Village Green/Town²

  Images from HoCo Rec & Parks social media accounts  In honor of Earth Day, here’s an opportunity from Howard County Department of Recreation and Parks: Do you love nature? Want to make a difference in your community while exploring the beauty of Howard County parks? We need YOU to help document the amazing plants and wildlife that thrive in our parks! The City Nature Challenge is a global initiative that uses the iNaturalist app to document local flora and fauna in urban areas.  No previous experience needed — just a passion for nature and a smartphone!  The challenge runs from Friday, April 24 - Monday, April 27. You can participate at your convenience, anytime during those four days!  To get involved, sign up at https://tinyurl.com/HCRP-NatureChallenge  A Park Ranger will reach out with your assigned park and instructions. If you are curious about the iNaturalist app, you can learn more at their website.   Interested in Howard County’s natural ...

  This, my friends, is a chukar. Chukar sighting in Howard County, 2026 via Western Howard County Shares And here’s another one. Chukar sighting in Washington County, 2025 via MD Birding I had never seen nor even heard of a chukar before coming across the image posted on the Western Howard County Shares Facebook Group.  This chukar was seen at Glenwood Middle School, this morning in case anyone is missing a member of their flock! On the basis of two images and absolutely no research I concluded that the chukar is short and round. No, it’s upright and skinny. What’s going on with the neck here? It’s okay. You can laugh. My knowledge of birds is limited. What I know now is that the chukar is a partridge . It is not native to Maryland. Usually when you see one it’s because it is being used as a “bait bird” in recreational hunting activities. Sigh. As far as the particular chukar spotted in Howard County, I don’t think they were able to ascertain where it came from. According to ...

  The trouble with renters is that they are looking for a decent place to live that they can afford.  That’s it. That’s the problem. They’re not inherently “less than” homeowners. They aren’t guaranteed to represent a transient/bad element in a neighborhood.  They don’t care less about where they live.  Renters do valuable, necessary jobs in a community and by valuable I mean something you need that you couldn’t do yourself. That could be teachers or nurses or firefighters but can also be the cook in your favorite restaurant, a mechanic, janitorial staff at the hospital or the check out clerk at the grocery where you like to shop. But, in fact, it doesn’t matter whether any particular homeowner thinks that renters are worth including. It’s ridiculous to think that anyone needs to make a case to include them. How would you like it if your sense of belonging in any given place was dependent upon someone else’s opinion? Renters belong in Howard County and yet so many fo...

  WMAR-2 News Baltimore: Photos released of suspect connected to Friday’s Columbia gas station shooting. Until I read the comments on Facebook I was under the impression that the crime was shooting someone. Here’s the article itself: Police release photos of suspect connected to Friday's Columbia gas station shooting , Dominick Philippe-Auguste, WMAR-2 News Baltimore  You can be forgiven for making the same mistake. The journalist covering the story did, too. Officers responded to the gas station in the 7200 block of Cradlerock Way, where they found an employee suffering from a gunshot wound. But the photos changed everything. Police photo used in conjunction with WMAR2News article  If you read the comments the true crime emerges: Suspect is fat. Suspect is a fat woman Suspect is a fat Black woman. Folks just went to town with every fat joke in the book. Clearly they felt they had been given a free pass because our culture allows fat shaming and often even condones and en...

  Good news: I’m home for 24 hours. Bad news: our AC is broken. Good news: our AC people are coming between four and eight pm today. The bad news: I didn’t get the best sleep of my life last night. It’s a clip show today, folks.  Today is Spring Fest in Old Ellicott City. At Clarksville Commons they are celebrating Earth Day. The Howard County Genealogical Society is hosting a free Help Desk Event.   You can contribute to the Period Product Drive initiative hosted by the Howard County Women’s Giving Circle and Young Women's Giving Circle. The PTA Council of Howard County is holding a Candidate Forum featuring Board of Education and County Council candidates.  Don’t forget you can bring your sketchbook down to the Lakefront for Scribble! from 11 am - 1 pm. This looks like a fun Trivia Night event at Tribos Peri Peri with delicious food and a Pakistani theme: Oh, and one more thing. It turns out that Stripology is not what I thought it was. Oops. FYI: The folks at Mer...

  I watched a video of comedian Josh Johnson yesterday in which he describes a phenomenon called “the ick.” It’s somewhere in here . From Merriam Webster: Ick, usually the ick, refers to a sudden feeling of disgust or repulsion that causes a permanent reversal in feeling toward a romantic (or potential romantic) partner. Ick is also used (often without the, as in “a list of icks”) for the cause of the disgust or repulsion itself. It is sometimes used more broadly for a feeling of disgust or repulsion outside of the context of romantic relationships. Johnson describes an experience where he’s pretty sure that his own behavior gave a potential girlfriend that “ick” sensation. He does it in a way that is both self-deprecating and hilarious. By using himself as the awkward one, he has you laughing and rooting for him at the same time.  I had never heard the term “the ick” before yesterday. I thought a little bit about whether “the ick” is the same thing as a “red flag”.  Are ...