Village Green/Town²

  It’s another one of those days on Twitter. Everyone seems to want to share the one lurid story to increase their social media engagement. Murder for the clicks. I’m not sure I will ever adjust to that. In case you had not heard, this is the story I’m referring to. You should not feel obliged to click on the link. Police: Man fatally shot ex-girlfriend in Baltimore before killing ex-wife and himself in Columbia, broadcast his intentions on Facebook video , Justin Fenton and Alex Mann for the Baltimore Sun Multiple tweets on the same story shout out to me like old-school “newsies” calling from street corners to sell their papers. I put my head down and keep scrolling. Reading it once is enough, thank you. This is a story which involves broken relationships, divorce, and custody issues. That is what we know so far. And anyone who has lived through these things in some way is bound to have a very personal reaction. I know I do. I had to sit a minute to let my own memories and emotion...

  House for sale: Photo from Howard County Times, courtesy of Richard Watson This 1789 estate, located in Highland, is on offer for 5.5 million. It’s featured in this recent article: Hot property: 1789 Hickory Ridge estate, which includes a 9-stall stable and equestrian center, is for sale  - - Mary Carole McCauley, Howard County Times It wasn’t the article itself that caught my eye, but this tweet in response to it: This is @HowardCountyMD #agriculture history.  Will the purchaser honor the #history?  @hchsmd @FarmBureauMD @HoCoGov @HoCoGovExec Agriculture history? Hot property? Equestrian paradise? I don’t see it. It’s a prison. A private jail. A forced labor camp. Here is where generations of human beings were held against their will. It doesn’t matter how carefully it is preserved or how beautifully it’s decorated. It’s a living monument that our country was founded on the worst kind of injustice. See how pretty it is…the house of horrors. Journalist McCauley tel...

"Once upon a time, a very long time ago now, about last Friday…” Remember this? On a totally different note, I’ve been pondering turning Fridays blog into a free-for-all of things I want to write about that fall outside of the HoCo local territory of the blog. It’s long been known that people tend to read blogs less on Fridays. I wonder what would happen if I had “off-topic Fridays”? (In my head the working title has been, “The hell with it; it’s Friday.”)  Perhaps it’s the temptation to write about the things I would write about if no one were watching.  One reader referred to this possibility as Free Expression Fridays, which has morphed into Free Form Fridays because that gives me the opportunity to use that nifty superscript. Mathematicians are asked to withhold judgement. At any rate, it seemed like a good idea at the time.  Bones You may be awake of the relatively recent phenomenon of the dog who will assist you in deciding what kind of a day it is.  “ Bones o...

  We have moved into Stage 2 of the winter holiday advisory in Columbia/HoCo. No longer are we observing the first glimpses of seasonal events on the horizon. No we are in full-on , hot and cold running Holiday Fun. It’s holiday watch versus holiday warning, if you get the reference. My recommendation: dive in if that’s your thing, taking suitable precautions, of course. Stay home with some hot cider and a good book if it isn’t your thing. It’s not compulsory. Some suggestions for this weekend: The Howard County Autism Society is hosting a drive-though visit with Santa event this Saturday from ten am to noon. Join us for a fun, drive-thru visit with Santa Tommy right in the HCAS parking lot on December 11th from 10am-Noon!  Greet Santa right from the comfort of your own car and receive a holiday goodie bag.  We’ll also be collecting items for our annual Holiday Gift Drive to benefit individuals and families in our autism community most in need this holiday season. No regi...

  One weeknight in mid-March of 2020 I had a wonderful meal at Cured with a friend who was moving out of town. It was the last meal I was to eat inside a restaurant for quite some time. Until yesterday. I met up with another friend at Cured to catch up over lunch. Over time I had become committed to the notion that I wanted to re-enter where I had left off, that is, at Cured. I must say they were rather tickled when I told them. That may have contributed to the excellent service, but, frankly, I’ve always had great service there.  At my request, they sat us as far away from the other diners as the room allowed. They made sure we weren’t languishing there, though. Service was helpful but unobtrusive. The food and drinks were exactly right. I’m not a food reviewer but I supposed I could pretend to be one and remark on the perfect crunch of the coating on the crispy chicken in my sandwich as contrasted with the cool, crisp slaw and the sweet mustard notes in the accompanying Ca...

From the Brave Voices, Brave Choices initiative at the Howard County Library, this observation from a Howard County resident: I was recently dismayed at a meeting with members of my community opposed to a new apartment complex in our neighborhood. People testified against it by saying 'you know how apartment people are.' I interpreted this as a racist comment and opposed to my strong views of why Columbia was developed and why we chose it as a place to live and raise our children. In some ways I feel that this should be shared without comment, but…then it wouldn’t be a blog post. I could outline in an indignant tone all the times in my life that I have lived in apartments and how “apartment people” are okay. But there’s nothing about this opposition to apartments that has to do with me. I could walk down the streets of this particular neighborhood and never be noticed. Everyone would assume I belonged. I am white.  Even when I was barely scraping by waiting tables, or a divorc...

  I woke up with this old blog post on the brain and, despite my best efforts, I can’t seem to shake it. So, bear with me.  From December 22, 2019 - - “HoCo Goes Hallmark”. There’s been some seasonal joking about those holiday movies for which Hallmark is famous. Their formula has been solidifying over the years to the point where it has become a meme. I thought it might be fun to give this a local twist. Let’s replace the Green section with “returns to Columbia/HoCo”.  New let’s add some new choices: To save the family farm  To sell off the family’s original Columbia home  To liquidate a struggling Village Center  To get the family business in Old Ellicott City back on its feet  To challenge a decision by the planning board Now let’s work some romantic magic as our protagonist “magically falls in love” with: An embattled member of the school board A member of the Howard Hughes Merriweather District team  A beloved pastor of an interfaith center c...