Village Green/Town²

 “You know we’re moving?” My doctor asked me yesterday as she checked me in to begin my appointment.  “I know the way someone with ADHD knows,” I joked. “I was aware, I’ve known for a long time, and then I came in the office today and saw the signs and thought, wow! So soon?” She smiled, then added, “I ask because apparently a lot of our patients say they didn’t know.” This surprised me. The office announced this quite a while ago and has been periodically reminding patients that this is in the works. It’s on the website. It’s on the patient portal. Signs have been posted on the reception desk. It’s been covered by local media. And then it didn’t surprise me. Think of all the folks who are outraged about the decision on the Downtown Library because there was “no public input.” “I didn’t know” is to them the equivalent of “It didn’t happen.” I bemoaned this line of ‘reasoning’ back in August of 2024 in  Sisyphus at the Lakefront . I do not know how anything in government i...

I find it rather startling that we have several actual “news” news stories breaking around town at almost the same time. It’s almost as though we’re a big enough place to have actual news.  Manor Hill Brewing violated Howard County zoning rules, hearing examiner finds: Brewery must seek new approvals to continue private events , Kiersten Hacker, Baltimore Sun 11/26/25 Howard County Council advances plans for new Columbia lakefront library , Jess Nocera, Baltimore Banner 12/2/25 Baltimore County Inspector General Kelly Madigan Leaves for Howard County Jo b, Rona Kobell  and Lillian Reed, Baltimore Banner 12/2/25 If you don’t have a subscription to one or both of these outlets, you do have access through the Howard County Library system. You will need the same information from your library card that you use to request books online. Once you try it you’ll be amazed at how easy it actually is.  ***** Many thanks to the good folks that responded to my rather despondent quanda...

Giving Tuesday is one of those days when I am so upset that I don’t have enough money to give that I just shut down.  I wrestle with how much money I can safely donate while still having enough to meet personal needs. As you might imagine, this struggle is not methodical nor scientific. I do not have lists nor analyses to inform my charitable giving. I have a gut feeling about how much I can afford to give and I try to work with that. If you read this blog with any regularity you are aware of the causes I support and the nonprofits I admire. I try to give when I can and use my social capital to promote them when I can’t give an actual monetary donation. They tend to fall (roughly) into two categories: responding to concerning needs, and pursuing important goals. This year I truly feel a whole new category of need rising up out of the usual candidates on Giving Tuesday: those who are responding to catastrophic crises mostly caused by the current administration in Washington. For exa...

  Now the first of December was covered with snow… So says the song by James Taylor. But he was on the highway from Stockbridge to Boston, and not in Howard County. There was a bit of sleet yesterday morning and some rumblings for Tuesday. But today? Nope. My weather app says it “feels like” 25 right now and it’s only going to reach about 42 degrees.  I wonder it there will be outdoor recess. I always hated recess in cold weather and that’s probably because 1) I was not a run-around sort of kid and 2) girls were compelled to wear dresses to school in those days. (!!!) If we had indoor recess it was rare and probably due to rain. My memories of that involved a game called 7 Up or possibly multiple rounds of Hangman at the chalkboard. Here in HoCo we can expect outdoor recess to be derailed by cold temperatures, snow - - and possibly ice - - all through the winter months.  My years as a teacher of young children taught me how deeply that kids need to move and to have self-d...

  I woke up this morning feeling as though my brain had been wiped clean during the night. Sadly, all that appears to be left intact are things that annoy me.  I’m going to indulge myself. Think of this as an inconsequential list of things that have been bugging me recently: Any YouTube Video entitled “You’re Doing it Wrong!” Facebook Marketplace listings that don’t contain the most basic useful information.  Food items that mix chocolate and gingerbread. These are two exquisite flavors that should be enjoyed separately. (You are not obligated to agree.) The local birds who have spurned our fancy new critter-proof bird feeder. Blah. All the junk in my email inbox. How Fox45 frames their local coverage. AI anything.  The mysterious mechanism which controls the hatchback latch on my car. 8 out of 10 times it won’t budge. The fabulous new dish soap we discovered at Lidl this summer? Discontinued.  The fancy new craft glue sticks I bought which are unaccountably for...

Are you boycotting Amazon? I am. This has been a big shift for me since I had become quite reliant over time to all of the conveniences that Amazon provides. I didn’t have to go out and deal the with holiday shopping crowds. Shipping was prompt, easy, and often free. I could browse through a seemingly endless variety of goods and it always felt like I could get “a better deal.” And this was always the big elephant in the room when I contemplated getting out of the house and patronizing local small businesses . You might even say it blocked the door.  After I came to the realization that Amazon was not “a better deal” - -  because of all of its related baggage - - very gradually the idea of shopping small became more feasible to me. I had always supported it in theory, but between a desire to be frugal and, in recent years, concerns in re being immune-compromised, I felt stuck.  What an incredibly successful business model Amazon has become, gradually convincing us that s...