POTD: Stop Time!

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This remarkable image is by Rockville Central reader Alain Menguy. It is actually five superimposed “High Dynamic Range” images. I don’t know about all that; I just think it looks incredibly cool.

Of the photo, Alain says: “Please stop the time! This is Spring in Rockville with no traffic on Route 28 (Montgomery Avenue).”

Want to submit a photo for consideration to be the Picture Of The Day at Rockville Central? Wonderful! Just email it to me. Rules: a) Must be taken in Rockville; b) Must be your own work; c) Must not be published or offered for publication elsewhere; d) Should be generally contemporary (try to keep them less than a month or two old).

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.

POTD: Not Too Far Away

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This lovely photograph is by Rockville Central reader Janet Brown. Of it, she says:

“It’s a picture of one of my most favorite places in Rockville - the wrap-around porch of The Argyle House. . . . I come from a coastal town called Barry in Wales, UK. It has about the same population as Rockville, but is different in many ways. We don’t have these pretty houses like The Argyle House and we don’t have porches like this. Barry has fresh sea breezes all year that can blast you and this west coast area of the UK rarely has balmy summer evenings. So I really enjoy sitting out on this porch when the weather is warmer. This spring picture of bright morning sunshine tells me that summer is not too far way.”

Do you have a favorite place in Rockville? Let us know where — and why — and we may feature it! (It helps if you have a photo, but not required.)

POTD: Munch!

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This photo is by Richard Montgomery High School PTSA president Kate Savage. Of it, she says: “This is the back side of the auditorium. The old building is finally coming down to make way for athletic fields!”

Want to submit a photo for consideration to be the Picture Of The Day at Rockville Central? Wonderful! Just email it to me. Rules: a) Must be taken in Rockville; b) Must be your own work; c) Must not be published or offered for publication elsewhere; d) Should be generally contemporary (try to keep them less than a month or two old).

POTD: Hah!

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I normally have rules about POTD submissions . . . you know, keep it recent. But, this photo by Rockville Central reader Gayl Selkin-Gutman, was hard not to make an exception for.

It was taken one year ago!

Want to submit a photo for consideration to be the Picture Of The Day? Wonderful! Just email it to me. Now, back to the rules: a) Must be taken in Rockville; b) Must be your own work; c) Must not be published or offered for publication elsewhere; d) Should be generally contemporary (try to keep them less than a month or two old).

POTD: Flowers!

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This lovely photo is by Rockville Central friend and Rockville Roundtable participant Brenda Dunham, taken in her back yard.

Happy April! No foolin’.

Want to submit a photo for consideration to be the Picture Of The Day? Wonderful! Just email it to me. Rules: a) Must be taken in Rockville; b) Must be your own work; c) Must not be published or offered for publication elsewhere; d) Should be generally contemporary (try to keep them less than a month or two old).

Guest Column by Tracy Pakulniewicz-Chidiac: What's Your Footprint?

>The following guest column is by Tracy Pakulniewicz-Chidiac:

Earth Day is April 22, just a month away, and with rising fuel and food costs, there is a great urgency, more than ever, for each of us individually to think about doing our part to live a “greener” lifestyle. But before we do so, it’s important for all of us to understand what our individual impact — our ecological footprint — on the Earth is. You can measure yours by going here.

When I worked at the global nonprofit, Earth Day Network, which was created by the founders of Earth Day, the late Senator Gaylord Nelson and Denis Hayes, we partnered with the nation’s leading public policy think tank dedicated to smart economics, Redefining Progress, to promote this amazing online tool that helps individuals measure what his/her carbon footprint is on Earth by taking an ecological footprint quiz. The result of the test will tell you how many Earths are needed to fulfill your lifestyle.

In honor of Earth Day and in a continuous effort to make our lives more green, I hope you’ll take the time to take the quiz. I do hope everyone, including our community leaders, will share the quiz with their friends, colleagues and family. The following quizzes are also available: The Office Footprint; Footprint Quiz for Kids and the Footprint of Nations.

I also offer a few “fun facts” that really highlight how poor environmental standards globally impact all of us:

• Most of the smog in Los Angeles is caused by pollution coming from China;
• Pollutants from fires in southeast Asian have changed rain patterns in Australia and added toxic pollutants, with adverse long-term health effects for Australians; and
• The US is the largest single emitter of carbon dioxide from the burning of fossil fuels, yet we are the third largest nation in the world by land-mass and population.

So, on April 22, Earth Day, and every day, please do your part to make our world a greener, cleaner place for ourselves and our future.

Tracy Pakulniewicz-Chidiac

Got an idea for a Guest Column? Drop us a line and let us know! You can be part of Rockville Central’s growing roster of contributors.

POTD: Ponds

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Part of a three-part series by Rockville Central friend Mark Pierzchala. He calls the series “Two Things Part of Another Thing.”

Of this one he says: “Forebay pond and Storm Water Management pond at Exit 6 (towards DC) onto I-270, from the new bike bridge on West Montgomery. (Both ponds part of a Storm Water Management system.)”

Guest Column by Beth and Todd Harrison: A Greener Rockville Starts at Home — Eight Steps to a More Environmentally Responsible Home in 2008 (Pt.3)

>Final in a three-part series by Rockville Central friends Beth and Todd Harrison. (Part One is here and Part Two is here.)This week is our final installment of the series with the last three steps for creating a more environmentally responsible home. This week’s steps are all one-time changes you can make in your home with not much more effort than a trip to Home Depot.Each year, our electric rates from Pepco keep going up. In some places, electric companies are experimenting with pricing that would charge more during peak times, in order to encourage people to decrease power usage. One easy thing we can do is to replace incandescent lights with compact florescent bulbs. A compact florescent bulb uses about 70% less power than an equivalent incandescent bulb, and they last about ten times as long. The Environmental Defense Fund has said that if every U.S household replaced three 60-watt incandescent blubs with compact florescent blubs, the reduction in energy usage and related green house emissions would be the equivalent of taking 3.5 million cars off the road.d quite a bit in the past couple of years. You now can get bulbs in just about any size and shape, and you can chose shades of light ranging from warm to bright white.A typical shower head uses 2.5 gallons of water per minute, which means a 10 minute shower each day will consume 9,125 gallons of water per year per person. It’s not just water that’s being used but also the power required to heat the water before it goes down the drain. One simple thing you can do to reduce your water and energy consumption is to install a low flow shower head that uses 1.8 gallons per minute or less.The last step in our series is probably the one thing that will save the most power in your home—installing a programmable thermostat. If you work outside the home, a programmable thermostat allows you automatically to change the temperature setting each day when you leave and then return it to normal before you return home. Of course, it won’t save you anything if you don’t keep the temperature at a moderate setting. I’ll go ahead and fess up to where we keep our thermostat to give you a point of reference: in the winter 65 degrees at night, 67 in the mornings when we shower, and 63 degrees when we are gone during the day, and in the summer 76 when we are at home and 81 when are gone.

Step #6: Install Compact Florescent Light Bulbs

If you tried compact florescent several years ago and were disappointed with their performance, take another look. The technology has improve

Step #7: Install Low Flow Shower Heads

When I mention “low flow,” you may be thinking of that Seinfeld episode when Jerry’s landlord installed low flow shower heads in the building and Jerry and Kramer ended up with “flat hair.” You don’t need to worry about “flat hair” with today’s low flow shower heads. We bought an H2O Kinetic shower head by Delta and liked it so much we bought another one to install in our second bathroom. The water droplets from the showerhead are much larger and come out with more pressure, making you feel like you are getting more water. Installation is really easy and does not require a plumber or any special tools. All you need is a wrench, some Teflon tape, and about five minutes of your time (here are instructions on replacing a showerhead).

Step #8: Use a Programmable Thermostat

Installing a programmable thermostat is a bit more involved than the low flow showerhead but still easier than you may think. It requires no special tools and you don’t need to call an HVAC specialist (here are installation instructions). You can find a variety of programmable thermostats at Home Depot, Lowe’s, or any major hardware store, and it will pay for itself in just a few months.

Conclusion

We hope you have found this series useful and informative, and that you will consider making these 8 steps something you commit to implementing in 2008. If each of us will work a little harder and be willing to make some minor changes in how we live, then together we can do so much to protect our environment. And the great thing is, the steps we have outlined are easy to stick to and will actually save you money in the long run. If you have additional suggestions of things we can all do to help protect our environment or if you have experiences implementing the steps we have presented, please share them in the comments section.

POTD: Trees

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Part of a three-part series by Rockville Central friend Mark Pierzchala. He calls the series “Two Things Part of Another Thing.”

Of this one he says: “Upside-down tree top and right-side-up tree trunk. (Both part (formerly) of the same tree. I’m assuming that it snapped during one of the recent wind storms. This is at the intersection of Gude Drive and State Highway 28, Falls Grove area, near the community center under construction.”

POTD: Winter Wonderland

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This photo is by Rockville Central reader Alain Menguy. This recent cold snap has got me thinking of snow, and this photo, taken during The Big Snowfall in December, seemed both beautiful and appropriate.

Want to have your photo included as a Photo Of The Day? Easy! Send it to me and I will consider it. Rules: Must be original (by you); must be taken in Rockville city limits; must not be published or offered for publication elsewhere; must be generally contemporary (no photos from six months ago . . . this one was OK!).

Guest Column by Beth and Todd Harrison: A Greener Rockville Starts at Home — Eight Steps to a More Environmentally Responsible Home in 2008 (Pt.2)

>Part Two of a three-part series by Rockville Central friends Beth and Todd Harrison. (Part One is here.)This week we continue our three part series, A Greener Rockville Starts at Home, with three additional steps you can take to create a more environmentally responsible home in 2008. Each of this week’s steps cover things you can do related to the kitchen and cleaning within the home: shopping bags, cleaning rags, and clothing drying racks.

#3: Bring Reusable Bags When ShoppingEver walk out of the grocery store with about twenty of those little plastic grocery bags? Not only are they hard to handle, they are made from petroleum, take hundreds of years to degrade in our landfills, and contribute to litter all over our neighborhoods. Over 380 billion plastic bags, sacks, and wraps are consumed in the U.S. each year. That means residents of Rockville use approximately 70 million plastic bags a year—just Rockville! The simple solution is to bring your own reusable bags when you go shopping.A local store, My Organic Market, offers great reusable grocery bags that are strong and durable. They sell them for only $0.99 each, and they give you a $0.10 credit every time you use one. Whole Foods and Trader Joe’s also offer reusable bags. We’ve found it helps to keep several bags in the trunk of your car, so no matter where you are, you always have reusable bags handy.In the past, we found ourselves going through at least one roll of paper towels each week just cleaning up around the house. We decided to start using old t-shirts to make cloth rags for cleaning instead. We use old plain white t-shirts and cut them up into squares about 6” by 6”.Cloth rags are better than paper towels in many respects. They hold together when wet, and they are softer and less likely to scratch sensitive surfaces. But the main advantage is they are reusable—no waste! Beth recently persuaded her co-workers to start using cloth towels in the office kitchen instead of paper towels. They take turns bringing them home to wash them.We purchased two basic drying racks from Linens and Things for $9.99 each. We’re not saying go without a dryer altogether—there are some things that just don’t work well on a drying rack. We typically wash two or three loads of clothes each weekend. We are able to pull out enough items to put on the drying rack that we only have to run one load in the dryer. Things that work well on the drying rack are t-shirts, pajamas, sweaters, sweatshirts, etc. Use the dryer for dress shirts, dress pants, blue jeans, and little things like socks. You may find that clothes dried on a drying rack are a little stiff. Give them a good shake when folding and the stiffness comes right out. And unlike clotheslines, drying racks work year round, rain or shine.

#4: Use Cloth Rags for Cleaning

#5: Use a Drying Rack for Clothes

Appliances account for about 20% of a home’s energy consumption, and clothes dryers are among the most power hungry appliances (with refrigerators and washing machines). Clothes dryers don’t even come with an Energy Star rating like most appliances, because all dryers use about the same amount of energy. However, there is an alternative: using a drying rack.

Next week we will conclude the series with the last three steps of our eight simple steps for making a more environmentally responsible home in 2008. If you have any questions or comments, please post them in the comments section of this article and we will do our best to follow up.

POTD: Hoops

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Part of a three-part series by Rockville Central friend Mark Pierzchala. He calls the series “Two Things Part of Another Thing.”

Of this one, he says: “Two basketball hoops at College Gardens Elementary School. (Both hoops part of the outdoor play area.)”

Guest Column by Beth and Todd Harrison: A Greener Rockville Starts at Home — Eight Steps to a More Environmentally Responsible Home in 2008 (Pt.1)

Part One of a three-part series by >Rockville Central friends Beth and Todd Harrison:

At the start of each new year, many of us make resolutions — promises about changes that we will make in the coming year. This year, consider committing yourself and your family to a greener Rockville by making a greener home one of your New Year’s resolutions. You can make simple changes in your day-to-day living that will save energy (and money) and reduce your impact on the environment. In this series of three articles, we will share eight simple steps you and your family can take to create a more environmentally responsible home in 2008.

This series will not cover the more obvious things, like driving a more fuel efficient car and recycling, but rather will focus on the little things we can do in and around the house that collectively can make a big difference. We start with two steps related to the outdoors: composting kitchen and yard waste and collecting rain water.

Step #1: Compost Kitchen and Yard Waste

The EPA reports that yard trimmings and food scraps account for 23 percent of all waste generated in the U.S. According to Recycling Revolution, the average American throws out 1,200 pounds of this type of organic waste each year. One simple step for creating a greener home is to compost this waste.

You may already be aware that the City of Rockville collects labeled containers of yard waste from the curbside with our weekly trash collection (click here for details). With a little bit of effort, you can start your own compost pile in your backyard. This provides an easy way to compost kitchen waste and create a natural source of rich, organic matter for your yard or garden. There are many products available that you can purchase to build a compost pile, but we prefer the simple and free option offered by Montgomery County (click here for details). We got two of these free compost bins so we can handle more compost at once.

Something that has made composting kitchen waste easier for us has been to keep a plastic container (with a lid) on top of the refrigerator. We collect anything that does not have animal or dairy products: vegetable scraps, coffee and tea grounds, and even eggshells. Every few days, we empty the indoor container into the compost pile outside. Here is a link to a great article on composting that will help you get started (click here).

Step #2: Collect Rain Water

Stormwater management is a growing issue for Rockville (“Council Approves Stormwater Management Fee”). Stormwater runoff washes pollution into our creeks and streams, but you can help reduce water runoff by installing a rain barrel or creating a rain garden.

There are many different types of rain barrels available on the market. We purchased a sixty-gallon rain barrel that connects to a gutter downspout (like this). It has a spigot that can connect to a water hose. A light rainfall (1/4” or less) is more than enough to fill our rain barrel. During drought periods, watering our garden without using up precious drinking water is a real benefit. Rain gardens also help reduce stormwater runoff but require a bit more work and space. For more information on how to build your own rain barrel or how to create a rain garden, go here.

Next week we will continue the series with additional steps for making a more environmentally responsible home in 2008. If you have any questions or if you want to add additional suggestions from your own experience, please post them in the comments section of this article and we will do our best to follow up.

Got an idea for a Guest Column? Drop us a line and let us know! You can be part of Rockville Central’s growing roster of contributors.

The Kielbasa Factory: For All Your Sausage Needs And Beyond

When I was growing up in Detroit, there was a large Polish population throughout the city, and most especially in a part of town called >Hamtramck. I used to go there a lot because my second favorite punk rock club was located there too. But the whole town was sort of steeped in Polish culture and it was not unusual to see whitebread kids like me listening to the Beer Barrell Polka.

My grandparents, too, had emigrated from Germany long before and often when we visited them down in Indiana we would all pile into the car and take a road trip to Chicago, where the best meat shops were. You can see, I grew up in a culture that appreciated a good lunchmeat and sausage.

While they are getting things in shape to make their own, Chicago — the meat capital of the world — is where Rockville’s own Kielbasa Factory gets its Polish sausages.

According to a recent review in the Washington Post, freelance translator (and Kracow native) Krystyna Ahrens opened her shop in November, and:

[Her] efforts have not gone unnoticed. (The Washington area has been without a Polish deli since Gourmet Polonez in Silver Spring closed several years ago.) On a recent Saturday, her long, narrow shop was mobbed with customers filling hand baskets to overflowing with packages of frozen cheese pierogi and blueberry blintzes as well as traditional-style pickles, cookies and chocolates. “Before, people traveled to New Jersey or Baltimore just for the sausages and bread,” says shopper Kasia Gonzelez, 30, who was born in a small town near Warsaw and now lives in Fairfax. “We’re all excited about the store.”

So am I, but I was not able to get to the store this weekend. I was glad that Council Member Piotr Gajewski, a Polish native, was on hand to help me out. He visited the Kielbasa Factory over the weekend and filed this report:

What a treat to have the only Polish deli and grocery in the Washington area based right here in Rockville. The Kielbasa Factory, located at 1073 Rockville Pike, is what Poles and all others with a taste for the Central European delicacies have been waiting for. I visited the cozy little shop for the first time on Saturday, right before the Redskins game. I expected that perhaps because of my timing, the place would be empty. I could not have been more wrong as the place was full of people, vying for the quickly dwindling deli meats sold from behind the counter. Perhaps the Kielbasa Factory did not expect such brisk success!

While my wife managed to secure some tasty sausage, I examined the great variety of Polish foods available. We ended up also purchasing some frozen mushroom and sauerkraut pierogies, unique Polish chocolates, and blackcurrant juice (I have never before seen this Central European staple in any grocery shop in America). And thanks to the convenient location of the Kielbasa Factory, we made it back home just in time for the football game.

Thank you, Ms. Ahrens, for opening this wonderful shop, and thank you Mr. Gajewski for a fine review!