POTD: Arrangement

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Rockville Central friend Monique DeFrees sent along this cute photo of a flower arrangement her daughter made. Of it, she says: “Jamie made this little arrangement of flowers in a shell. I thought it was very cute.” So do I!

P.S. Did you know that Monique is the drummer for a little band called The West End? And that they are playing a free show at everyone’s favorite Austin Grill in Rockville Town Square tonight at 9:30? Well she is and they are. I’ll be there, as I am in the band too. Hope to see you there!

Contributor Opinion by Monique DeFrees: Orwellian Neighborhood

>My block is receiving a facelift of new curbs, gutters and sidewalks. I for one am quite thrilled with the prospect of new curbs and gutters. Living in the lowest part of my block I have witnessed the sewers in front of my house not accept anymore strormwater, forcing the remains into the street, roaring down my yard and into my basement.

Plus, I’ve always been a fan of the sidewalks in our city. Having walked my dog and strolled my children on them for years, I have come to appreciate them very much. The only down side I see to having a sidewalk on both sides of the street now is that I will have to share foot traffic with the other side of the street, making spontaneous meetings less frequent.

Oh, but I just remembered the other downside to getting the new sidewalks, other than the debris and the port-a-potty parked in my neighbor’s yard: all those trees that had to be cut down. I realize that some trees must come down to make way for the construction. Two trees came down in front of my house. They were young and not too large yet so it wasn’t too heart breaking. Other trees that were taken down, though, were very large and it was quite sad and unsightly to see them removed. Once again, I just assumed that was the price of the construction and we would have to accept it.

Imagine my surprise when I am strolling down the brand-new-sparkly sidewalk and I see the new sidewalk make a little detour around a tree. “That’s odd,” I think. “If it was possible to detour the sidewalk around this tree than why wasn’t it possible to detour the sidewalk around other trees just as large as this one?”

Every time I walk down the sidewalk now, and pass by that one saved tree, I can’t help but wonder if Orwell had written about a neighborhood where some properties are more equal than others.

I’ve already told my husband that when the construction reaches our house I will be standing outside in front of our azalea protecting it from destruction. The sidewalk will just have to make another detour. I know it’s just an azalea, but it is breathtaking when in bloom. More than one stranger has knocked on my door in the spring to comment on its beauty and ask me what I have done to make it bloom so fabulously. I have to admit that I do nothing to it. I was just lucky enough to move onto the property it already inhabited. In my opinion, the beauty of that azalea makes it just as equal as the tree that was spared. It’s just too bad the other large trees on our block were not deemed as equal.

This is a contributor opinion. Rockville Central encourages readers to submit such opinions for consideration by emailing [email protected] — the more voices the better. We especially welcome people who disagree with us. We ask that all such contributions be civil and we reserve the right to edit (in consultation with the author) or reject. Contributor opinions should not be seen as reflecting opinions held by Rockville Central editors, as they are just as frequently at odds with our own views. That’s the whole point!

POTD: Reds

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This nice pic is by Rockville Central contributor Monique DeFrees. Of it, she says: “One can never have too much red.”

Hear, hear.

Time to Cut the Grass

Ah, Spring. The daffodils are smiling, the tulips are dancing … and there is the roar of yard gadgets in the air. Nothing like going outside to enjoy the warm spring air and being assaulted by the start up noise of a lawn trimmer and being choked by gas fumes.>

When my husband and I were first together we lived in a charming ground-level one bedroom apartment that just happened to be next to the caretaker’s work room. It seemed to me that not a day would go by when my senses were not violated by the earsplitting whine of leaf blowers, lawn mowers, or edgers. You name it he had it-and seemingly really enjoyed using them. The gas fumes would invade our home through the open windows, so the pleasure of nice weather was often met with the need for great tolerance of things smelly and noisy.

After so much experience with the racket and reek of all those different machines I swore to myself that if we ever had a house I would only use lawn equipment that was hand powered.

After buying a house the first lawn mower we bought was the old-fashioned push reel mower. I never taught myself how to properly care for the mower and after a couple years the blades dulled and I took it to be serviced. The mower never seemed to work nearly as well after being serviced though and I’ve invested in at least 2 reel mowers since moving into my home 14 years ago.

A couple years ago we were given my grandfather’s gas mower when he passed away. We were happy to get it because, as anyone with a reel mower knows, if you wait to long to mow your lawn, it can become quite a torturous chore. We told ourselves we would only use it on those occasions when the grass was too tall to mow using the reel mower without exposing the neighborhood children to language they shouldn’t hear. We actually stuck to that plan and only used the gas mower once or twice.

Last year, however, when Spring rolled around and grass cutting season followed close behind, I tried to use the reel mower and the blades were so dull they would not cut the grass so I shamed myself by using the gas mower ALL THE TIME. Why I didn’t get the old reel mower serviced, or buy a new one, I’m not quite sure. I think I just got lazy and enjoyed not having to mow the grass as often, or fight with objects that get stuck in the blades and prevent the mower from moving.

There are other advantages to the loud, stinky mowers, too. The grass is certainly easier to cut and I don’t think I swore once while using it, except maybe when it ran out of gas. Also, with a bag to collect the grass, we don’t track the newly cut grass into our house for the next several days after mowing.

Just when other people have become more environmentally conscious with their yard tools (I’ve seen at least 3 other families on my block with reel mowers) and with gas prices well above $3, I’ve sunk to an irresponsible low. I haven’t cut my grass yet this Spring because I’m still trying to motivate myself to get out the reel mower and give it another try. I caught a glimpse of my back yard today, though, and I don’t think the reel mower’s going to cut it, literally.

I guess I’ll do the first mow of the year with the loud, stinky, polluting one and go invest in my 3rd reel mower. I don’t think I can live with the guilt for another grass-cutting season.

Saturday Night on the Town

After reading on Rockville Central about the 99cent drafts being offered at the Stonefish Grill last weekend, I was anxious to go and check the place out. My husband and I walked into town on Saturday night (I love being able to do that) and looked at the menu for the Stonefish Grill. Unfortunately their prices, like many of the establishments in Town Center, are far too steep for a casual dining affair for my husband and I. So we turned around and decided to try Bobby’s Crabcakes instead.>

Thank you, Brad!

I want to extend a huge thanks to Brad Rourke for all the work he has done to provide us Rockville Central readers with information on all the candidates in one easy to read location.>

With just a click of the mouse we could see interviews from all the candidates, podcasts, newspaper articles, etc. without having to do any web searching ourselves.

I’m grateful that Mr. Rourke has such a fondness for politics that he was kind enough to spend his free time getting the rest of us more involved.

Thank you, Brad.