Buzzard Rock March 2013

One of our favorite loco trails is the hike up to Buzzard Rock from Bloede Dam in the Patapsco State Park. Yesterday, at the trail head on Ilchester Road, the road was lined with cars as locos streamed into the park for the best day of the weekend.

It was a perfect day for a hike, not too cold, not hot.

Buzzards Rock sits atop the Simpkins Mill side of the Ilchester Tunnel and rewards your climb with a nice view of the valley below. It’s also a hangout. Though I don’t particularly care for those who introduce spray paint into an otherwise bucolic setting, I do find some of the art to be oddly compelling.

Perhaps of more concern was the number of people we could see milling about on the CSX rail tracks below. I immediately thought of this video my friend Mickey Gomez shared on Facebook earlier this week.

Train tracks are dangerous places.

On the descent to Bloede Dam, a cyclist passed us on the way up and greeted me by name, breathing hard as he attacked the steep incline. I acknowledged the greeting but I have to admit I did not immediately recognize him in the brief moment we passed. I felt bad but he was wearing a helmet and I was sporting non prescription sunglasses, a bad combination for me on a good day. As I continued down the trail trying to figure out who I just said hello to I turned back and saw him taking a break next to a tree. It’s a very long hill and he was about three quarters of the way up. Who was that guy?

Arriving back at the Grist Mill Trail was like merging on to a pedestrian freeway. Runners, bikers, dog walkers, and all walks in between were out in large numbers getting a much needed dose of medicine for cabin fever.

You can find more Buzzard Rock Trail pictures here. 

The End of an Era

Watermont Pharmacy is closing. After serving the community for fifty two years, the family owned business has fallen victim to a changing health care marketplace.

I feel at least partially to blame. When we first moved to this Ellicott City neighborhood in 2006, I began getting my prescriptions filled at Watermont. By then the pharmacy was being run by Jodi (Dagold) Lare, the daughter of the original pharmacist, Donald Dagold. The pharmacy provided the kind of personal service you’d expect from local owners, including home delivery.

Over time however, as my health plan changed and I had to shoulder more of my own medication costs, I switched to an online pharmacy reducing my costs by a third. Undoubtedly this was true with other of their former customers as well.

The store reminded me of pharmacies I knew growing up, when they typically included a soda fountain. Though the soda jerks are now long gone, the counter and stools remained as reminders of another era.

The name Watermont was coined by combining the names of the crossroads where the store was located, Waterloo and Montgomery. 

A Trail Less Traveled

The little taste of spring yesterday drove many locos outside for the first time in weeks. When we arrived at the trail head of the Grist Mill Trail on Ilchester Road around one o’clock, cars were parked in every available spot. After wedging our car into a space of questionable legality, we decided to explore the HoCo side of the river instead of taking the paved trail that lies in Baltimore County.

Actually, the opposite side is paved too, in places at least. Remnants of a former road provide an easy trek for the first leg. On the other hand this is not a path for cyclists.

Approaching Bloede Dam, things get a bit dicey as the road disappears and hikers must navigate a narrow path along the rivers edge. The recent wet weather made this portion of the trail a little muddy and a bit trickier to traverse.

 Bloede Dam, like other man-made dams on the Patapsco River is slated for removal though no date has been set for the work to begin. The cost is estimated to exceed $4 million and will include some attempt to preserve part of the dam on the Baltimore County side of the river.

On the other side of the dam it is smooth sailing on obstacle free  paved roadbed all the way down to the swinging bridge.

Coffee Mugged

I no longer feel guilty about using disposable coffee cups. According to this story by Danielle Braff in Men’s Health, “Twenty percent of office mugs carry fecal bacteria, and 90 percent are covered in other germs…”

The problem of course is that most office mugs are regularly cleaned using a common sponge or scrub brush instead of a dishwasher. These low tech cleaning devices are veritable petri dishes of nasty stuff.

"Bring your mug home daily to be washed in the dishwasher, and make sure it goes through the dry cycle, which uses the hottest temperatures and zaps every last germ. At the very least, wash it with hot water, soap, and a paper towel. If it sits unwashed on your desk after being used, germs will start reproducing immediately—and bacterial colonies grow even when the cup contains nothing more than a coffee ring."

Eech!

Hike the Gorge

This spring the Washington Suburban Sanitary Commission (WSSC) will allow hiking and jogging on designated trails at the Rocky Gorge and Tridelphia reservoirs for the first time. The 733 acre Rock Gorge and the 800 acre Tridelphia Reservoir help define HoCo’s southern border with Montgomery and Prince Georges counties. According to this story by Katherine Shaver in The Washington Post, the recreational season “also will be open 30 days longer, from March 15 to Nov. 30.”

You’ll have to pay for the privilege though. Hikers and joggers will need to purchase a Watershed Use Permit from the WSSC.  

 “Seasonal permits will increase to $70 from $60, and single-day permits will increase to $6 from $5. A new picnic fee will vary by the group’s size but will be $6 for up to five people. People 65 and over can still use the areas for free. The utility issued about 5,600 recreational permits last year.”

You can purchase permits online here.

Battle of the Bulge

When Howard County General Hospital became part of the Johns Hopkins Health System fifteen years ago, included the deal was the establishment of a foundation “to improve health and wellness in Howard County.” The Horizon Foundation now doles out approximately $4 million annually to a variety of initiatives to advance this goal. Sitting at the top of this foundation is Nikki Highsmith Vernick.

Nikki joined the Horizon Foundation about a year ago and soon began focusing her efforts on childhood obesity. According to Nikki, over twenty thousand HoCo children are dangerously overweight. To draw attention to the foundations efforts to promote healthy snacking, they recently staged an event at Burleigh Middle School dumping 9.6 tons of white sand in the schools parking lot to dramatize “the amount of sugar the school’s students would consume if each drank one 12-ounce soda a day for a year.”

The same day, HoCo Exec Ken Ulman announced that he was banning the sale of sugary drinks on county property, a move that immediately bought criticism from State Senator Allan Kittleman saying that “is not a function of government to determine what you should and should not drink.”

In our podcast yesterday Nikki offered a defense of the execs ban pointing out that since we are paying for county employees healthcare we have a responsibility to promote healthy snacking in their workplace.

In our news recap we discussed Ken’s state of the county address, Symphony Woods Inner Arbor plan, and the legislation to allow HoCo public library employees to form a union.

We also briefly discussed the new parking system in Ellicott City which debuts next week. Paul told how he got a ticket last week on Main Street, despite assurances from the client he was visiting that parking was still free. Paul’s offense was that he parked twelve inches over the marked lines. That little indiscretion cost him thirty five bucks, meters or not.

You can listen to the 83^rd episode of “and then there’s that…” here.

Courage

Talking about mental illness is never easy, especially when you are talking about yourself. Once you openly acknowledge a mental affliction you will henceforth be viewed by everyone through that filter. That’s why I found this post by Alice on her blog HoCoHouseHon, to be nothing short of courageous.

And enlightening. Alice shares how she has learned to live with her own illness in a starkly forthright manner by simply stating “I am mentally ill.”

“I'm a real person. Some of you know me only through this blog, though most others I think are friends and family members. And being a real person, disregarding any online persona, I have to face the every day life of being a young woman with a chemical imbalance which makes me cry like Van Gogh and smile like the Mona Lisa. It makes me play the piano with the wet cough of Chopin; it makes me immobile, sometimes, with perfectionism and fear. These are my mornings and evenings, my afternoon teas, the way I fall asleep and the way I wake up at 7:23 craving a cup of coffee.”

That is just a small taste what she shares. Read it yourself and I think you’ll agree, Alice is one brave blogger. In this simple post entitled "Shame" she helps open up the often suppressed dialogue of coping, understanding and dealing with mental illness.

Thank you Alice.

Stay Home

Last night at the Meyerhoff in Baltimore, as the lights went down and people took their seats, the cacophony of conversation was replaced by a wave of coughing and sneezing.

I glanced over at Mama Wordbones and she just rolled her eyes. She’s a health professional and knows all to well that people with the flu should stay home and keep their health misfortune to themselves. There are times when sharing is not a good thing, particularly in times of a flu epidemic.

Last nights speaker was P.W. Singer and his topic was 21^st Century Warfare, which focused on electronic warfare, not biological. It's a shame. It could have been one of those great ironic moments.

The Flu Takes a Shot

The first call came around seven this morning from a client. We were scheduled to tour a group of properties beginning at nine.

“I have to reschedule our appointment today,” she said, “ I've got a stomach flu.”

Uh oh.

The second call came a little after noon from the high school. “Your daughter is in the nurses office with a bad cough and nausea. Can you come get her?”

No problem, since my morning appointment cancelled I found myself with more flexibility that I thought I’d have.

When I arrived at Mt. Hebron the school nurse bought Peanut to the office. “It looks like the flu,” she told me.

“I’m glad I got my flu shot this year,” I replied with just a hint of self righteousness.

“That’s no guarantee,” the health professional cautioned. “It’s only about a sixty percent chance you’re covered for this particular flu.”

Still, I’ll take those odds.

Downtown Fitness Club

The Howard Hughes Corporation and Columbia Association held a briefing this morning to announce that CA had signed a lease for a 27,000 square foot fitness facility on the ground floor of the former Rouse headquarters building in downtown Columbia. CA will join Whole Foods in the re-purposed office building once a major rehabilitation has been completed.

Extensive interior work on the Frank Gehry designed building is expected to begin next year and will include the removal of the entire third floor. Howard Hughes expects to turn the lake level space over to CA in early 2014 and CA expects the new facility to open in late summer/early fall of the same year. Howard Hughes is expected to relocate their offices to another building in downtown during the construction.

At the announcement this morning Ken Ulman pointed out that this building was the only building singled out in the Town Center redevelopment legislation for preservation.

This lease will effectively bring the iconic white building to full occupancy for the first time in over five years.

Clover or Wildflower

At the last Second Sunday Market, I stopped by the Apex Bee Company booth. With the onset of cold weather, we tend to go through honey quicker than in the warmer months. If you've ever warmed your pipes with tea, whiskey and honey you’ll know what I’m talking about.

“Would you like clover or wildflower,” the beekeeper asked.

I didn't know there was a difference. I thought honey was honey. I’m not very well versed in apiculture. She offered a taste of both. They were different. I thought the clover was a little less interesting than the wildflower. I went with the wildflower.

Honey isn't just for whiskey either. In this post by James Byrne on the Scientific American blog I learned that it “has some pretty amazing properties, it’s broadly antimicrobial and seemingly able to promote healing.”

“While only preliminary, it seems honey and its various components might have more secrets to unveil which will further develop our understanding of the anti-microbial nature of this environmental product and at the same time its pro-immune responses elicited when we use it.”

Byrne suggests that you “should rub honey on your everywhere." 

Sweet!

According to a tag affixed to the jar, my wildflower honey came from Honey Bee Restoration Project Hive #2 located in Freeland, MD.

That’s good stuff.

Flu Myth

“Do you want to get your flu shot today?”

I was at my doctor’s office for a regularly scheduled appointment this afternoon when the physicians’ assistant posed this question. It wasn't an easy question for me to answer. I haven’t gotten a flu shot in years and I can’t recall the last time I had the flu. I’m not afraid of getting a shot. I’m afraid of getting the flu.

My reluctance in getting the shot is linked to my belief that some people actually get sick after having a flu shot. Why would I want to do that when I rarely get sick under normal consequences? Then again, just because I hadn't gotten the flu in years doesn't necessarily mean I’d dodge the bullet again this year.

“Do you want to wait and discuss this with Dr. Fish?”

For a brief moment I considered that and then thought “why bother.” I knew my doc would recommend it. I told her to go ahead and give me the shot.

When my doc came into the exam room I asked him whether he knew of anyone getting the flu as a result of the flu shot. “Never,” he replied. He went to say that it was medically impossible.

When I got back to my office I checked the website of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention just to get a little reassurance.

“The viruses in the flu shot are killed (inactivated), so you cannot get the flu from a flu shot. The risk of a flu shot causing serious harm or death is extremely small. However, a vaccine, like any medicine, may rarely cause serious problems, such as severe allergic reactions. Almost all people who get influenza vaccine have no serious problems from it.”

Still, getting a flu shot is no guarantee that you won’t get the flu either.

“The ability of a flu vaccine to protect a person depends on the age and health status of the person getting the vaccine, and the similarity or “match” between the viruses or virus in the vaccine and those in circulation.”

All I know is that if I get the flu this year I’m going to be pretty pissed.

Stand Up Cycling

Friday afternoon I spotted two cyclists by the Grist Mill Trail with very unusual bikes. I made a u-turn and went back to check them out.

Trevor and Rebecca were riding something called an Elliptogo, which is billed as more of a running device than a bicycle. They told me that they had rented them for the weekend from Leisure Fitness in Columbia. Rebecca’s was an eight speed and Trevors was a three speed.

They had just finished their workout so I was reluctant to ask them to demonstate the bikes. Fortunately I found this video on You Tube.

Air Heads

Wearing a bicycle helmet may be a simple way to protect against serious head trauma but many cyclists continue to resist wearing one. I’ve met more than a few women who forgo helmets simply because they don’t want to have helmet hair when they take it off.

What if someone invented an invisible helmet?

It looks like these two ladies did just that.

Note: "gypsypalace", a regular To2C reader, wrote me that the video that was embeded with this post kept launching automatically whenever she visited the blog. This isn't the first time I've experienced problems with a Vimeo video so I decided to remove it. You can still find the video by clicking on the "these two ladies" link.

A Hike Taken

I was restless today. I felt the need for outdoor time. At first we considered attending the German Festival but it was indoors.

We decided to head for the woods instead. 

After a brief discussion of some of our more familiar treks, I mentioned the Middle Patuxent Environmental Area.

Mama Wordbones had never been  to the Middle Patuxent Environmental Area so it was settled. I really wasn’t all that surprised Mama Wordbones, a lifelong HoCo resident and former Girl Scout volunteer had never been to the MPEA. I  think it may qualify as one of HoCo’s best little secrets. Today, while on the 2.4 mile Wildlife Loop Trail for a little over an hour, we encountered a total of six people and two dogs. There are places where the trail shrinks to a rather narrow single track and you realize how infrequently this place is visited.

It was a perfect day to be out there.

Since I first visited MPEA about eight years ago, the trail network has expanded with the South Wind Trail, adding another three miles for the younger, more adventurous types. The 1,021 acre park stretches from Route 108 all the way down to the new Robinson Nature Center on Cedar Lane. I suspect the trails will one day connect with the nature center too.

Getting There: Take Route 108 (Clarksville Pike) to Trotter Road. Travel about mile and look for the small white gravel parking area on your left. It’s easy to miss. At the trailhead grab a guide in the unmarked black box by the information board. It contains a map and lots of interesting information about the habitat you’ll pass through. The park closes at dusk. I’d like to say it’s free but the truth is that your taxes pay this so that's all the more reason you should get out and enjoy it.

And One Last Thing: I’ve always thought those moments of nature you get at the end of CBS Sunday Morning provide a nice wrap up,so with apologies to CBS, I offer these thirty one seconds in the life of one of our HoCo loco rivers.

Sunsets and Salmon

Last nights sunset was a real beauty. We first grasped its magnificence as we exited Route 100 at Long Gate around 8:25 PM last night. Mama Wordbones immediately began suggesting places to pull over and take a picture. She was thinking of you.

“You should take a picture for your blog,” she suggested.

I love it when she thinks of To2C. I wouldn’t exactly call her a regular reader. She’s sort of blog neutral.

She was right about the sunset though. It was picture perfect. I decided to head for high ground, Glen Mar Church on New Cut Road.

And speaking of salmon…

I’m not a fan. I enjoy an occasional piece of salmon sushi but otherwise I find the fish unappealing. This is not good. Salmon is good for you. I always try to balance the bad stuff I put into my body with some good stuff. Salmon is good stuff. I feel a need to like it.

That’s why I was intrigued by the salmon on a plank.

One of my joys at Wegmans is the seafood section. As someone whose cooking skills are limited, I appreciate the pre packaged cook and serve offerings of tuna, tilapia, and salmon to name a few. The salmon on a plank caught my eye. For eight bucks I had to give it a try.

It was excellent.

I soaked my plank, coated the fish with spices provided and dropped it on the grill. In about ten minutes it was ready. When I do this again I’ll apply the spices a little more liberally. I was way too conservative with the dry rub. They give you more than enough and it's exquisite.

There’s hope for me and salmon yet.

Cool Walk

The only way to enjoy the outdoors during a heat wave is either by staying up late or getting out early. This morning I opted for the latter as I set out at 7:30 on a four mile trek from my house to Main Street Ellicott City and back.

As I wound my way past the Worthington Dog Park, the mercury had already climbed past the mid seventies but there was also a light breeze. Soon, I was in the shaded confines of New Cut Road and it was just like any other summer day, warm but not oppressive. Although there isn’t a sidewalk or much of shoulder on New Cut, at this time of morning I saw just as many cyclists as I did cars.

I passed a couple of runners too.

Before long I reached the outskirts of the historic district and worked my way down to the Bean Hollow coffee shop for a quick coffee and perusal of the morning paper. The heat wave made the front page, above the fold.

Before heading back home, I stopped and snapped of picture of an artist painting a picture as part of this years Paint It! Ellicott City!

For the return trip I headed up College Avenue, a decidedly steeper route than New Cut. The developers of a housing development called Autumn River are installing a new traffic circle on College near Sheppard Pratt. The work has been stalled as they wait for BGE to move the old poles that are now in the relocated road. I imagine that this work is a little low on the utilities priority list right now.

By the time I turned back into my neighborhood, the temp has climbed to the mid eighties and I was ready to reenter a climate controlled world. For me anyway, the best part of the day was over.

Blue Bike

While others are studying the feasibility of bike-sharing services in HoCo, a loco developer has already begun one. BECO, the owners and managers of the Century Plaza office buildings in Columbia, now offers bike-sharing to its office tenants from something called Bluebikes.

The bikes come with helmets and locks and are offered on a first come first served basis.

That doesn’t seem to be a problem. This afternoon, while the weather was perfect for a bicycle outing, all the bikes were still in the rack.

I guess everyone was in their offices working.

Have any To2C readers used this service yet?

Images

Some time last year my exercise regime was overthrown. My eating and drinking regime was not. The result of course is that I have put on weight. I know in my heart of heart that its time to return to a daily regimen of exercise yet I delay.

I really can’t ignore it either. Every morning my bathroom mirror reflects an image of an overweight old white haired guy. I may not be able to fix the white hair and the old part but the weight thing is well within my control. I know what I need to do I’m just having trouble getting started again.

That’s why I empathize with the county exec. This morning, Tom Coale took a little shot at Ken for being pictured eating a donut in this story. He quipped that Ken’s health coach would probably be “disappointed in him.”

No doubt. Don’t get me wrong here, but the county exec today is not exactly in the same fighting trim that he was when he came into the office. Back then I used to see him regularly at the Colosseum Gym. Not anymore, though I will concede that it is highly likely that he goes to another gym now.

Wherever that is, it looks like he’s going to his gym about as much as I'm going to mine.

I tell you a loco politico that is looking good these days, Baltimore Mayor Stephanie Rawlings Blake. A colleague of mine was in the skybox next to the city skybox at the Ravens game on Sunday. At the end of the game he hung around for a bit while waiting for the traffic to clear.  It was then that he noticed the mayor with a trash bag cleaning up the balcony section of the box next door. A couple of others saw her as well and asked if they could get a picture with her. She cheerfully agreed to, once she finished cleaning up.

I really like that image.

Take a Hike, Have a Muffin

Somehow I missed the news that The Breadery had relocated from Route 40 to Oella, even though the August move was more than adequately covered by both HowChow and Ellicott City Patch.

So, when Peanut and I were biking up the Trolley #9 Trail outside of Ellicott City yesterday, I was surprised to see their new location just off the trail.

I’m a big fan of Mike Lanasa's stone milled breads. When he first started baking in HoCo over 15 years ago I regularly stopped by to pick up his muffins and sweet breads. In fact I liked them a little too much. I had to curb my Breadery habit before I ballooned out of control.

His new location however just might bring me back to those sinful pleasures like his apple cinnamon muffins. I figure that if I take the approximately mile and half hike up the trail from the Trolley Stop in Ellicott City, I can reward myself with a baked good and a cup of coffee. The best part is that the walk back is all downhill.

Ironically, his new location Oella is actually closer to my Ellicott City home than his old Ellicott City location. It’s also pretty close to one of the best butchers around, J.W. Trueth &Sons.