Hometown

Columbia and the surrounding Howard County area was a wonderful place to grow up-  it's still a nice area and I love it here but it doesn't seem to have that magical quality that it did even as a little as 15 years ago. There is still open spaces and wildlife - on my last two days of running on the bike path I've seen deer, squirrel, rabbits, a snake, countless geese and ducks and a great blue heron - pretty amazing no matter where you live. Yet the open spaces have grown smaller, surrounded by more house, shopping centers and industrial sites. If there's space available it will be developed. Crime is up in Columbia as well - as kids we would wander the bike paths until after dark, never worrying about a thing. Of course crime happened and even as kids we had a few scares but they all seem pretty minor compared to what kids face today. I guess this is a natural part of when an area grows up - Columbia was brand new when I was a kid and you could feel that sense of newness and promise in the air. I miss it and I miss my hometown as it was and I wouldn't trade my childhood memories for anything. But I wish kid today could have that same expereince.

Thanks for reading,
Eric