Worrying About the Future

Just saw a meme which read, "August is the Sunday of Summer." I've been teaching and/or working in school settings since 1985 and I'd have to agree. I go back to work full time on the 22nd and every day of this week is filled with last minute things that need to get done. The summer, like most summers, has gotten away from us and we have not accomplished much of what we set out to do.

For some reason the feeling of the school year bearing down on me is making it more and more difficult for me to write. My long established routines for getting up and writing will soon be changing and that bothers me. I'm worrying in advance, I guess. Not very productive but there you are.

On my mind this morning are this article in the Baltimore Sun about Ellicott City, and word that long-time Columbia volunteer and environmental activist Rhoda Toback has died. The unifying thread here is trees and the watershed. I'd like to write about this in a more comprehensive way but I'm still processing what I want to say.

There was a time, almost fifty years ago, when much of the area where I live was clear cut and flattened in preparation for the birth of Columbia. Today that kind of whole-sale deforestation would alarm many. And yet we look around today and see green, tree-lined neighborhoods and a beautiful park-like pathway system. How does that compare to what has happened and is happening on the hills surrounding Old Ellicott City?

Take a minute to read the Baltimore Sun article. I'm hoping someone will write a piece about Ms. Toback that I can share with you soon. (Here is a post by Tom Coale on HoCo Rising to get you started.) And here she is in her own words, supporting the Inner Arbor plan for Symphony Woods.

Seven days until liftoff for me. On August 22nd a new adventure begins.