About Me

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I am a retired English teacher and department head, the mother of three grand mother of four, and have been married to the same man for 52 years. I subscribe to Dr. PM Forni's concept of Civility. I was born in South Philadelphia and grew up in the 'burbs. I love soft pretzels and cheesesteaks, the Phillies, the Eagles, and San Diego. I love being Mom, Aunt Kathy, Nona Kathy, and Teacher. I spend a lot of time in my gardens in the spring and summer, and in the winter I plan what I'm going to plant. I also am an avid reader and photographer.

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Wednesday, June 3, 2009

The AC

I've written a lot about my hatred,loathing commitment and love of exercise and going to the gym and thought I'd share two photos of the roses and cleome outside what we refer to as the 'AC' or Athletic Club.



I think the plantings are a small indication of what the community is like -- as there are flowers and trees everywhere -- all maintained by the Columbia Association.
In Columbia, the community, in which we live, we are lucky to have Columbia Association which overseas the management of the 12 villages that make up Columbia, about 26 outdoor pools, three gyms with full workout facilities and indoor pools, an ice skating rink, miles and miles of walking and bike paths, three tennis clubs, two golf courses, 15,000+ acres of 'Open Space' --land designated to be treed and green in perpetuity, three man-made lakes with parks and walking paths around them, myriad 'Tot Lots', and an outdoor skate board park. It's been a nice place for us to raise our kids. We moved away once in 1981, only to return in 1983. Clearly this had become home.
We love the diversity (Columbia was the first place in the US where a black family could re-sell their home to a white family at a profit) of this James Rouse-planned community. Rouse had the idea that a community should include people of all socio-economic backgrounds. And while Mr. Rouse is no longer alive, this thriving community remains a testament to him.

13 comments:

Purple Flowers said...

What a great place to live. So much activity, and great to know prejudice does not exist.

Sweet Virginia Breeze said...

Columbia sounds like a wonderful community. So many opportunities for recreation and entertainment as well as beautiful surroundings. I can understand why you have made it home.

Cheryl said...

It's been a great community to work in all these years. You should write a post about all the interesting street names sometime.

Jay said...

We have a Boone County Master Gardeners Association here that plants flowers and bushes and stuff at the parks and around downtown. They do keep it looking very pretty.

Ruth Hull Chatlien said...

That does sound like a remarkable community.

Gilly said...

26 Outdoor pools? That's 2 per village? Do you mean private of public pools?

But it all sounds a really good place to live, especially for children and teens.

(Now I must go and get my map of the US to see where you live!!)

jane said...

it does sound perfect. i´m sure even the weather is perfect:) p.s. that sandwich below... OMG! happy weekend kathy!

Rick Rockhill said...

how excellent Kathy, a beautiful place and a community you can be proud of!

Gin said...

Sounds like a great place to ...ahem...exercise! I'm trying to get my commitment back about going to the Y. It's rather silly for me to "pay and not play". Maybe when we get back from vacation!

I love the Pink Knockout roses!

Mo said...

A little bird said today was your birthday.

Happy Birthday to you!

I hope your day is wonderful and the year ahead is filled with love, laughter, good health, and days of wishes coming true!

Jules said...

Happy Happy Birthday . Do something decadent today.

Lena said...

Happy Birthday! Hope you are having a grand celebration!

Brad said...

Intersting about rouse. When Seattle re-vamped our low-income subsidized housing they followed the same concept. They tore down the old house and put up new subsidized units along with market price and sub market priced units to get that kind of mix in the neighborhood. It's really worked out well. Unfortunalty I'd never heard Rouse's name until you told me about it. He was ahead of his time.