Village Green/Town²

  “Everybody doesn’t like something…” goes the old Sara Lee advertising jingle. I can’t argue with that. People in suburban Columbia don’t want more density because they fear becoming “urban.” People in urban areas may harbor concerns about gentrification. Some young folks in Columbia long for the city life. But today I came across one I had not seen before. Neighbors resist western Howard County development, citing well water concerns , Jess Nocera, Baltimore  Banner People in western Howard County fear…suburbia? Becky Merrill and her late husband moved to Lakeway Drive from Columbia in 2005, looking for more space to raise a family but wanting to remain in Howard County. “We didn’t want to feel like we were living in suburbia,” said Merrill, who is among the neighbors appealing the conditional use decision. If the Elm Street project moves ahead with so many homes, it’s “bringing suburbia to this very rural area,” Merrill said. The article mentions Lakeway Drive. Here’s a vie...

  I am currently wrestling with two - - yes, two! - - posts that I told myself I really wanted to write which are both kicking my butt.  So, let’s talk about benches. Maybe I should call it “ Benches Redux : The Remake.” For some reason I seem to attract social media content about benches, largely from the UK. This one is my current favorite: Lucy Davies: 1975 - ? Not dead yet  Just loves the bench I don’t know Lucy (and she is a good sight younger than I am) but I already like her. I, too, am “not dead yet” but I love benches.  I certainly love benches more than walking, which is a continuing challenge. A friend has lent me a book entitled 52 Ways to Walk. Perhaps I can incorporate my love of benches with my reading of the book.  Each chapter could be part of an adventure: Leave house.  Seek out a park or other natural environment that has benches. Walk to said bench. Read one chapter.  Enjoy natural surroundings.  Reflect on reading.  Is ...

  I probably would have scrolled right by this photo on Bluesky had it not been for the words that accompanied it. I had friends who owned ‘em, and friends who worked at Columbia Data Products. Proudly built in Columbia, Maryland! Say what? Here comes a journey down the rabbit hole… Columbia Data Products was founded in 1976 by William Diaz. According to Wikipedia: CDP introduced the MPC 1600 "Multi Personal Computer", designed by David Howse, in June 1982. It was an exact functional copy of the IBM Personal Computer model 5150 except for the BIOS which was clean room designed.  From what I can tell, Columbia Data Products was located here, at 8990 Route 108. Image from a prior real estate listing  Except their own advert lists it here, at 9150 Rumsey Road: The advert: When was the last time you saw foresight and cunning together in an advertisement? Here’s an ad all the way from London.  I did not know anything about this. Did you? The Columbia Data Products comput...

  I’m not here to talk about sin. But I am mulling over these words: …we confess that we have sinned against you in thought, word, and deed, by what we have done, and by what we have left undone.* No, let me narrow that down: …and by what we have left undone. Right now my house and my car can bear witness to those things which I have left undone: Large bags of polystyrene coolers waiting to be taken to the EPS Recycling drop off. It has moved - - did you know? One large bag of assorted bubble wrap. One large bag of plastic grocery bags and similar plastic. Several large bags of foam plastic packing material that came in my mother in law’s meal delivery orders. These least malevolent of all this things is a box full of assorted boxes that is waiting to be put out for recycling. That’s easy. Corrugated board needs to be clean and flattened. The county picks it up. Done. But plastic is not easy. For the companies that bring it into our lives it must be quite easy - - or else they wou...

  What keeps a church alive? It doesn’t need to be a Christian institution, necessarily. It could be any community of faith that has established a physical location. In one generation it made absolutely sense to create this space and for years the gathering of people and their familiar rituals was an integral part of community life. It was expected, assumed, and for many people: valued. You won’t be surprised that this is the news that provoked my question: Howard County mill town vanished long ago. Its final relic will soon close. April Santana, Baltimore Sun Photo credit: Jeffrey F. Bill/Staff Left to right; former Howard County Police Chief, County Executive and state Sen. Jim Robey, Victoria Goodman, and Gary Rudacille, are members of Gary Memorial Methodist Church. The last remaining intact structure of Daniels, the Gary Memorial United Methodist Church, is closing its doors.   (I accessed this article through the Howard County Library website.) I’m not here to pass judg...

  Let’s start with the weather. It looks pretty good: no rain, pollen in the medium range, highs in the upper seventies. Humidity will be high but you can’t have everything.  There will be Farmer’s Markets in Clarksville and Old Ellicott City. And, of course, there will be all manner of fun at Music Fest in Old Ellicott City. Looking for more possibilities for your day? Check out the Visit Howard County website. Now for the big news. Get out your calendars because the good folks at the Inner Arbor Trust have released the final dates for the 2026 season. October 11th: Howard County Pride Festival (Sunday) October 17th: Hispanic Heritage Festival (Saturday) October 18th: Pops Concert at the Chrysalis (Sunday) October 25th Downtown Columbia Maker Faire (Sunday) Autumn is a great time of year to enjoy Merriweather Park at Symphony Woods, whether it’s a community  festival or a concert at the Chrysalis. And all these events are free. Take a moment to register so they’ll ge...

  Thursday: I have the greatest idea for Friday’s blog post! Friday: Oh, that’s probably a really dumb idea. Well, let’s do it anyway. This week I saw a promo post for a HoCoLocal event that truly creeped me out. After some research I learned that it’s quite a common thing. I can’t claim to have discovered anything new or shocking and yet it still bothers me. Rather like the woman in this cartoon by the late (and brilliant) James Thurber. Cartoon by James Thurber This is Rachel Anne Accurso  . Photo credit Penguin Random House  She is the creator and lead performer of Ms. Rachel Music for Littles, an extremely successful program which appears on YouTube.  This is not Rachel Anne Accurso: Image from PJ’s Coffee social media  What we see here is an actor who works for a company called Courtney’s Character Corner.   Personally, I find the idea of a Ms. Rachel impersonator rather horrifying.  Why? We’ve all seen performers in costume suits hired to e...