Skip to main content

Wandering



The kid (actually a legal adult, horrors!)  had a service gig at Sunrise Assisted Living in Hickory Ridge. It’s a cool thing called “Songs for Seniors” where music students share their talents with residents. I had some time to kill and the perfect plan.

I’d nip over to the Hawthorn Center in Hickory Ridge where the folks at Howard County Pride were having a donut sale fundraiser. I’d get one for myself and one for my musician. Perfect.

Did I GPS it? No. I thought I could get there on dead reckoning alone. I had a general idea of where I was going. 

I ended up turning on a road called Jerrys Drive, thinking it would cut through to where I was going. Holy mackerel. Not only did it not cut through, it turned out to be the craziest amalgamation of housing styles and land use choices I have seen in this area to date. You start out thinking you’re in Columbia but then it’s almost immediately apparent that you are in the Land of Outparcel. 

Yikes. Who knew what mysteries awaited me when I made that left turn off of Owen Brown Road? I have no criticism. I was fascinated. It’s amazing how you can move from total architectural control to “anything goes” in less than half a block. Perhaps I am just easily entertained. 

Well, I broke down and GPS’ed it to no avail. When I arrived at my destination what I saw was a community yard sale. I drove away sadly and landed at Mad City for some iced coffee and a snack. While I was there I glanced at social media posts for the event and realized that the Donut Sale was a part of that community yard sale. I had been so close! 

Sigh.

I went to the Howard County Pride website and made a donation instead. You can, too. From their website:

Saturday
June 29, 2019
11:00am-5:00pm

----------------------------------------------------
Join us for the first annual Howard County LGBTQ PRIDE festival!
----------------------------------------
Centennial Park
10000 Clarksville Pike, Ellicott City, MD 2104

In the meantime:
  • Take a drive down Jerrys Drive
  • Tell me the history of Jerrys Drive 
  • Tell me your story of getting lost in Columbia/HoCo



Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Teacher Gifts

Today is the last day of school before the Winter Break. It’s a good time to remember the far-reaching nature of our public school system. You may not have children. You may have sent your children to independent schools. It matters not. You will be impacted one way or another. Yesterday I read a long thread on Facebook about several waves of illness in the schools right now. There’s influenza A and norovirus, I believe. And of course there’s COVID. Apparently in some individual schools the rate of illness is high enough for school admin to notify parents.  When I was little the acceptable holiday gift for a teacher was one of those lovely floral handkerchief squares. (I don’t know what it was for male teachers. They were rare in my elementary years.) These days the range of teacher gifts is wider and I have fond memories of Target gift cards which I have written about before. I think it’s safe to say that giving one’s teacher Influenza, norovirus, or COVID is not the ideal holiday...

Getting Fresh

One of my favorite days in the Spring comes when this year’s list of Farmer’s Markets is released. That happened this week. New this year are markets in Old Ellicott City and the “Merriweather Market” which, according to the address, will be located here . I mistakenly thought at first glance that it was in the new-construction part of the Merriweather District. I find the name confusing considering its actual location. I’m going to guess that this market is an initiative of the Howard Hughes Corporation because the name seems chosen more for branding purposes than anything else.  Alas, the market in Maple Lawn is gone. The thread on the markets on the County Executive’s FB page will provide you with quite the education in who actually runs the Farmers Markets vs what people often think is going on. Short answer: they are not  chosen nor run by the county. Each market is an independent entity, sometimes started by community volunteers, other times supported by local businesses...

They Can Wait

This is not a typical Saturday post. That’s because, in my community, it’s not a typical Saturday.  Oakland Mills High School, after years of deferred repair, needs massive renovation. It’s pretty simple: when you don’t fix a problem it gets bigger. The school system itself said the the OMHS school building was  "no longer conducive to learning" back in 2018.  2018 .  But Thursday the Boad of Education voted to push it out of the lineup of important projects which will be given the go-ahead to proceed soonest.  In my opinion it’s a terrible decision and sets a dangerous precedent. To explain, here’s the advocacy letter I sent in support of Oakland Mills High School. I was rather proud of it. I am writing to ask you to proceed with needed renovation at Oakland Mills High School in the most timely and comprehensive manner humanly possible. I have read the letter sent to you by the Oakland Mills Community Association and I am in complete agreement. You are extremel...