Our Own Oasis

 Several years ago we applied for a grant in which we entered into an agreement with the State of Maryland and Columbia Association to have a 'rain garden' installed on our property.

You may have seen varieties of run-ff mitigation along highways and in medial strips, where strategically placed river stone, and native plants have replaced grass.  These areas not only protect bodies of water like the Chesapeake Bay from contamination, but they do not have to be so constantly maintained, and they look good!!

Rain gardens are one of the many ways to mitigate uncontrolled run-off from heavy rains.  But in addition to controlling storm drainage into the Chesapeake Bay, they feature native and non-invasive flora, and so the added benefit to these gardens is they attract pollinators such as bees and hummingbirds, and they are beautiful as well as functional.

Here is ours in various stages of growth.

A Walk in the Park...

 Since the pandemic we've been walking when we can, usually around one of the four local lakes that thanks to Columbia Association, have beautifully mailed bridges and paths, benches for that well-needed rest or just to gaze at the plantings surrounding the lakes, and the frequent fauna visitors:  amphibian; reptilian; fowl; and mammalian.  

Each walk is a discovery and we take time to really stop and look around us.  I marvel at those walking while looking at a phone screen -- I really have no idea how they can do that and remain vertical!

We have favorite spots including the swings that CA installed.

Musings...

Raining here in Maryland, today, varying from showers to veritable ropes of rain.  I've already been to the gym, and am now catching up on email and reading blogs.  I did an hour of cardio while watching six TVs (three on news channels, one on the Columbia Association channel, one with the Spain-Switzerland soccer game, and the last with Regis and his fill-in hostess.  I switched off from my IPOD to whatever looked interesting at the time.  I call this "ADD Delight".  I also witnessed what I thought was a woman having a stroke, but she was just doing the cardio portion of circuit-weights and waving her arms spastically.  I really did try not to stare...

President Obama met this morning  with attorneys from BP and government.  I would have loved to have been a fly on that wall!  Lt. General Russel Honoré (Ret) (Remember this hero from Katrina?) discussed his ideas for dealing with the Gulf. He said we should be treating it like WW III and start taking the offensive.   I hope the President has an opportunity to hear him, although I'm sure the good man is up to his schnutz in advice.

I received a comment on my last posting from Heidi at Alamo.  She apologized for the manner in which the incident was handled.  It's nice to know that companies are willing to make good from a bad situation.  All is now well.

Daughter is recuperating nicely from her ordeal with the cleaning agents.  The bad news is that she sat in that ER for over eight (8) hours having difficulty breathing.  This is not the usual for this hospital -- something REALLY went wrong.  Triage protocols (ABCs (airway, breathing, and circulation))  would have indicated she be seen very promptly and treated, and while she was initially seen and a chest x-ray ordered and taken, she was relegated to the waiting room where she waited for six hours more.  By the time the physician did see her and realized what had been going on, he was livid.  He quickly ordered her meds and a breathing treatment and she was able to go home. I'm not sure what exactly happened, but I'll find out.

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.