“No Free Papers.” When I first spotted this little sign at the end of a driveway on Montgomery Road in Ellicott City I was immediately struck by the double meaning. Undoubtedly the homeowner was merely signaling to delivery people that they did not want free papers dropped in their driveway. I got a different message. I saw it as a commentary on the decline of newspapers.You see, there are truly “no free papers.” While there may be papers that are circulated for free, somewhere, somebody is paying for that paper. Someone is paying for the writers to write the stories and the paper to be printed and circulated. Most often that someone is the advertiser. Declining paid ad pages are bringing down the newspaper industry.
This is not healthy for our democracy. The fourth estate has long been the watchdog of government and the rights of citizens. When a papers ability to report and investigate the news is diminished everyone pays the price. There are no free papers and our own freedom is jeopardized when the papers go away.
Over in Columbia it was this line up of shiny new snow blowers that caught my attention. Inside the Lowes store in Gateway Exchange there were displays of grills and lawn furniture, harbingers of the impending approach of warmer weather. Outside, in the cold afternoon, these items reminded me that winter is far from over.Last year, I purchased an electric snow blower for our short driveway. I reasoned that this small snow appliance was all that I needed. Mama Wordbones snickered when she saw it. When she lived out in Glenwood she had a driveway that was almost a quarter mile long. To keep that drive cleared of snow she had a heavy duty self propelled snow blower that should have required a Class A drivers license to operate. It was bigger than any of the ones that Lowes was selling. It was a real mans snow blower.
Obviously that machine was too big for our new home but I may have gone too far in the opposite direction when I purchased my little electric number. I almost feel as if I should wear a skirt when I use it.
