Our Garden, so far this spring

Spring is a season of changes, little changes week by week.  From the bare earth, buds come forth.  The early spring flowers arrive.

Eventually, the bushes and trees bud and then leaf out, first in the palest of delicate greens, and then becoming the more mature greens they will display all summer.

The March flowers in the front planter

Tending the garden is one of my ways to stay in tune with the seasons, particularly in spring:  the jonquils in March into April, the roses in May and June, the Mayflowers in June, the day lilies in July.  I love to measure the passing of time by the changes in nature, even here in the city.

Here's a quick tour of our little garden this spring.

A bed of impatiens

The rhododendrons in bloom in late May 

The June roses blooming in late May.

The window boxes hanging out on the patio while the building is painted.

I Hate Winter Hair!

We have had a really brutal, cold, and dry winter. It's horrible for hair!  It's all dry and sometimes frizzy.  But without it's normal curl, it just drops straight, especially after I've been wearing a warm wool hat on a single-digit degree day.

For someone with relatively short hair, and a bit thin in the front, it can be a disaster. Tell me about thin hair!  A year or so ago, a cousin said I look just like my grandmother and great aunt who had thin hair, especially in the front!

The photo on the left below was last May, when at least I could get some curl in my short, somewhat thin hair.  Yes, I do get it colored; being "distinguished" with gray is oversold, in my opinion!  Last time I got a color and cut, and my stylist teased up a few waves on top, a homeless guy on the street asking for a smoke said I looked like "a young Rod Stewart!"

After a complement like that, I'm thinking winter isn't all bad if I can only just hide my hair under my nice, warm winter hat all the time!

At least in the spring and summer,
I can get some curl in my hair.

A young Rod Stewart?  I don't
think so!  But I like the "young" part

Strolling Along Trolley Line No. 9 Trail

Whenever I visit my relatives west of Baltimore, I always try to take a walk along the Trolley Line #9 Trail.

The trail follows the abandoned right-of-way of Baltimore's Route #9 trolley, which ran from downtown Baltimore at Charles and Lexington Street out following Edmonton Avenue until it ended.  From there, the trolley line when through the woods and a steep rock cut to its destination at Ellicott City.

Trains ran from the 1890s until the mid-1950s when it was partially replaced by buses. In the photo on the left, a car on the #9 line meets a car on the #14 line at the loop at Rolling Road. Today, there is no transit service along this route.

On the left below is a map of the tracks from Catonsville to Ellicott City.  The routes ran out Edmonson Avenue in Catonsville until its end.

The portion of the line beyond Edmonson Avenue became a rails-to-trails project in the 1990s, resulting in the present paved walking and biking trail, about a mile and a half in length.

The trail is builit on a boarwalk through the tall rock cut by Westchester Avenue.  The rocks were cut by hand.

The trolley line followed a stream for most of its run.  Today, the stream can be seen next to the path, adding to the scenic interest of the trail.

A trail through the woods connects Trolley Line #9 Trail with Banneker Park.

The Trolley Stop, a restaurant and bar we like to frequent is at the end of the trail.

Looking into Ellicott City.  The original Baltimore & Ohio Railroad (now operated by CSX Transportation) crosses the main street at the east end of Ellicott City.

The abutment and piers remain where Trolley Line #1 crossed Oella Avenue and the Patapsco river before entering Ellicott City.

Close-up of the stone block pier that once supported Trolley Line #9 just outside Ellicott City.

Dusk over Trolley Line #9 Trail where Westchester Avenue soars over the deep rock cut near Ellicott City.

Summer Time and the Living Is Easy

 "Summertime, 
And the livin' is easy ..."

This week the temperature hit the 90s (32 to 35 deg C).  While so many complain about the heat, I just love it!

The heat forces us to live differently.  We have to slow down.  We have to seek out the shade, and drinks some cool beverages.  We have to take it easy.  

The heat offers us the opportunity to get out of the run-around, over-committed lives we lead.    It offers us the opportunity to just sit there and take in the surroundings.  We can quiet our busy minds and rest our souls.  A good day in the 90s and the lyrics "and the livin' is easy" just clicked with me.

Having the week off with no travel plans, I left the air-conditioning inside and just sat out in the shade of the patio each day.  Just to enjoy the warmth and take in the surroundings, maybe do a little light reading.

Talking to my friend Gregg the other day, he echoed these thoughts, too.  Living without air-conditioning, he also finds he has to slow down in the heat.  He recommended just leaving all technology behind in the house, and just taking in the environment around me.

Then our pastor this morning, preaching on Luke 10 about sending out the 72 disciples in pairs, made not of how they were to travel simply, without excess baggage.  In the same we, he challenged us and himself to strip ourselves of the excess baggage of life, be it possessions, the ever-present technology (phones, tablets, laptops, always "con-nected" and always making demands of our attention), or the tyranny of so many demands and deadlines that often leave us with life living us instead of us living life.  (The last item describes my typical day at work, with multiple projects to manage, each with its own schedule, deadlines, and little "fire drills" that come up.)

Luckily, I have one more week before I return to work.  Another 7 days of opportunities to take the opportunity of summer, when the livin' is easy.

Happy summer!

Grief in Boston

Dusk settling on a city still in shock, as I walk home. Red and blue lights twinkle all around. Everywhere a strange hush has settled in. In the background of the quiet is the distant drone of helicopters hovering.

The feeling of the city is subdued. Conversations are hushed as though attending a wake.

In the park, spring beckons. Yet, we don’t notice the rebirth. Our minds are on the transience of life: in one moment we are here and filled with life. In a moment, we – any of us – could be gone. We are aware of that only a very thin portal separates life and death, and how easy one could pass.  And how in one blast, that portal is opened.

Today, we see again how evil work, how it embraces the specter of the netherworld.  How it consumes life.  This day, when the marathon runners remembered the horror of Newtowne and the children who were taken at too young, this day will itself come to be a memorial day.

We don’t know the how or the why of today.  But, in the end, does it even matter?  There is no “why” that is a good “why.”  There can be no good "why."  Whatever the "why" is, it can only be bad.

Once again, we all stand united. Our hearts reach out for each other. Our friends and family and colleagues and even strangers are glad we are fine. In the octave of grief, we always stand together for a while, though, in time, our politics and differences will become that wedget that so easily divides us.

We have no answers. We only have faith and prayer.

So, as I have done so many days, I go home, passing through a Public Garden about to burst into spring. But, today, even nature is restrained. All around is quiet. 

I walk in the eerie silence of the dusk, on this day when the portal of death was opened this afternoon, just a few short blocks away.

United in Grief: An Unspeakable Act in Connecticut

I feel that, if only briefly, we all are united by our feelings after the horror last Friday.  Others have written poignantly about the evil that visited a town in Connecticut, of so many lives so young and now extinguished, of the terror of the day that will long haunt the survivors, or how we all break down at the mention of the names of the children.  We cannot help but think of our own greatest treasures, our children, and how fragile these treasures are.

For a brief while, the nation is united in grief.

But we cannot dwell too long over this evil and the tragic loses.  We cannot become stuck in pondering the acts of last Friday, least we become caught up in the negativity of the evil.  We, as individuals, as communities, and as a nation must, in time, move on, honoring those who have passed by asking how we as a nation need to change.  We all want our children to be safe at school.  And we so desperately want this to never, ever happen again.

But, already, as we consider why this happened and what we can do to prevent it, our unity comes undone.  There are issues related to gun laws, to the care of those with mental problems, to how to secure our schools, and how to detect those who might commit such hideous acts.  And already, most of us fall back to long-held positions on these issues.

Yet, many of us say “enough!”  And some are willing to look anew at the issues and what we should do.

At this point the issues become political and I will discuss them in my political blog.

But my final thought on this matter is about the so-called Doomsday scenarios that some believe are coming soon:  the end of the Mayan calendar and the fiscal cliff.  Just a week ago I wrote a post making some fun at them. 

Like Y2K doom and gloom predictions, the media and many folks have become obsessed about a Doomsday in our times.  Yet, Y2K passed and no Doomsday.  Instead it came on Sept. 11, 2001.

Well, same thing this year.  I suspect everything will be fine on Dec. 22^nd and January 1^st.  Instead, Doomsday came to Newtown, Connecticut on Dec. 14, 2012.

Disaster Ahead

Clearly there is a fascination with doomsday scenarios, be it the coming of the Rapture, Y2K, nuclear holocaust, alien invasions or any of a number of disasters.  Our culture is full of examples of impending disaster.  You see it in movies, books, and TV shows.  We're all doomed! 

This year is no exception.  We heard a little bit of this doomsday talk after the presidential election:  the Middle East will explode, the economy will self-destruct, unemployment will rival rates in Greece, they'll come and take your guns, or other fears.  But, obviously the big two this year are the end of the Mayan Calendar and the Fiscal Cliff. 

The end of the Mayan Calendar is interpreted by some as a doomsday.  Maybe aliens will come.  Or a planetary collision. Or a sudden change of the earth's magnetic field.  In any case, it'll be bad.  People are buying shelter and arms.  So, if you believe this, panic now!  There's only 10 shopping days until the End of the World.

If the End of the World does come, then the second doomsday, the feared Fiscal Cliff, won't matter.  But at least the fate of this doomsday is in human hands, and not some unspecified or vague cause.  Of course, the human hands are of US politicians in the post-compromise age, where moving to the middle is seen as heretical, and a reason to raise a candidate to oppose you in the next election.  But the rest of us can only sit back and watch each side play chicken.  All I can say is didn't their mothers tell them "Just because your political opponent threatens to go over the fiscal cliff doesn't mean you should!"  (And, only 23 shopping days before we go over the Fiscal Cliff.)

What do I think?  Well, my in-laws are Peruvian (part Incan) and the Incan Calendar does not end this year.  So, clearly, nothing will happen to our family.  And, I have a hunch they'll have an 11th hour deal to avert falling off the cliff, just like the hero in the movies always avoids falling off the cliff. 

So, what if I'm not right about this?  It's possible, but, for the record, I was right about Y2K. But, if I am wrong, then it's like Wiley Cayote is saying (quoting the immortal Porky Pig):  "That's all folks!"

The Trials and Tribulations of this Rachy Name!

So, when I started blogging back in 2008, I wanted to use a name that was different from what people knew me as.  Everyone uses Rach as short for Rachel, so that's not all that unique.  So, what about "Rachy?" 

I noticed that Rachy seemed to be a nickname for Rachel in England, and I'm part English, so sounds like a plan.  Thus was born "Rachy's Other Thoughts," this blog where  I could write about my range of sane to crazy thoughts on various topics. 

For a number of years, I purposely didn't let friends and family know about this blog, so I felt free to write without being hassled about it.  Nothing lasts forever!

So, this "Rachy" got out.  I suppose that would be fine on its own.  I would get some sing-song greeting "Oh, hi, Ra---chy!"   But then there was this 1960s song "Windy" by the Association.  Someone (I won't say who, but her name begins with "R") got this brilliant idea:  substitute "Rachy" wherever "Windy" comes up in the lyrics.  So, now I get serenaded with "Everyone know it's Rachy!"  Good grief!

Well, it's out now, so you, too, can sing along with it!  Here's a version of "Windy," so go ahead, try it.  I'm used to it now.

(Wikipedia web sit:  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Windy)