I’ve just described for you the culture of the Baltimore police department amid the deluge of the drug war, where actual investigation goes unrewarded and where rounding up bodies for street dealing, drug possession, loitering such – the easiest and most self-evident arrests a cop can make – is nonetheless the path to enlightenment and promotion and some additional pay.
Looking at CNN this evening, you’d think every block of Baltimore was overrun with mobs of looters. Jen and I watched some of the initial coverage from a Pho restaurant while Finn picked up noodles with her fingers. Later, after we got her into bed, the tempo of the reporting picked up, and we sipped cardamom tea while the senior center burned on the east side of town–miles away from earlier footage. Anderson Cooper actually did a decent job of keeping some sense of balance up until 10PM, frequently reminding the audience of the expanded scope and scale of the reported incidents, showing a map of their locations. Then, at 10, Don Lemon came on and immediately declared the city was falling apart into chaos.
I lived in Baltimore for fourteen years. For eight years I lived less than a half mile away from the Rite Aid you saw burning this afternoon. I bought a house downtown and lived there for six good years. I love Baltimore. It’s a confounding, mysterious, friendly, enchanting little city clinging desperately to relevance and prosperity. It doesn’t deserve to tear itself apart again, especially the areas that need investment the most. Because Rite Aid isn’t going to rebuild that store anytime soon, and the people in that neighborhood need it more than it needs them.
I hope to God things settle back down quickly.
The summer of 2014 has been relatively temperate, which means we’re able to do a lot of work in the front yard that would have melted us into blobs of flesh-colored goo in years past. I planted our third cherry laurel on Saturday, and then worked hard to dig out a dying rhododendron by the driveway. I set the sprinkler up for Finn to run through while Jen and I dug and mixed and moved decorative plants to fill the space, and we spent the bulk of the afternoon together in the sunshine.
That evening I took Jen to dinner at Wit & Wisdom in Baltimore, which has been the subject of fawning reviews. The restaurant is on the ground floor of the Four Seasons in the Inner Harbor, set right next to the water. After threading our way past drowsy Otakon and Oriole traffic downtown, we were seated next to a window and then waited about 10 minutes for a drink. After that slow start, we enjoyed stellar service and delicious food, but the atmosphere was tainted by a poor choice of music–there’s a fair amount of dissonance when ordering a $35 entrée to the soothing sounds of Welcome to the Jungle–and retail-store-bright lighting. Way to set a mood, guys. After dinner we were caught up in a choke point of traffic as three weddings, Otakon, and a Heart concert at Pier Six all converged at the same time in one small place. So: go for the nerds, stay for the wine selection, but don’t expect an intimate setting.
Sunday morning I drove over to a Lutheran church right inside the beltway to shoot photos for a web project I’m working on; this being the summer and the middle of vacation season means I labored hard to make thirty people look like three hundred. I’m going to gave to return in the fall when it fills out, but that’s OK. The bones of the site are live but I’ve got to start working on the layout to stay on schedule.
In the afternoon we went out to take advantage of tax-free shopping while it lasted; Finn got some winter boots, Mama got some rain boots, I got a cheap case for my iPad, and we all got dinner at Wegman’s before returning home to watch Nanny McPhee until bedtime.
To the asswipe that sawed the catalytic converter off the CR-V today while it was parked at the train station. And thanks to the local PD for patrolling the area so well.
One author’s take on living in Baltimore, with added commentary and response from a host of contributors.
I’m tired of hearing about incompetent city leaders who are more fixated on hosting the Grand Prix than dealing with thousands of vacant buildings that create massive slums, and rampant crime.
Awesomeness: John Waters gives a tour of Baltimore, from Dangerous Minds. I wish the city was still this weird.
…Felt more like three days. With preparation for the parade party on Wednesday, my first vacation day felt more like a triathlon, and there’s absolutely nothing interesting to report about that. Thursday was a great day with friends and food and parade and fun. This year we had the largest turnout yet, around 100 people, give or take a score of kids. The weather was hot and steamy as usual, and with all of the water toys and sprinkler and mister set up, the side yard was a bog by the end of the day. My homebrew went over well, even though the IPA was foaming, and my plan to scale food offerings back to hot dogs meant I spent less time at the grill and more time catching up with friends.
After the parade, and as the crowd thinned out, everybody pitched in and broke down the tents, washed dishes, and generally cleaned up with us, which was VERY appreciated; by about 6PM I was absolutely spent. We rallied long enough to make it to the front yard where a tremendous privately funded fireworks collection was being lit off across the street, which meant we didn’t feel obligated to stagger down to the high school for the official community display.
Friday was all about recovery and rest. We farted around the house and cleaned up a little bit, and crashed the neighbors’ pool, but mainly napped and puttered. That evening we’d been invited to a neighborhood happy hour, so I made some guacamole to bring, packed up some leftover bottles of beer, and we walked a few blocks over to the party. The hosts were wonderful, we met a lot of new people, and Finn had a ball with a gaggle of kids her age. When it got too dark to see other faces clearly, my neighbor and I walked the girls home—under constant threat of attack by werewolves. I think we were all asleep by 10:30.
Saturday Aunt Renie was in town with her friend Wendy, so we got ourselves purtied up and drove in to town to meet them at Clementine, where we caught up, drank Bloodys, and ate like royalty. The ladies followed us back home to the A/C where we hung out and relaxed, talked, and played games with Finn. All too quickly they had to leave for a lacrosse game, so we said goodbye and tried to figure out what to do with the rest of our day. The consensus was fooling around, giggling, looking at baby pictures on my phone, and not moving from the couch.
Sunday the girls were up and out quickly to meet with some friends on vacation in Virginia, while I stayed home to catch up on some projects. What I thought would take a few hours consumed most of the day, but luckily I was inside in the A/C and there were leftover cupcakes and beer.
I had a total of five days off, but as with all vacation time, it slips through my fingers too easily. I did get to spend a lot of quality time with my girls, which makes me happy, but I’d love to have another couple to recover more.
Whatever happened to SoWeBo? WYPR looks into An Arts District Before There Were Arts Districts. I spent many, many great summers at the festival each year and still pour some of my Corona out for the Cultured Pearl.
