some significant local buy-in and some whimsical participation. I present, for your amusement, a few examples.

(This is a photo from Google Images. This is not an actual Howard County hydrant, nor do I claim it as my own adopted hydrant. Any resemblance to Howard County hydrants is entirely coincidental.)

I think this is a great idea which could really make a difference in an emergency, but only if it sparks the imagination of the community and people participate in meaningful numbers. It’s not too late to organize your friends and neighbors and start a local adopt-a-hydrant trend. Or you can simply choose to go it on your own and take responsibility for your nearest hydrant. 

All you need is a shovel and some social media skills. Or perhaps a teenager who wants to earn a few bucks when it snows.

Columbia NextGen

Not for the faint of heart, but truly educational: eating lunch daily with preschoolers. I have done it for a large portion of my career. After a while you get used to sitting in those tiny chairs. You never truly adjust to the odd food combinations and developing table manners, but you try. Yesterday one student took everything in the compartments of his bento box and arranged it artfully on top of his portion of plain pasta. 

“It’s a salad,” he told me, with a twinkle in his eye.

“He does this every day,” commented a friend.

I eat my own lunch earlier, so I can give my full attention to the kids. I usually bring a glass of water to drink while I chat, open fiddly little food packets, and peel the occasional orange. One day this week a student stopped in the middle of a sentence and exclaimed, 

“I’ve seen that! I know where that is!”

She was pointing at my cup. 

“You have?”

“Yes! It’s by that big construction area and the Whole Foods.”

I smiled, nodding.

“That’s right. It’s my favorite place. I give shows there in the summer.”

“Do you sing?”

“No, but I play music and I dance with kids and I share all my toys.”

Her eyes got big as she pondered this. 

“Maybe you can come next summer.”

“Come where?” Asked another child.

“The Chrysalis.” I pointed to my cup.

“I’ve been there!” She shouts. “It was fun.”

First child, “It’s by that big construction area and the Whole Foods.”

Second child nods. “Yeah, I know.”

“Why do you have a cup?”

“It’s my very favorite place and it makes me happy to look at it.”

First child, “ I’ve seen it. It’s by that big construction area and the Whole Foods.”

So there you are. It’s a pretty good sign when you’ve begun to work your way into the consciousness of the next generation. I’d hardly call this scientific market research but it certainly made my day.

Eventful

Someday I will take the time to find someone knowledgable and have them sit me down and explain the crazy fundraising frenzy that happens before the start of the Maryland Legislative session. It strikes me as being one long progressive dinner where many of the same folks are expected to show up and cough up donations.

I understand the part where politicians are not supposed to be raising money during the session itself. That makes sense. But holding fundraisers directly before the session? Doesn’t that seem like asking folks to purchase favor, or access? It just feels weird to me.

Now I should be clear that I like my elected representatives and would be happy to donate to all of them if I had the financial wherewithal to do so. And I don’t think any of them are selling access. I’m just curious as to how this process evolved. What is the history of it? Is it the best way to do things? Are there any possible improvements we could make?

I’m looking forward to hearing from my Maryland State Government policy wonk friends on this one. Fill me in.

A News Year Resolution

The Columbia Flier showed up in my box earlier this morning. Perhaps they have resolved to get up a little bit earlier on Thursdays this year. I’m looking forward to taking the time later to read the articles, instead of madly skimming through it for a blog topic. I’m probably preaching to the choir here, but if you don’t subscribe to BaltSun/HoCo times already, I hope you’ll consider it. If we don’t support local news, who will?

The decline of local news all over the country is a news story unto itself. I know you’ve seen me write about it before, and perhaps you are tired of it, but here I go again.

We can’t be informed citizens without it. And when you don’t have informed public the door is open for bad actors to do with government what they will. Aside from that, a lack of reliable information means that you won’t know about things that are really important to you. And then you lose those moments of opportunity where you might chose to get involved.

A challenge for the New Year: support local news. Subscribe, and then read as much of it as you are able. Widen the circle of people who know what’s going on. We often lament when a local restaurant closes that we would have patronized it had we known it was in danger of going under. What would Columbia/HoCo be without any local news coverage?

Are we willing to support it so it won’t go under?

Backward Glance

2019 was a year which seemed determined to break me.

Several times.

As I pondered the theme of this post I was having a New Year’s Eve dinner with my family at the Double T Diner. The Kelly Clarkson song, “What Doesn’t Kill You Makes You Stronger” got my attention. I remarked to my daughter that there really should be a song called, “Whatever Doesn’t Kill You, Doesn't Kill You.”

Sometimes that’s as good as it gets.

2019 was, for me, a year of loss, betrayal, and outright attack. It was the year I discovered, after eight years of writing my blog, the point at which I would back down. That point was when my husband and family were threatened. I had never feared for myself. But it was quite another thing when it came to the well-being of those I love. I made the best choice under the circumstances but there’s no question that I felt shaken.

As I begin a new year, examining and resorting numerous broken pieces, I’m probably more together than not. I’m adjusting to changes in my personal and professional life, and my blog, although temporarily derailed, has not been defeated. I can’t say any of that has made me stronger. It just hasn’t killed me.

On the other hand, I’m way more grateful for the things I’m grateful for. (Perhaps that should be a song, too.) We were talking at work about what we want to do in the new year and I found myself saying that I want to learn more. That feels promising. If I ever don’t want to learn more, that’s when I’ll know I’m really in trouble.

When I started this blog in 2011 my posts were mostly about the Pioneers vs. the Younger Generations, or Columbia vs. Howard County. All of that pales in comparison to where we are today. Far uglier struggles have emerged and seem unlikely to recede. What came before feels quaint: mere squabbles compared to the shouts and threats, angry taunts and tirades of the past year.

Our village feels less green. Our town, exponentially diminished. We don’t feel as sure about the goodwill of our neighbors as we used to.

But we are still here.

We get a new day, and another year. And maybe we will learn something new.

Sometimes that’s as good as it gets.

Right of Way

When I first moved to Columbia we used to joke that no one ate at home on Friday night. The local phenomenon of heading out somewhere only to be met with an enormous wait everywhere one went led to my husband’s refusal for many years to even attempt to go out on a Friday night.

Times have changed. There has been an explosion of restaurants since then. It’s easier to find a place without a wait on Friday night. On the other hand, just try finding a place to park when you swing by Bonchon to pick up your takeaway order - - on a Monday night.

Really? Wall-to-wall cars at the Mall on a Monday night? Maybe no one eats at home ever anymore! When I finally got parked, Bonchon was hopping. Almost every table was full. Clearly the town that splurged on a Friday night restaurant trip has changed over the years.

Strangely enough, this isn’t meant to be a post on local restaurant patronage. It’s about traffic. Not “too much traffic” but, rather, the changing traffic patterns around the Mall. I found myself really struggling last night to understand who had the right of way. It used to be that cars entering the Mall property always had the right of way. But now we have newer spokes extending out from the mall ring road that feel more like city streets than Mall entrance points.

Who goes first? Who turns? Who waits? How can you tell? I felt as though I was traversing a lawless expanse where my only thought was, “You’ll be lucky if you don’t die.” Obviously I was lucky, or I wouldn’t be writing this post. But it was a white knuckle experience.

Is there some new kind of traffic protocol at work here that I am not aware of? Are there signs posted that I just haven’t seen? I welcome your input. The next time I do a post-Elevate Maryland Bonchon run I want to be ready.

The One About Karen

The first thing that came to mind when I read about that now-infamous letter to the Baltimore Sun opining on how a local football player should spend his personal income was this:

Please, please don’t let Karen be from Howard County.

Over the last year a number of singularly unhelpful letters have turned up in the paper, holding forth on what’s wrong with Baltimore and how to fix it. I cringe when I see their origin: Clarksville, or Ellicott City, or some other Howard County location. In general, the worldview they offer looks something like this:

I am white
I am affluent
I’m not from Baltimore
I don’t know the history
I’m not up on current events

As you might imagine, the advice they offer is limited in value. No, that is too kind. It is ignorant of the deeper issues and often outright racist. If you think the most pressing issue in Baltimore is what to do about “those squeegee kids” then you have not done your homework. These sorts of letters do not make Howard County look good. I wince every time I read one.

This is why I jumped to the conclusion that a letter in which someone named Karen was criticizing a Black football player on buying expensive gifts for his teammates had probably come from out our way. That tone seemed awfully familiar. But, as far as I can tell, this is not the case. I guess ignorance knows no boundaries.

I’ve been catching up on back episodes of Elevate Maryland and there’s a moment in Episode 75 where co-hosts Candace Dodson Reed and Tom Coale offer thoughts on people from outside Baltimore amusing themselves with Baltimore’s political woes. Their discussion occurs towards the beginning of the Episode, during the “Three Things I’m Thinking About” portion of the podcast. It’s worth a listen.

There’s a special kind of hubris involved when affluent and largely ignorant folks think that their advice is necessary or event wanted. It is not unlike very rich people suggesting how the desperately poor just don’t budget well enough. It is more than merely unhelpful. It’s ugly. And hurtful.

Let’s not be that, Howard County. We have enough to worry about right here at home.

*****

Year in Review episode of Elevate Maryland is happening tonight at 5:30. Sign up here for free tickets if you want to catch some of the lively conversation in person and experience the show in its new location.