Two Point Three on One Slash Two

This morning’s big local news is an earthquake. I slept right through it but I’m seeing plenty of hocolocals who did not. The 2.3 quake occurred just before one am, west of Rockville. Foot’s Forecast can give you a bit more information plus some early predictions on the possible snow headed our way this weekend. (Could my ridiculous prediction come true?)

January 1st is a great day for those who participate in the First Day Walk tradition. Or, maybe that’s First Day Hikes, in some cases. The Maryland Department of Natural Resources has a generous listing of First Day Hike ideas in Maryland’s State Parks. January 1st may have passed but there’s no reason you can’t try them any other day of the year.

Here in Old Ellicott City, some local residents decided to create a new tradition of their own. Check out the full story and photos at Howard County Maryland Black History.

On the 1st day of 2024, something wonderful happened in Old Ellicott City. In the Maryland State Parks there were First Walks scheduled, but none in Howard County. So, a group of three women decided to create one that was centered around some of the new Ellicott City Black history revealed in 2023 by the local history nonprofit HCLTR, Inc. while we engaged in fellowship and got our bodies moving! Won’t tag the person who says “motion is lotion.” New history. First Walk. First Day of the Year. - - Marlena Jareaux, HCLTR

I hope you’ll take a moment to click on over there to see what this wonderful walk was all about.

I stumbled into an event this morning while looking through the Facebook Events page that made me laugh a little. Daniels in Elkridge is planning ahead for some Valentine’s Day blues.

It’s their annual Anti-Love Valentine’s Day bash. That’s one scary looking heart in their promo poster! If you’re sick of the whole Valentine’s Day industrial complex, it looks like Daniels will be the place for you on February 10. You might even meet somebody nice and, I don’t know, not fall in love with them.

While taking a look at local events coming up I noticed that making vision boards seems to be popular at this time of year. Have you ever made a vision board? Have you participated in a dedicated event guided by a knowledgeable facilitator? I’m curious.

If it’s your first day back to work after the holidays, hang in there. That goes for the kiddos, too. That abrupt change in the sleep cycle can be brutal.

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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...

F ³: We Are Not Entitled

A college student went missing. His family and friends were distraught. The community was encouraged to be on the lookout and spread the word. Days passed. They must have been agonizing days for those who cared about the missing student. Thoughts that foul play had been involved cannot have been far from their thoughts. Then, at last, the student was found. Alive. The news was shared with the public. So. Much. Relief. A family had been reunited with their child. Even though we know that life is complicated, I think it is okay to accept this as a happy ending and leave it at that. But the world of social media says no. For every expression of joy at the news came questions and even judgement. It became clear to me that some folks felt entitled to an explanation. They wanted the backstory. It’s as though they felt that, by enlisting the help of the public on social media, the authorities now owed them all the details. Television dramas often weave curr...

Separate and Unequal

Remember “Separate but equal”? Remember how that really meant that Black schools languished in broken-down buildings without adequate heat or toilet facilities, with cast-off, ragged learning materials, underfunded and largely ignored? The Supreme Court struck that down in 1954. The evidence was clear that separate was not equal. Plessy v Ferguson had led to - - no, endorsed - - deeply unequal schooling and opportunities. We tend to think of Brown v Board as being purely about racial integration. It was not. It was about the logical consequences of segregation. And they were not, not, not equal. The ruling in 1954 didn’t transform public education for non-whites into a land of milk and honey by any means. But it articulated some essential truths in a way that made including everyone a legal precedent which could be relied upon and built upon. It was better than what came before it but it rested upon unsteady ground. It did not necessarily change the hearts or minds ...

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