Village Green/Town²

Okay, we’ve had a few days to let this settle. Let’s do the numbers. Oh, and about the numbers…   Commedian Don McMillan, Nerdy Statistics  In the case of Oakland Mills High School being displaced from the schedule of most urgent repairs, I want to talk about three things today.  1. I am completely unimpressed by folks filling up the comments section here or anywhere else on social media with graphs and charts and lists. Sure, you’ve got twenty seven eight-by-ten colour glossy photographs with circles and arrows and a paragraph on the back of each one. That’s impressive, I guess. But: How was your information gathered?  What did you prioritize?  What did you omit?  How are you framing it? Remember that old saying about “lies, damned lies, and statistics”? When someone comes along and says, “This is a really complicated subject so I have gathered all the information for you so you don’t have to go to the trouble” it makes sense for you to use your critical t...

We all love to say we support small independent businesses. Have you ever seen anyone go on the record as disliking Mom and Pop establishments? During the COVID lockdowns there was a concerted effort to find ways to support local restaurants whose incomes had plummeted. (That’s how the Facebook Group Howard County Eats originated.) Into one of these conversations came a HoCo resident making the case for a place called California Tortilla.  “But that’s a chain,” came many quick replies. Their response made me think. Essentially, the argument was that places like California Tortilla may be franchise operations and the owners may very well be Howard County locals. They are our neighbors, too, they argued.  Yes, they are our neighbors. But I’m not sure the economic playing field is identical. Association with a national brand may have advantages as far as advertising and even the cost of food and other restaurant supplies. All of those things are likely more expensive for homegro...

  No matter how unlikely this looks to you - - I promise you that the following conversation really happened. Please note: religion is not the point of this post. Bear with me. - - jam On Sunday after church my husband I were taking about Children’s Chats. (Some churches call them Children’s Sermons.) They are meant to personalize the church experience for younger children by presenting relevant topics in a way they can connect with and understand.  Both of us have been known to step up and do these things from time to time. As someone who spent my professional life interacting with young children, I have opinions .  At any rate, my husband acknowledged that his message on Sunday might have run a little long. It was a great message, no argument there. But I’ve given some thought to this and I responded as follows: I’ve decided that a Children’s Chat must be fascinating, and delicious…but it also must be small enough to fit in your pocket.  ***** This conversation ca...

  A friend posted: Facebook stole my memories.  I didn’t need to ask what he meant. I already knew. I check my Memories section every morning as a part of my waking-up process. Reading them reminds me where I was and what I was doing in years past. Sometimes they point up a local issue that still bears research or discussion. And sometimes they reveal that I used to feel one way about something and now my view has completely changed.  For me that would be things like cellphones in the classroom and school policing. But, I digress. I’ll admit that sometimes it’s hard to read my memories when they bring back sad times and disappointment. But even the worst of them haven’t been as bad as reading the daily news since last November. For several days my Memories section consisted solely of a few photos imported from Instagram, a service for which I had never asked. Yesterday evening the real memories were back. No idea why, but: I’m grateful. So I’m going to celebrate by congra...

  You are invited to attend today’s Veterans Day Parade and Celebration beginning at nine thirty am.  From the Howard County Veterans Foundation: The Howard County Veterans Day Parade & Celebration plays an important role in building respect and recognition for the more than 20,0000 local Veterans and their families. Thanks to the incredible support of our community, we have hosted over ten successful parades and ceremonies to honor these heroes. The Grand Marshal of this year’s parade is Elza K. Redman. We are pleased to announce Elza K. Redman Jr. has been nominated grand marshal of the 2025 Howard County Veterans Day Parade. The Howard County Veterans Foundation bestows the grand marshal title on individuals who represent the values and morals of the Howard County community of Veterans and military families. This year, we honor “Veterans forming future leaders” who show a passion for education, mentorship and coaching. You can learn more about Redman here at the Vetera...

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...

  True confession: the name Ross Douthat didn’t mean anything in particular to me until quite recently. In only a few days I have learned that he is a laughably awful opinion writer for the New York Times. No one had to tell me this. His work speaks for itself.  Yesterday’s column: Did Women Ruin the Workplace? - - Ross Douthat, New York Times, 11/6/2925 Oh my, yes. That’s definitely the column we need in this moment, in this country, teetering as we are on the edge of male-induced facism. I present to you the antidote: beautifully curated by Bluesky user Paul Fairie. (It looks like he is interested in history and political science, by the way.) A List of Things Said to Have Been Ruined by Women , Paul Fairie You absolutely must click through and read every single one. It won’t take you long. I want this thread to get every single hit it deserves and it won’t if I copy and paste it all here.  The list contains eleven examples of newspaper articles that outright blame wom...

  Have you ever just wanted to complain about something? I sure have. Does it give you a sense of validation and solidarity to join with fellow complainers and just vent?  Why do people do this thing? It just drives me nuts! Yeah, I get it. And I’ve surely done it. But I wandered into one such complaint-fest in a local Reddit community recently and something about it made me stop and think.  The premise: some people take grocery carts away from the store and don’t return them. Worse than that, they ditch them any old place.  I think everyone in the thread agreed that it would be better if people didn’t take the grocery carts away from the store and that it was maddening to find them in places they didn’t belong.  But the automatic next step was, basically, “What is wrong with those people???” That bugged me.  So I asked: What would be a good way to support customers without cars to be able to get multiple bags of heavy groceries home? Ideas? The response I...

  Last night Zohran Mamdani was elected Mayor of New York City. I have four words about that: I’m still not afraid. I’m not here today to talk about what I’m afraid of. I here to talk about what I am *not* afraid of. I am not afraid of Zohran Mamdani. - - This Is What Changed Me, Village Green/Town², 6/28/2025 A lot of money was spent in this race to make people afraid of him. I can’t tell you with any certainty that it was the most political money ever spent specifically on fear but I do think it was the stupidest. It’s my blog. I can say that. I wrote about this in June . It’s important enough to bring it back today because this wholesale fear and loathing tactic in New York didn’t just come from one political party. This is deeply disturbing to me. And whether I like it or not, we see this happen in Howard County as well.  I would like to be confident that Democrats reject this destructive mindset and want nothing to do with racism, prejudice, ethic slurs, Islamophobia and...

  Thank you for your responses to yesterday’s post. It was the kind of conversation that makes writing a community blog worthwhile. So far I haven’t been trolled. I think that’s largely because those folks stopped reading my blog a long time ago and for that I am grateful. ***** I posted this photo on the Howard County Eats FB page yesterday hoping to stump folks. I did not. Not one bit. My question:  Just for fun: who knows what this is and do you know if it’s still there? I’m rather proud of this artsy view.  Well, if their responses are any indication, you recognize it, too. It’s the fireplace feature at the old Pizza Hut on Route 108. This particular location is now Pupatella and I’ve learned that they didn’t keep it as a part of their decor.  That’s fine. Going into Pupatella expecting it to be a nostalgic recreation of the Pizza Hut era of your youth would be both unfair and ultimately disappointing. It doesn’t claim to be that. Now, about Toys (backwards)R Us....

  This is a topic I have thought about writing on for quite awhile. I’ve also had it recommended to me as a possible blog topic. There’s no question that there’s a local story in all this. And yet I have felt deeply uncomfortable about going near it. Even bloggers with plenty of opinions have a little inner voice that says, “Don’t go there.” Well, look at that - - it’s back in the news again. Why the fight over Manor Hill Brewing just won’t end , Lillian Reed, Baltimore Banner I give up. Let’s talk about it. From the Banner article: Residents of 15 homes along Manor Lane say the farm’s operations and alcohol sales go beyond what’s allowed by the permits, local zoning ordinances and other regulations. They say the business brought heavy traffic, litter and disorder to their once quiet lane, which wasn’t designed to accommodate such activity. Manor Hill Lane existed as a residential neighborhood long before Manor Hill Brewing/Manor Hill Farm. It’s to be expected that there would be ...

  You’ve probably herd  heard about the goats. If not, here you goat  go: Howard County police help return goats …,  Jesse Zander, CBS News News stories which center on the appearance of animals where they are not expected seem to evoke a sense of whimsy or fun. Probably not for the animals. Very likely they don’t understand why it’s not normal for them to be anywhere. We’re the ones who draw the lines. Or we’ve put animals in places they weren’t intended to be in the first place.  Emu on the loose in Wicomico County, for instance. Or five zebras spotted roaming in Prince George’s County. Neither are native to Maryland.  Most animal sightings around town aren’t that exotic. And usually they’re in the more rural part of the county. Some years back a male turkey developed a bit of an internet following after being spotted numerous times near Daisy Road. Alas, this fellow came to a sad end when unknown miscreants grabbed him, put him in the trunk of thei...

  Years ago I taught at a small independent school in Baltimore that celebrated Halloween with the full Halloween Parade tradition. Parents and friends were invited. The playground was packed with groups of costumed children, harried classroom teachers, and doting adults with cameras.  Over the many years I worked there, three costumes stood out.  1. The first was a boy in the second grade whose homemade costume charmed me. He was a chef, with all the appropriate clothing. But the pièce de resistance was a pot he carried that appeared to be boiling and emitting steam. It was all done with cotton balls or cotton batting.  It was not a fancy costume and I don’t think it cost a lot to create. It was perfect in every way and this kid was rocking it. It just made me happy to see him enjoying himself. 2. Then there was the year my own kid wanted to be Xena Warrior Princess. She fully believed I could make that costume. I fully believed I was incapable of pulling it off. We...

  Let’s do the numbers, shall we? In reading the Banner article about the unveiling of the COVID-19 memorial statue , I came across these numbers: Since March 2020, Howard County has seen more than 74,000 cases of COVID-19 and 544 deaths. The article, by Lillian Reed, seems to have more than one title.  “Howard County unveils COVID-19 pandemic memorial” And “Howard County has lost 544 residents to COVID-19. A new memorial honors them.” I don’t know why they do that. Possibly to see which title gets more engagement? The numbers: cases of COVID-19 are at 74,000 and counting. This is an ongoing public health challenge. It is not over.  Deaths from COVID-19 at this time stand at 544.  Numbers are funny. People who have wanted to downplay the seriousness of COVID act like 544 is practically nothing. A small percentage. A drop in the bucket. Yet we all know that, if even one of those deaths is someone we know, the impact is staggering. 544 people. How many people went to ...

  I’ve been saving this…for twenty-two days. Hmm. What do you think? At one point there was a doll hospital.  I’ve heard it may have had haunted possibilities . It may still be there. And there’s a place called live unusually which is rather spooky-adjacent. There are seasonal nods to all things creepy and kooky such as Trick or Treating on Main Street. And I would be remiss to overlook Ellicott City’s Ghost Tours.  But, a haunted doll shop? We might have one and not even know it. I mean - - would the dolls tell , necessarily? How would that work? Does one need to provide a certificate of authenticity for a haunted doll? And what about liability? Or maybe the dolls are not for sale, and it’s a space for haunted doll events and experiences: seances, tea parties, midnight read-alouds… I am curious.  Scrap B’more (in Pigtown) once held a Creepy Doll Parts sale . And on my bucket list tour of the old Flier building my guide and I stumbled across two dolls that we suspe...

When big earthquakes hit, dazed residents can often be found wandering the streets surveying the destruction. Post-quake, sometimes the street is safer than being in your own home. When little earthquakes hit, dazed Howard Countians can be found wandering social media, asking the same few questions, looking for reassurance. What was that? Did anyone feel that?  I live here, what about where you are? We just had a big THUMP. I thought my husband had dropped an amplifier upstairs. But the first time we had an earthquake* I thought it was just the washer struggling on the last spin cycle. Then I noticed that our big bookcase was vibrating.  I am not a good judge of small earthquakes. Guess what? Most of us aren’t, despite the fact that some folks were online announcing that they knew earthquakes and this wasn’t  an earthquake. I’m going to look to professionals on that one.  In any kind of emergency, or something unknown that feels like an emergency, it’s easy to take...

Yes, I know I already wrote about this. Alas, it’s back for another season and the plot line is pathetically similar. Recap: Falling In , March 25, 2023 About the new Mall restrictions on teens, and reflecting on this quote from the late Archbishop Desmond Tutu: There comes a point where we need to stop just pulling people out of the river. We need to go upstream and find out why they’re falling in.  White Grievance HoCo Style , September 1, 2024 About the new YEP programs for youth and the disappointing (but not surprising) response from racist trolls. Dear me. It is so terribly hard to be white. Imagine spending one’s days looking for opportunities to complain that Black people may possibly be getting something that you didn’t get.  Guess what? They’re still doing it. Yesterday’s update on the YEP programs brought out the same old, same old. If these folks don’t see enough white faces in the pictures, they are sure someone is up to no good.  Welcome to Howard County, wh...