REFLECTIONS ON LIFE –
FEBRUARY 2019
ABSOLUTELY EVERYTHING IS
CONNECTED
REFLECTIONS
ON HOME IN COLUMBIA
For the past couple weeks, Lloyd and I have spotted a pair of
Mallards on the two ponds beside our home.
This week a pair of Canada
As if “putting on the brakes,” one by one they came quite close
to a mid-air collision before turning ever so slightly back north and joining
their cousins on the pond, the larger flock that had preceded their arrival by
about five minutes. Lloyd had
uncharacteristically slept through the nearly concurrent pond invasions from
the east and north. After observing
spellbound for ten minutes or so, I proceed with dressing, brushing, and
coifing for about 10 minutes. When I
returned to the window, there was not a goose to be seen.
On a few mornings since, geese have shown up on both ponds, but
not in such numbers. The lone couple
continues to swim about both ponds appearing to check out tufts of growth on
the rim to serve as a nesting place.
Observing these creatures – geese and ducks - has become somewhat of a
waking meditation for me during the morning hours.
The large pine which rises a good 20 feet above the roof of our
home was covered with ice after the recent storm. Not only each individual branch, but
literally every long pine needle was coated with a shiny sheath of ice. The two branches which extend out about
twenty feet by the window near our bedside were so laden down that we thought
we would surely lose them. These
branches are the major thoroughfares for the squirrels traveling from tree to
deck rail to roof. While one of the
larger squirrels sat with its tail curled up behind its body at the juncture of
one of these branches and the trunk, Lloyd, without saying a word, opened the
door and stepped out on the deck to bolster these long branches. I followed.
As Lloyd ever so gently raised one of the branches, I provided support
from underneath while he moved out on the branch to lend support. We were able to raise it sufficiently high to
prop it on the five-inch top rail of the deck.
After stepping back and observing our success, we tackled the other long branch
These green shoots are of the patch of daffodils planted by our
next-door neighbor, one house removed, Mary Lyons, about 20 years ago. Mary
died soon after her beloved husband , David. I will share this photo with her
daughter, and when they bloom, I will cut several of the Daffodils and leave
them in a small vase by her daughter’s doorstep as I did last year.
“Love every leaf…Love the animals, love the plants, love
everything. If you love everything, you
will perceive the divine mystery in things,”
Fyodor Dostoyevsky
“The Brothers Karamasov”
* * *
In past Reflections I have written about how Lloyd and I miss
the restaurant, Tomato Palace , which was located for many years on downtown Columbia ’s lakeside by Clyde ’s. In Lloyd’s words “good food – great prices”.
We have so many fond memories of taking Zach and his sister, Julia there for
lunch. They particularly liked eating
there during the warm months when we could sit outside. As they grew older, we allowed them to stray
a few more steps away from our outdoor table.
They liked to walk down the steep grassy slope toward Lake
“Kit.” When we set the limit that they had to be able to see our eyes, they
would position themselves in a manner such that we could see only the tops of
their heads and their eyes, but not their nose or any lower facial feature. The kids complied. I can recall with crystal clarity their
sparkling eyes just barely visible peeking over the crest of the grassy hill.
For the two of us, the “replacement” of Tomato Palace Lake Kittamaqundi Columbia
Not until this month did we attend one of the music programs at
the “Soundry”-- Bob Marley’s music replete with vocal, drum, wind, and
piano. Marley and the story of his life
have long been and continue as an inspiration to me. His message still speaks
of today’s social and spiritual challenges, in some ways even more clearly than
decades ago. The rendition of many of
his songs was excellent. Very loud?
Yes. But if anyone’s songs are worth
stress on my aging eardrums, Marley’s are.
Walking along the lake before the concert and afterward on the way back
to our car all was as a piece of a great evening. Fond memories of many good meals at Tomato Palace
will remain with me for the rest of my life, and now, so will Bob Marley’s
music in the air by Lake
Kit
“
REFLECTIONS
ON ZACH
Scrolling through the “Zaching Against Cancer” website recently,
I came upon one of his many quotes that I had somehow forgotten.
“I want the world to be a better place because I was here.”
It is, Zach. The love and
courage that you spread around everywhere you went continues to show up in so
many ways and in so many places.
REFLECTIONS
ON BALTIMORE , MY HOME TOWN
This month Lloyd and I attended a colloquium at the Johns
Hopkins Applied Physics Lab (APL) here in Howard County Hopkins at both the lab and the hospital in Baltimore Penn
State and a M.S. from Illinois
.
Although he retired more than 25 years ago, Lloyd still receives
invitations to these colloquial programs.
We have attended a couple of prior presentations, both pertaining to
advances in the lab’s space programs.
This month’s colloquium featured Baltimore Mayor Catherine Pugh speaking
about her work as it relates to Black History Month. I knew the mayor from our
time together in the Maryland
Every seat was taken in APL’s Parson’s auditorium, the walls
lined with people – many standing - young and many white. It was announced that
two other rooms presented the mayor’s speech on closed circuit TV. She spoke clearly and pointedly, without
notes, for half an hour and then answered questions from the audience for
another half. Her love of and passion
for the city in which I grew up was very clear.
She covered issues of social, economic, and environmental justice, not
claiming to have all the answers, or possibly even most. What she did demonstrate, loud and clear, was
a love of Baltimore and a passion to bring healing to its many wounds. She
accepted that responsibility without casting blame on those who came before
her.
We headed home with a sense of hope, not kidding ourselves that
my beloved home town’s many wounds can be healed easily or quickly, but with an
awareness that someone is in charge who grasps the enormity of the task ahead,
and is both prepared and willing to give it her best.
We also had hope that came from the knowledge that the Johns
Hopkins Physics Lab chose this program about Baltimore to recognize Black
History Month, There are more than a few African American acclaimed and
accomplished physicists and engineers whom they could have honored. Instead they chose to opt for a very
difficult topic demonstrating their understanding that Baltimore cannot heal
unless we inform ourselves of what a huge task that will be.
Thank you, APL
The Washington Post
February 17, 2019
It seems so obvious – pairing up homeless human beings with
vacant homes in need of repair. Mayor
Pugh and the long time city non-profit Health Care for the Homeless have joined
forces to do just that. When I served in
the Maryland legislature, I worked closely with Kevin Lindamood, director of
that non-profit, on legislation to alleviate the dire homeless problem in
Baltimore, my birthplace and home until I married in my 20’s. He has devoted his life to helping the
homeless and worked closely with my sister, Martha, who did the same after
ending her life’s vocation of teaching as a nun in Catholic schools. They were both inspirations to me. I have
high hopes for this new ambitious housing project in my hometown of Baltimore
The Baltimore Sun
February 7, 2019
Reading this editorial one cannot miss the contrast between
Baltimore City and Howard County, one of the very wealthiest communities in our
nation. We too have homelessness on the rise. This is simply not acceptable.
TWO BALTIMORE FEMALE MUSICIANS’ GLOBAL IMPACT
The Baltimore Sun
February 4, 2019
“We should be proud of BSO’s highly successful European tour …”
The Baltimore Sun
February 19, 2019
Revered by my girl fiends and me in our Baltimore high school
days, Ethel Ennis performed with Benny Goodman, Duke Ellington, Louis
Armstrong, Cab Calloway, Wynton Marsalis and Miles Davis. Pretty good music for high school girls to
crave.
REFLECTIONS
ON PUBLIC POLICY: COUNT, STATE, & NATION
HOWARD
COUNTY
I believe that historic preservation comes under the heading of
public policy.
Don’t you? If you do, then
we will agree that the Howard County Historical Society is doing a great job.
This is not the first time I have written of my decision, after
leaving elected public office for more than 20 years, not to serve on boards of
public commissions or organizations.
With very few exceptions – The Little Patuxent Review among them – I
have stuck with that decision. That does not mean I have not increased the time
I have spent with some, the Howard County Historical Society among them. In two of my monthly podcasts on the Howard
Community College radio station, I have interviewed the president of this
organization, Shawn Gladden, who also teaches county history at the college.
At the Society’s annual meeting this month, the guest lecturer,
Massachusetts Representative Joshua Cutler spoke on “When the Press Really Was
Under Attack: Alexander Hanson and the 1812 ‘Mobtown Massacre” about the Federalist U.S. Senator
and the bloody Baltimore riot that catapulted him to notoriety. It was truly an
excellent historic lecture and more than a bit relevant to the press today.
MARYLAND
The Washington Post
February 17, 2019
Those of us who have lived in this area for some time (in my
case for my entire life – 75 years) have heard this discussion, which
frequently rises to the level of an argument, over and over again. The
Baltimore Beltway, The Capital Beltway, Interstate 270. Time and time again we fool ourselves into
believing that we can continue to drive more and more vehicles for more and
more miles WITHOUT a more expansive mass transit system.
***
Harriet Tubman
In this month’s Howard Community College Dragon Radio podcast,
which can be accessed at https://dragondigitalradio.podbean.com/mf/play/gshmt5/Reflections_on_Life_Bessie_Bordenave_.mp3, I
interview Bessie Bordenave, a leader in attaining the restoration of the local
Harriett Tubman School. Besse has been
responsible for spreading the knowledge of the inspirational life of Harriet
Tubman to many Howard Countians, particularly students in our schools.
Harriett Tubman, an American abolitionist and political activist
born into slavery in Dorchester County, part of Maryland’s Eastern Shore, is renowned
for helping many slaves escape using the network of antislavery activists she
and others developed. Along their escape
route to the north they used a network of antislavery activists and safe houses
known as the Underground Railroad.
Howard County’s Harriett Tubman Center is located at 8045
Harriett Tubman Lane, near Atholton High School in Columbia. It is on the site
of the last remnant of Black-only schools Howard. Once a high school, now a
museum, it is well worth a visit to learn about our own county’s place in
African American History.
U.S.A.
The U.S. House Oversight Committee’s public session held to hear
Michael Cohen’s story of his work with our president had many memorable
moments, mostly painful to hear. It was
the words of committee chair, Elijah Cummings, who rose to the occasion as “the
best in us, rather than the partisan worst.”
Lloyd and I remember as clearly as if it were yesterday the
November morning in 1996 when we awoke to the news that Elijah had been elected
to congress in the district in which we live.
We were both ecstatic. Elijah and
I had served together in the Maryland House of Delegates. As our congressman,
Elijah was very accessible to me and the constituents in my Maryland
legislative district. We saw eye to eye
on virtually every public policy issue.
He was and is a great champion of social, economic and environmental
justice. He attended every one of my
annual campaign picnics at Cedar Lane Park, and speaking out with words so
similar to those he uttered in Congress yesterday – “I mean come on now” “we are better than this” “make sure our democracy stays intact”.
Thank you, Elijah. You
have instilled in me, and I’m certain in many others, a resurgence of hope.
REFLECTIONS
ON OUR PLANET BEYOND THE UNITED STATES
“The Atlantic”
February 2019
There are two factors that went against my decision to include
this article in these February Reflections.
First, I have written before of the arrogance and error in referring to
our nation as “America” rather than its correct name “The United States OF
America”. In so speaking, we dismiss
Canada and all the nations of central and South America. Second, we clearly are currently facing more
than enough problems in leading ourselves.
And yet, I found sufficient food for thought and encouragement in it,
that I decided to include it in these “Reflections”.
REFLECTIONS
ON OUR UNIVERSE
We experienced an irony this month in our skies. The full moon that rose on February 19 was
not only a supermoon as well, it was also the yearly “snow moon,” according to
the Washington Post’s Martin Weil, No
matter how many titles that moon held – full, super, snow - we could not see
it. It was blocked by the falling snow.
“To the mind that is still, the whole universe surrenders.”
Lao Tsu
“Pools of sorrow, waves of joy
Are
drifting through my open mind
Possessing
and caressing me
Across the
Universe
~Lennon and
McCartney
Be
well and love life.
~ Liz
PS - My monthly Reflections episodes, the Dragon radio show I record at HCC, can be found at http://dragondigitalradio.podbean.com/category/reflections-on-life/.
