Village Green/Town²

This photo appeared on Bluesky with these words:  Science lady is excited. Alt text: Screenshot from the nasa stream when their science ops person learns that the astronauts observed impact flashes on the moon  This week has provided many opportunities to see moments like this - - where we can see the sheer joy of those involved in the Artemis II mission. Joy in discovery. Joy in seeing the thing that you deeply love - -  and have worked so hard for - - finally come to fruition. Joy in sharing these moments with others. Never forget this joy. Never underestimate the power of joy.  Photo property of ABC News More joy this week from New York City mayor Mamdani as he highlights the importance of public workers. Mayor Zohran Mamdani:  Beautiful day to fill the 100,000th pothole of the year. Screenshot from Mayor Mamdani’s Bluesky account Chad Loder:  Mamdani is not just filling the potholes with the crew. He's creating a visual and personal reminder of the dign...

  I haven’t done a HoCo Holler! post for a while. I’m happy to share this story (with permission) about someone who used their personal influence to make a difficult moment better - - inviting community members to see things in a different way and to feel empathy for people they may not know. ***** We love our restaurants in Howard County, don’t we? We love to eat out, we love to talk about our restaurant meals, we love to try new restaurants. We eagerly await the opening of new places and get cranky and impatient if there are delays.  The dark side of all this is the tendency of some folks to use their social capital to go online and snipe about imperfect restaurant experiences, encouraging others to pile on and validate their views. These amateur reviewers can be savage.  The damage they may do is significant.  There’s no law that says you can’t go online and vent. But just because you can do something doesn’t mean you should. Recently one of our independent resta...

Here’s a local job listing.  Sounds interesting. (If you don’t need health insurance and other benefits, that is.) Do me a favor and think for a moment. Imagine the kinds of activities that this job will entail. Okay? Now look at this. Must have own transportation, must be able to operate an automobile …hmm… Must be able to lift up to 50 pounds, remain seated for long periods of time, and bend,stoop, reach, and climb without difficulty. Wait, what? Read the original job description again. Do these additional requirements make sense to you? They do if you understand that they are quite useful in discouraging people with disabilities from applying. It against the law to discriminate against the disabled in matters of employment. However, if you articulate specific requirements that would exclude applicants with disabilities… That’s not technically discrimination. Or is it? Imagine you are skilled and capable and can perform all of the tasks the job outlines, but you are disabled. You...

  Let’s start out this morning by thanking a few people: The person who passed along this blog post to county council candidate James Handley. The writer at the Sun for making the correction. Mr. Handley himself who reached out to me with the update and some very kind words. Here’s the Before: Here’s the After: Do you see the difference? I sure can.  In my first job out of college (library circulation, Westminster Choir College Talbott Library) I came across this quote and posted it by my desk.  If Language is not correct, then what is said is not what is meant. If what is said is not what is meant, then what ought to be done, remains undone. Confucius Accuracy matters. How you say things matters. How you frame things matters. ***** Before:  Image from HoCoGov social media After: Photo credit: Reddit userAneurhythms In between, seen on Ellicott City Reddit:  What happened to the TARDIS in OEC? Some responses: It’s in Rockburn Park now.  Sounds like they’re ...

In order to make up for lost school time, due to weather closures, today will be a school day in Howard County. No one is overjoyed by this, least of all people who had plans made well in advance.  I have nothing useful to add that hasn’t been said by other people already. It may be a difficult day in some schools. It may be just fine in others. This feels like a good opportunity to remind folks that we continually ask schools to turn on a dime, pick up the slack, and just  “make it work” under more than challenging circumstances.  ***** If you don’t have work or school commitments today you can always wander over to Clark’s Elioak Farm. They’re open, too. * New* We will be open Monday, April 6th WITH Egg Hunts • all day! Open Hours 10AM-5PM We will also be open every other day this week and resume our regular hours of Tuesday through Sunday 10 AM to 5 PM (5:30PM on weekends) Come on out to enjoy our brand new baby goats! ***** Speaking of egg hunts… If you’d like to beg...

  Ten years ago on this date I was deep into yet another HCPSS Board of Education race. Five years ago I continued to be perplexed by the lack of transparency from a Columbia group calling themselves The Rouse Project. Today? National news makes it hard to concentrate on the local scene these days. In the past I found myself passionate, frustrated, or even angry about Columbia/HoCo issues. Now there are far too many days when I look at my world and feel more fearful than anything else. I still care deeply about the school system. I am worn out from hoping that elected BOE members will vote to prioritize the most vulnerable. So often they do not. I still distrust groups who won’t tell you who they are.  On the other hand, there are people in our community doing wonderful things. Some of them weren’t in existence back in 2016 or even 2021. (Or I hadn’t yet learned about them.) For example: Columbia Community Care Community Ecology Institute  Merriweather Park at Symphony W...