Tricks or Treats!!! Why Must We Choose?

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I love my neighborhood

Walnuts are your friends, hon!

So many of us have a goldmine out back in our large black walnut trees towering over our homes and cars. Well, one person's goldmine is another's autobody nightmare, but still .... If you have priced black walnuts at the store recently, you understand what I mean about a goldmine.

One of our local residents has written a wonderful article on How to Harvest Black Walnuts, which explains the process very clearly. I think this year I may actually do it -- I sense some baking projects coming along soon ....

Big Brother is Watchin' You Speed, Hon!

From the always informative blog, Baltimore Crime:

From the Roland Park newsletter. The Sun also has a map, in case you're a visual learner. Throughout October, warnings will be issued to those caught speeding on film. After that, $40 tickets will be issued.

1 — 33rd Street, EB @ The Alameda
2 — The Alameda SB @ 33rd Street
3 — Caton Avenue NB @ Benson Avenue
4 — Caton Avenue SB @ Benson Avenue
5 — Liberty Heights Avenue EB @ Hillsdale Road
6 — Liberty Heights Avenue WB @ Hillsdale Road
7 — Harford Road NB @ The Alameda
8 — Edmondson Avenue EB @ Cooks Lane
9 — Edmondson Avenue EB @ Woodridge Road
10 — Edmondson Avenue WB @ Woodridge Road
11 — Frederick Avenue EB @ Catherine Street
12 — Harford Road NB @ Christopher Avenue
13 — MLK Jr. Boulevard SB @ Pratt Street
14 — Franklin Street WB @ Pulaski
15 — Harford Road NB @ Rosalie Avenue
16 — Walther Avenue NB @ Glenmore Avenue
17 — Wilkens Avenue EB @ Desoto Road
18 — Cold Spring Lane WB @ Hillen Road
19 — Cold Spring Lane WB @ Loch Raven Boulevard
20 — Sinclair Lane WB @ Moravia Road
21 — Sinclair Lane EB @ Shannon Drive
22 — Sinclair Lane WB @ Shannon Drive
23 — Orleans Street EB @ Linwood Street
24 — Eastern Avenue EB @ Kane Street
25 — Hillen Road SB @ Argonne Drive
26 — Liberty Heights Avenue NB @ Dukeland Street
27 — North Avenue WB @ Howard Street
28 — Northern Parkway WB @ Springlake Way
29 — Northern Parkway WB @ Waverly Way
30 — Northern Parkway EB @ Greenspring Avenue
31 — Northern Parkway WB @ Greenspring Avenue
32 — Charles Street SB @ Lake Avenue
33 — Reisterstown Road SB @ Fallstaff Road
34 — Cold Spring Lane EB @ Tamarind Road
35 — Wilkens Avenue EB @ Pine Heights Avenue
36 — Erdman Avenue EB @ Macon Street
37 — Erdman Avenue WB @ Macon Street
38 — Madison Street WB @ Caroline Street
39 — Franklin Street WB @ Cathedral Street
40 — Orleans Street EB @ Gay Street
41 — Park Heights Avenue NB @ Violet Avenue
42 — Patapsco Avenue WB @ 4th Street
43 — Perring Parkway SB @ Belvedere Avenue
44 — Pulaski Highway EB @ Monument Street
45 — Northern Parkway WB @ Park Heights
46 — Park Heights Avenue NB @ Hayward Avenue
47 — Park Heights Avenue SB @ Hayward Avenue
48 — Cold Spring Lane EB @ Roland Avenue
49 — MLK Jr. Boulevard NB @ Washington
50 — Lombard Street WB @ Gay Street
51 — Harford Road SB @ Walther Avenue

Wildlife in the Neighborhood

Spotted recently in Westfield: a Peregrine Falcon:

Unfortunately, we did not get a picture of ours, this photo is from BirdChannel.com. What wildlife have you seen recently?

Deal of the Week

At least, according to Elizabeth Large:

The Deal of the Week

Where: Clementine, 5402 Harford Road, Hamilton

The Deal: Taco Night. Three pork or beef tacos, rice and beans for $10

When: Every Tuesday night, 5 p.m. to 10 p.m.

Call: 410-444-1497

I must confess that I have not been to Clementine's yet. With times being tough and all that, the prices scare me off a little bit. And three tacos, rice and beans for $10 does not actually strike me as much of a "deal," but maybe it is cheap enough to finally entice me there ....

A Different Perspective

Even if you don't register and vote in The Mobbies Awards (but please do!), I encourage you to take a little time to visit some of the many sites listed there. There are other neighborhood blogs, and there are statewide news sites -- all are worth a glance. One that I like to visit often is Investigative Voice. The writers there really do dig below the headlines and write about stories that the mainstream media ignores. And they often write from an angle that is much more thought-provoking than anything else. For example this post:

RAFAEL ALVAREZ: THE ALLEY HOUSE - All that is not given away is lost

This is a story about dancing for nickels.

Of all the be bop, doo wop and hip hop crazes to come along – the Frug, the Freak, and the Flintstone Flop – my favorite is the Median Strip Shuffle.

They’re doing it all over Crabtown, especially during rush hour when traffic stops for the light: on Russell Street just before Ravens Stadium; all along Northern Parkway; at the on-ramps to Interstate 95; up and down York Road and pretty much anywhere there’s enough room to limp past a line cars with a solicitation scrawled on cardboard.

The secret to the shuffle is exaggerating the extent of what may or may not be wrong with you to elicit enough sympathy (empathy is asking too much of people headed to jobs they both loathe and need) for a few sticky coins from the cup holder. For my nickel, the champion of this sad song-and-dance was a homeless heroin addict named Raoul, the namesake of a Puerto Rican barber who gave me my first haircut in Baltimore Highlands in the early 1960s.

Somewhere, my folks have home movies of the event, during which I cried. Raoul Jr. was a smaller version of his old man, with whom he once worked side-by-side barber chairs. Raoul Sr. cemented the loyalty of my father by not charging for haircuts when Dad and the Seafarers International Union were on strike against local tugboat companies in 1966.

The affable barber with the pencil-thin moustache forfeited the friendship a quarter-century later by not paying his respects when my grandfather died. How young Raoul went from cutting hair on Baltimore Annapolis Boulevard to living on the streets downtown, I don’t know. Like many tragic descents, I imagine it was by degrees.

About 15 years ago, I saw him doing a Super Shuffle – a rhythmic, crippled gait ornamented with tics and tremors – near the corner of Charles and Fayette. Though we hadn’t seen each other in decades, and never outside the barbershop, Raoul remembered me. I bought him coffee and didn’t mention that he was now walking as well as anyone else on the street.

Please read the rest of this post here.