Village Green/Town²

Before I shuffle off from the scene of the Oakland Mills Board in my rumpled raincoat , there's one last piece of news I want to share with the hocosphere. It's about why trash is trash, poop is poop, and why good customer service will put you at the top of the heap. On Thursday April 18, mac and I participated in the 20 minute Howard County Cleanup .  We walked to the top of Timesweep with a trash bag and gloves, and cleaned up the entrance area into the new Blandair Park. There is no official waste receptacle near this pedestrian entrance, and it was beginning to look a bit "trashy." We were dismayed to discover that quite a few folks had been bringing their dogs up into the park to relieve themselves.  mac was both disgusted and indignant.  She's waited her entire life for this park--how could people do this? When we went home I posted about our experience on Twitter, and was advised by fellow blogger Wendi to address my Tweet to @LiveGreenHoward.  Here is...

Tonight is my last meeting as a member of the Oakland Mills Village Board.  I've decided that I needed to take a break, because the year coming up will be a life-changing one for me:  my oldest is getting married in September, and my youngest is making the transition to Middle School. (Thanks goodness there isn't one in between!)  This is a year I need to devote to my family. It isn't any easy decision to make because I have learned so much in the past two years.  If you really want to know the "skinny" on what is going on in your Village, plus greater Columbia, and even, to some degree,  in Howard County, you should serve on a Village Board.  Yes, you have to put the time in, but the education is phenomenal. And your feeling of ownership in your community increases. I think that most people assume that being on a Village Board is about going to meetings.  The Oakland Mills Board has two meetings a month. But you might be surprised how many other t...

There seems to be some confusion as to the overall message of yesterday's post.  Let me restate it:  bullies have to learn how to be bullies.  Someone has to be modeling this behavior for them.  They are learning that this is acceptable behavior.  The title of the post,"Where The Killers Come From". was an (as yet uncredited) reference to this post . "The Bully Side", by Tom Coale at HCR. He states, "You don't need to tell me if you're being mean to other kids at school and I don't want to know.  I do want you to know that if you are, you are killing someone else's child , (emphasis mine) and it will live with you for the rest of your life." I have recently learned that programs to combat bullying often fall on deaf ears because those who are bullies, don't perceive themselves to be bullies, so they think it doesn't apply to them.  This would seem to be borne out by some responses yesterday over at TO2C. Where do bul...

Recent teen suicides in Howard County have prompted soul-searching, heartbreak, and anger.  How can this be happening to our children?  What kind of a culture do we have that proves so toxic to our adolescent children? Where do bullies come from? Why? Why? I can't answer why, but I think I know where. I recently got involved in a war of words on the Hoco Blog Tales of Two Cities . I took issue with the following comment:  "Yup. And remember, the HCEA (Howard County Education Association) cares about one thing: its members. Don't let them try to convince you that they give a crap about education or students. They're all about the $." I found it to be "rude, ill-informed, and sadly out-of place."  Rude--teachers don't give a crap; ill-informed--they only care about the money; sadly out-of-place--because it didn't promote open-minded exchange of ideas. Well, then the avalanche began. It was as though I had asked the heavens to open and ...

(Here is a complete version of a letter a submitted to the Columbia Flier today about the Bridge Columbia Project.  I am sure they are wise in limiting folks to 200 words, but I think the complete version just reads better.) My mother, God rest her soul, lived through the Great Depression,and she passed along some rules to live by.   My personal favorite was one I heard invoked in the grocery store manytimes. “If it says “new and improved’, it probably isn’t. And it costs more.” A recent letter about the Bridge Columbia Project seems totake a page right out of my mother’s book.   Here is the gist of it. “This project is far too expensive;we don’t need anything that fancy, we can make do and scrape by.   My goodness! How can the Bridge supportersdare to make such an extravagant suggestion in such financially troubled times?” When do we get to dream big for our community?   When do we take a chance on something thatwill not only transform how we get around, b...

You have a chance. You have an "in" with the people who know. More importantly, you have an invitation.  The Howard County Housing Department wants you to feel welcome at their  6th annual Housing Fair, " Come Home to Howard County ," Saturday, April 14th, at Long Reach High School from 10 am to 2 pm. This is your one-stop shopping event to explore locations, services, and financing opportunities. Come to learn more, and think more, about options to rent and own in #hocoMD. Our community is meant to be a vibrant mix of renters and owners. Do you work in Howard County, but think you can't afford to live here?  Your daily commute could be a whole lot shorter.  You know the schools are good, and the parks are great. Libraries? Excellent.  Restaurants?  Ask HowChow . (I hear the local blogging community is superb.) To add to the excitement, there is a Housing Lottery to enter.  Most of us have gotten over not winning those Mega Mi...

A Poem, in honor of National Poetry Month Stickers Hocoloco, Locavore. Village, voter, Columbia lore. Library, Hoco schools, Village Centers, Columbia Pools. Rec and Parks, gardener, crafter Politics, satire, laughter. Shy or suave meet-and-greeter: Blogger, reader, FB, Tweeter. Pick your labels, Make them stick Sign up here- - An easy click! The next HoCoBlogs Party is Wednesday, April 11th, from 6-8 pm at the Second Chance Saloon in Oakland Mills. Use the comments section below to vote for your favorite BlogTail Party Stickers, or to suggest new ones!  I am on Spring Break this week, so I just may figure out how to run labels through the printer. Hate labels?  That's fine , too. hocoblogs@@@

It is not the purpose of this blog to serve as a source of breaking news, but, as no one in town has been willing to come out with this story, I'm going to jump in. Seriously, where are you guys? Why is this not lighting up Twitter? So, some time after closing at Clyde's last night, but before around ten am, the People Tree sculpture at Lake Kittamaqundi was stolen.  Yes, stolen. It's gone.  There's just a hole there now. It's hard to know when it was removed because there just weren't many people around at the Lakefront area.  There was no one there to see or hear anything. An employee at Clyde's discovered the crime while on his way to work Sunday brunch.  "Whoever did it left all these little notes, kind of smudgy typing, stuck on with Scotch tape. They said, 'We are the 66.' And, 'Tree People for the People Tree.' It's just weird." A friend of mine at the Columbia Flier said the cleaning staff found...