Summer Vacation Saturday

 

Happy Saturday! And, happy first day of summer vacation for those who celebrate. How about starting it off at a local Market? 

Maple Lawn Farmers Market, Maple Lawn Boulevard, 9 am - 1 pm

Clarksville Commons Farmers Market, 10 am - 2 pm

Freetown Farm Plant Sale, 9 am - 1 pm

There’s a craft fair at Historic Oakland from 10 - 3 pm.

At Savage Mill there’s a Bluegrass Festival from 12 - 5 pm. (Tickets here)*

In Dorsey’s Search they are having an event called a Meet, Greet, and Eat Festival from 1-3 pm. The image below lists a variety of summer events to be held at the Kimco village centers. 

Black Flag Brewing Company is celebrating their 8th anniversary, 12 - 11 pm.

Mary’s Land Farm is having a Summer Solstice Kick-off Party from 12 - 9 pm.* 

You can take in some musical delights at “The Almost Famous Revue” to support Columbia Pro Cantare: First Evangelical Lutheran Church, 6 pm. (Tickets here)*

The movie at the Wine Bin tonight is ET, 9 - 11 pm.

There’s a musical at DoodleHATCH - - You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown, presented by Stand Up for Theatre, 7 pm. (Tickets here.)

And, of course, Lakefest is all weekend long.

Finally, the local event that caught my eye purely because I’ve never seen anything like it before:

Adult Singles Pickleball Mingle, Dill Dinkers, 7 - 10 pm  Must be 21+. You may need to be a member to attend, I couldn’t figure that out. 

Is pickleball a good way to meet a potential romantic partner? I would not know. Shared interests are key, so: maybe? I met my spouse singing in a church choir; my knowledge of sporty things is limited.

What’s on your Saturday schedule?

Village Green/Town² Comments

*Denotes that these are ticketed/$ events. 

F ³: Where’s the Phone?

 

Today’s post is about mental images and cognitive flexibility. First, an anecdote for context:

As a newlywed, I adored my food processor. Back then I cooked everything from scratch and it was one of the wedding presents that got frequent use. So, I tried to talk my mother into getting one. She was still chopping everything in a wooden chopping bowl. Her resistance amazed me.

"How do you make sure that the plastic pusher-thing doesn't get sliced off by the blades?" She asked, doubtfully.

"It doesn't! Trust me! And besides, do you think they could successfully market something that got sliced up as soon as you used it?"  I wasn't very patient with her line of thinking.

She got a food processor. But she never really used it. It sat on the kitchen counter looking sparkly and new. And she continued to use her wooden chopping bowl.

I won the battle, but I lost the war. - - Challenging Our Assumptions, Village Green/Town², March 21, 2013

One of the things about aging that I have dreaded is the loss of cognitive flexibility. Now, I’m not using that term in its most accurate sense . What I mean is the difficulty in seeing things in new ways while the world is changing around you. Probably a lot of that has to do with having such firm mental images of “how things ought to work” that there is no more room for creating new ones. 

No, I’m not a neuroscientist. This is purely armchair observation and theorizing. And I should add that age isn’t always a predictor of this. Some older folks retain that flexibility and I’ve seen others get mentally stuck in high school or college. 

This week I had an experience which felt like my Food Processor Moment. I was trying to reach my primary care provider. But I did not know what magic words to say to get to the telephone of right person at the right desk. 

Until very recently my doctor was in a small practice of two doctors. If I called I knew I would be speaking to one of the two people behind the desk who always greeted me when I came into the office. I knew the protocol for asking questions, making appointments, requesting a call back from the doctor, and so on.

My new primary care provider is a part of an enormous, multi-location system. The medical care from both providers: excellent. The protocol for reaching someone by telephone couldn’t be more different.

I feel cast adrift. My brain tells me I should be speaking to “Dr. So and So’s office.” 

That doesn’t exist. 

There’s one main number and whoever answers has a computer and I guess they have access to my medical files. It occurred to me this week that they may not even be located in the building where I see my doctor. As long as they can connect easily to the people and information necessary, why would their work location be important?

It is breaking my brain.

I have suddenly become my mother, who for years made the employees at the post office smile when she came in to buy “penny post cards.”

I want to know who the person is that I’m calling, and know that they have a working relationship with my doctor, and that they have at least a vague memory of seeing me in the office. Instead I feel as though I am interacting with the same kind of anonymous call center that turns all of us into tiny cogs in a giant machine. I’m sure it’s all about efficiency. Isn’t it always?

To be clear: everyone I’ve dealt with on the phone has been helpful. But I’m beginning to realize that they understand how it all works and I…I just don’t. I often feel like I’m not even asking the right questions to get the information I’m looking for.

I no longer “speak the language.”

I knew that transitioning to a new primary care provider after many years might be challenging. I had no idea how much I’d miss the person who picked up the phone when I called.

Village Green/Town² Comments

Food Fad? Or Old Favorite?

 

Been to any parties lately? It’s big-time graduation season right now. Weddings abound, Father’s Day is coming up…

Have you seen one of these on a party buffet?

Image from Touché Touchet social media 

When I spotted this post from HoCoLocal bakery Touché Touchet this morning I must admit I was a bit startled. Do people still eat cookie cakes? Are they even “a thing?”

Aren’t all the cool kids choosing from assorted mini Bundt cakes at this season’s parties? Or perhaps oohing and ahhing over customized cookies from a cottage bakery, glossy with icing like a satin evening gown?

Until I saw this photo I hadn’t thought about cookie cakes in quite some time. I remember buying one for a family birthday a good while back. At the time the only place I knew that made them was at the Mall in Columbia. You know the one - - near the foood court.

Image from a Google search

In my mind, cookie cakes were one of those food trends that become very popular so as to almost be ubiquitous and then gradually fade away. These days that happens far more quickly than it used to. (One wonders how long we will be seeing Nashville Hot Chicken restaurants popping up before their heyday is yesterday’s news.)

As long as we are engaging in a bit of time travel, I might as well take you to the first place I ever saw a cookie cake. 

Chanticleer, from a postcard 

This is Chanticleer, a little restaurant in South Hadley, Massachusetts where one could get breakfast and lunch. They also had a booming business making and selling personalized cookie cakes to the nearby college, where I was a first-year student in 1979. They were affordable enough that you could chip in with friends and get one for a special event. 

They were certainly new and trendy to me. 

The little restaurant is no longer there. The college, as the song says, “forever shall be” - - or at least I hope it will. I don’t know if cookie cakes are even heard of on college campuses anymore. 

Back in the day South Hadley was no larger than a pocket handkerchief and boasted two restaurants, a bookstore, and a bank. If you didn’t have a car, and most of us didn’t, you were limited in your off-campus choices (if you didn’t want to lug whatever you purchased on the Five College Bus run to nearby Amherst, UMass, Hampshire or Smith.)

All of this is to say that those cookie cakes from Chanticleer were a really big deal back then. I wonder what the equivalent food item would be today? 

If you have never stopped being a fan, it’s good to know some local folks are still making them.

Do you have any local food memories of fads/crazes/trends? I’d love to hear them.

Village Green/Town² Comments

Bag of Tricks, Revisited

How about a visit to my handy-dandy bag of tricks this morning? I feel certain there are some odds and ends in there…

1. New restaurants on the HoCo scene: Crimson Coward, Honeygrow, Ranazul, Soluna Cocina, Smashing Grapes. FYI: Honeygrow opens Friday, Ranazul is locally known but opening in a new location.

2. Howard County has opened an Age Friendly Fitness Lot at Centennial Park North.

3. HoCo has a “Craft Brew Trail”? Apparently. And remember: please don’t drink and drive. 

4. If you’re a parent struggling to get to the end of the school year, so is Leslie Gray Streeter of the Baltimore Banner. This one is is funny and excruciatingly honest. You’re not alone, parents.

5. It seems as though every organization in town wants you to take their engagement survey. Right now. What’s up with that? Is June National Engagement Survey Month?

Any other local news I should know? Fill me in. 

Village Green/Town² Comments 

Your Summer Starts Here: 2024

 

Friday is the last day of school in Howard County. It’s a half day. It’s also the beginning of Lakefest, the free Columbia Festival weekend whose catchphrase has long been:

Your summer starts here.

I’m sensing some synchronicity.

Lakefest is present by the Columbia Festival of the Arts (supported by many local partners.)  The fun kicks off at 5:00 pm on Friday with a performance by LJR on the Lake Stage. Hours for the festival are as follows: Friday, June 14: 5:00 pm – 10:30 pm, Saturday, June 15: 11:00 am – 10:30 pm, Sunday, June 16: 11:00 am – 7:00 pm.

What you’ll find:

The Columbia Festival returns to the Downtown Columbia Lakefront with its FREE LakeFest Weekend featuring three days of live music*, an invitational fine arts & crafts show, kids’ entertainment and crafts, a variety of activities for all ages, and fabulous festival food fare.

Here’s a handy dandy map of the festivities. (What? No People Tree?) 

Important info for those who will be driving:

Free parking (including Accessible Parking) available nearby at the Wincopin Circle parking garages. Visitors can also park at the Sterrett Place lot located at 5575 Sterrett Place. PLEASE DO NOT PARK AT WHOLE FOODS MARKET.

A schedule of events:

Columbia Festival of the Arts is on Facebook and Instagram and they’ve been providing daily posts leading up to the big Lakefest Weekend, including information about food vendors, participants in the juried arts and crafts show, and more.  Take a look and see what might interest you.

At the moment, weather predictions look hopeful. Keep your fingers crossed.

Do you plan on visiting Lakefest this weekend? Do you have any favorite memories of Lakefests past? Let me know.

Village Green/Town² Comments

*You can learn more about the line up of musical performers here. 

Never On Sunday

When you think you have seen everything in our local corner of the internet, you will discover a gentleman who is disgruntled that he cannot purchase gourmet cookies on Sunday in River Hill. 

Really.

It just so happens that the new Crumbl establishment in the River Hill Village Center is closed on Sundays. That’s apparently a part of the company culture. 

The company addressed this question on its LinkedIn profile, acknowledging that many people have been wondering the same thing, and that "[w]hile we know customers still want to buy cookies on Sundays, we believe there are more important things than just sales." The post went on to explain that the main reason for the policy is that "Sunday is a dedicated day to our Crumbl Crew to be with their friends and families. Running a Crumbl location is around-the-clock HARD work but running a store shouldn't come at the cost of meaningful relationships." - - The Food Republic 

I must admit I was puzzled that anyone could have a problem with a purveyor of fancy cookies taking one day off out of seven. But there’s a controversy for everyone, I suppose. The reasoning behind the complaint was that, if any day was just “made for enjoying cookies”, it was Sunday. 

Does this make being being cookie-less on Sundays a crisis? A crime?

This got me thinking about which businesses that I thought ought to be open seven days. The hospital, of course. Urgent care. Gas stations, drugstores, groceries. Can you think of any other “absolutely must haves” in the business category?

Cookies did not make my list. YMMV, as they say.

Back when I used to live in Baltimore, a favorite casual place to eat or get takeout was Never On Sunday, located at the corner of Charles and Read Streets in the Mount Vernon neighborhood. In those days I probably would’ve been picking up chicken parm subs on the way to Thursday night choir practice. 

What I wouldn’t have been doing was getting lunch after church with the choir folks because, as the name says, Never on Sunday wasn’t open on Sundays. Nope. Not ever. I’m guessing that the establishment, which opened in the 1960’s,  takes its name from the 1960 film and the hit song made famous by Connie Francis:

Oh, you can kiss me on a Monday

A Monday, a Monday is very, very good

Or you can kiss me on a Tuesday

A Tuesday, a Tuesday, in fact I wish you would

Or you can kiss me on a Wednesday

A Thursday, a Friday and Saturday is best

But never, never on a Sunday

A Sunday, a Sunday, 'cause that's my day of rest

I don’t remember if anyone I knew ever complained about the Sunday closings. It was just a part of the restaurant’s quirky charm. 

Then, several years ago, the restaurant took a momentous step. And not everyone was happy about it. Christina Tkacik wrote about it for the Baltimore Banner.

Some restaurants are so beloved they’re practically holy; to change them even the tiniest bit would be blasphemous.

Consider the backlash online to Never On Sunday’s decision to rebrand and open an additional day. According to its website, the longtime Mount Vernon deli, which first opened more than 60 years ago, is now called “Nevers” and, yes, will serve on Sundays come fall.

“This feels like an April Fools Joke,” someone wrote on Facebook in response to the news. “This feels dirty.”

“They are renaming it to ‘sometimes on Sundays,’ ” quipped another. - - The Dish, 8/16/2023

Working in food service is grueling, whether you’re in a restaurant or baking gourmet cookies in a shop. Most people don’t truly understand the amount of work involved. I have no problem with such businesses getting to set their own hours of operation. 

Perhaps someone out there, inspired by one man’s rant, will open the “Only On Sundays” cookie service. The slogan, of course: Sundays are just made for enjoying cookies.

What do you think?

Village Green/Town² Comments

Show Your Colors and Celebrate Community

Howard County Pride is kicking off their celebration of LGBTQIA+ culture with an event this morning at Colorburst Park in the Merriweather District. As you know, Howard County’s official celebration of Pride is held at Merriweather Park in Symphony Woods in October, to coincide with LGBTQIA+ History Month. 

Image from Howard County Pride website

This morning’s event begins at nine thirty and runs until 1:00. There will be plenty of fun, family-oriented activities plus the announcements of the winner of the K-12 Art Contest for HoCo Pride Festival in October and Hoco Pride Community Awards.

They’re encouraging folks to patronize area businesses in the Merriweather District, some of whom have provided some incentives to support HoCo Pride. To learn more, visit the HoCo Pride Facebook page.

I went to last year's event (and wrote about it) and I’d like to give a shoutout to the planners of this year’s event for choosing a morning time slot this time. 

Last night I went with my family to a HoCo Pride event held at Color Burst Park in the Merriweather District. It was the first time we had been there and I ought to be able to give you some kind of decent description but I can’t.  It was so, so hot that my brain went into survival mode. My apologies. I can say that drinking fountains or those cool, newfangled contraptions that allow one to refill their water bottles would have been welcome.  - - HoCo Pride Braves the Heat, Village Green/Town², June 26, 2023

A morning event in that space is bound to be cooler! Smart move.

I noticed that they have one of those Eventbrite free registration links but I don’t think they’ll be checking registration at the site. Something I do want to call your attention to:

Note the highlighted part on the registration page. 

There is an event at Merriweather at noon. It is recommended to come early to find parking.

Friends, they are not kidding. Last year there was a similar overlap with MPP and parking was…a struggle. If you think I’m exaggerating, may I present Exhibit A: a post from Downtown restaurants Cured/18th & 21st:

At long last, concert season at Merriweather Post Pavilion kicks off this weekend! But, that means coming to dine with us can get a little hectic. That's why we put together some helpful tips on getting here and getting parking in the garage.

https://bit.ly/3xUFVoq

The Merriweather District’s proximity to MPP is, of course, entirely on purpose. The fact that a nearby restaurant is offering helpful parking information for patrons suggests to me that there may be times when the location is less than convenient. A tip of the hat to Cured for getting this helpful information out there.

I’m hoping that a morning time frame will make it far easier for folks to access Colorburst Park and enjoy the event, but, I thought I should clue you in if you haven’t been there during concert season.

Alas, I’m not available this morning. If you go, I’d love to know all about it. The good folks of Howard County Pride do an amazing job providing support, community education, and advocacy for LGBTQIA+ individuals and families in Howard County.

Village Green/Town² Comments