Scene This Week In...

It is hard not to take pictures of flowering trees this time of year. Columbia explodes with white blossoms on the thousands of Bradford Pear trees planted around town. There is a liberal sprinkling of pink from the various cherry trees as well.

But that is not what caught my eye today.

I was actually on my way to Wilde Lake Park to snap some pictures of flowering trees when I noticed all of the activity at the Wilde Lake barn. A closer inspection revealed that the barn is undergoing a fairly extensive renovation.

I was glad to see that. Given the abysmal state of some of the other Columbia icons, it’s nice to know that at least this one is getting some attention.

I still wanted to find some flowering trees though so ventured a mile up the road from Wilde Lake to Centennial Lake. Technically, once you cross Route 108 you are in Ellicott City after all.

Centennial Lake is home to grouping of cherry trees which I believe is dedicated to the memory of Jim Rouse. The trees are planted on both sides of the lake path. The lakefront was sparsely populated with an assortment of runners and fishermen. I was sort of surprised to see as many people as I did. It was around two o’clock in the afternoon on a cold and damp spring day.

I spoke with a guy named Chris. He was one of the fishermen. He said he’d caught a few bluegills but he was really hoping to hook a catfish.

It turns out we had a catfish thing in common. Both of us had visited the Bass Pro Shop in the Arundel Mills Mall yesterday to see the giant catfish that Ron Lewis caught in the Potomac. The 67 pound behemoth was supposedly in the giant fish tank at the store. It turns out that this particular fish is still in a “transitional tank” and that the big one I saw was only 64 pounds.

That’s still a big catfish.

Chris was taking a day from his landscaping job in Annapolis. I imagine the landscaping business is a little intense right now and so he probably needed a day of fishing.

That’s what I’m saying anyway.