Skip to main content

Fragments



I’ve just finished five days of steroids for an asthma flare and I suspect I have more in my future. This was probably brought on by the fact that my insurance has stopped paying for one of my maintenance inhalers and I made the foolhardy decision to see if I could get along without it. 

I didn’t have to do that. 

My doctor will find me a reasonable equivalent and I should have been on top of that.  I am so fortunate to have health care coverage. I’m not complaining. But sometimes following up on and tracking down all that stuff is exhausting. I don’t know how people can work full time and still jump through all the health insurance hoops. I don’t know how people cope when they don’t even have access to the hoops.

In light of my prednisone brain I bring you today’s edition of Fragments.

My husband and I were invited to a school event the other evening which involved a visit from the Mike’s Gelato truck. We noticed the sky getting darker as we headed down the road and made the usual seasonal remarks. And yet it was still warm enough to be eating gelato outside at the end of September. As I stepped up to the window to place my order, the truck radio started playing “Summer Breeze” by Seals and Crofts and for just one moment the world felt like a good and trustworthy place.

I had mint chocolate chip. It was delicious.

*****

I had a visit recently from two very nice fellows who came to get my chairs. 



They’re part of an old kitchen table set. Very good condition! No one wanted them on Buy Nothing. I followed a suggestion I’d seen on Facebook and reached out to a group called Home of Our Own. They wanted them!

For reasons unknown to me, they sent two gentlemen with two different trucks on the pickup run. They looked as amused as I did when they realized I only had two chairs. 

I’m not sure, but it might have been the men pictured below. It looks like they are recruiting!




HOOO Transportation volunteers Pat and Steve need your help! They - and their other team members pick up donated items and deliver a houseful of furniture & household goods - and smiles - to our clients. 

Duties include moving furniture - from dressers to sofas to tables, placing items as directed by the clients and assembling pieces as needed.  It’s a good workout, and truly a worthy effort! 

Get more information and sign up at tinyurl.com/HOOOHelpWanted

*****

A quick trip to the East Columbia Branch library yielded an excellent book on children’s art and a discovery.



Join the fun at our social engagement stations! Find Booker!



I found Booker. Apparently Booker likes bunnies.

Though less hyped on social media, this is also an engagement station. If you know how to use it.



Are you vote ready?

*****

Speaking of social engagement, I found myself headed to Touché Touchet yesterday because of one photograph on Facebook. Apple cinnamon rolls.



It can’t have been much after eleven am. They were already sold out. They did have one apple turnover so I wasn’t completely bereft. I also had a lovely discussion with the clerk about gingerbread, which I love. They don’t carry it and this nice young man had never even tasted it. Horrors!

What can I say? Steroids make you hungry.


*****


New sign up at the Medical Arts Building next to the hospital.




Masking in this facility remains mandatory for anyore with fever or upper respiratory symptoms, or who thinks they might have COVID. For most others, masking is strongly recommended.

They only post these when they have good reason. Just saying. 


Have any good local fragments? Let me know.



Comments

Popular posts from this blog

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...

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...

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...