I ♥ Zeke's!

Great news, coffee lovers -- Zeke's Coffee has opened a new retail space, where you will be able to buy your beans and a cup of coffee, too! (That's always seemed cruel and unusual torture in their roastery space -- you can smell the coffee and buy the beans, but not a cup of coffee!)

The news is made even better by the fact that the new store is in the space of the Grindon Cafe, which closed in late 2009. (Wish we could fill up some of the empty retail space up this end of Harford Road with places like Zeke's!)

So head on down to 4607 Harford Road, hon, and grab a cup of joe.

Pitchers & catchers report tomorrow!

With Spring Training so close you can taste it, can Spring be far behind? Hang in there folks!

A public service announcement on behalf of people who walk

As Rr Salamander noted in her post yesterday, sidewalks are a real issue in a situation like the one we're in right now. We are due for 12-20 more inches of snow tonight, and here's what Glenmore Ave looks like on Tuesday afternoon:

What's missing from this picture? That's right, sidewalks!

Remember, the storm that dropped 26 inches on us here in Westfield happened on Friday and Saturday. And this is the mess that is still in the road! If you're a dedicated driver, you may not realize it, but Glenmore Ave. is a major pedestrian route for people who are going to catch the bus or to shop on Harford Road (which is in the direction of the picture above) or who are headed toward Belair Road, in the direction below:


Also notice that in this picture is the vehicle of your dedicated mail carrier. Please, please clear the walkway to your house for them. If they can't get to you, they will simply not deliver your mail.

So please shovel your sidewalk -- and if you have neighbors who are unable to shovel, please help them out. I've seen such wonderful community spirit in our neighborhood the past few days, but I've also seen stretches of sidewalk that are clear -- only to stop at one house that is not shoveled. That means people have to walk in the street, and that is dangerous. Shovel, people!

No plow here, Robert! But I did take time to check on the sidewalks in our 'hood. From what I saw, here’s my rule of thumb: If the business is open, the sidewalks are cleared. If they’re closed, it’s snowville.

Except for 2 exeptions. 2 businesses are open, with their parking lots in spring-like conditions, while their sidewalks groan under feet and feet of untouched snow, completely impassable. Any guesses?

If you guessed McDonald’s and Pep Boys, you’d be right. Those purveyors of the Americanistic symbols, cars and burgers. Yep. And it’s not the first time, neither. These multi-nationals have consistently communicated exactly what they think of our ‘hood: If you’re here to buy, you’re welcome. If you’re here to live, you're on your own.

I've blogged about it this week at Salamander Points: check it out, and stay safe, neighbors!

No more snow! Please!

So, it's almost 5 pm on Sunday -- have you seen a plow yet?


Westfield? or Switzerland?


Here are a couple of shots from Robert:




If you have photos you'd like to share, send me an email. Thanks Robert!

Snow!

Obama called it "snowmageddon" and I sort of have to agree! Hope you are all keeping warm!

Update: Snowpocolypse! SNOMG!
I'm jumping in here on Rachel's post with another photo from the neighborhood:


Send me your pictures and I'll post them here! Stay off the roads everyone!

Welcome to our blog world

One thing I have always loved about Hamilton and surrounding neighborhoods is how friendly everyone is. So I suppose I shouldn't be surprised that this friendliness extends to the blogosphere as well. Blogging is such an odd thing, after all. I can be writing to people from all over the globe, or to people across the street (I'm talking to you, Krazy Kat!). The friendliness of our neighborhoods has extended itself to the many emails I've gotten from fellow Hamiltonians. It turns out, we've got some pretty cool people living here.

I've always considered Harford Road Hon as our neighborhood blog, never as "my" blog. (I have one of those elsewhere, if you are interested.) That's why I keep putting out the call for anyone who is interested in contributing here to contact me at pookyshoehorn at gmail dot com, so I can set you up to post the occasional event or photo.

I am thrilled to be able to tell you about the following 2 new blogs that I've learned about this way:

eat harford road
You know how you always pass by certain restaurants on Harford Road and think "Hmmm. I wonder what that place is like?" Well, chrissy is making it her mission to stop at those places and write a review of what she finds. So far, she has stopped by several places I've wondered about (House of Kabob, Pita Pan) and others along the way. Check it out.

Salamander Points Blog
This is a great place to find out about all kinds of events going on in our area, as well as putting forth some great food for thought on ideas such as consumerism, sustainability, and much more (yes, food too -- we are a hungry bunch, aren't we?).

As the tagline says, "Carbon Sexy, Baby!"

TV-Free for Me

Dang, yo. Is it safe to admit that I don’t know who Taylor Swift is? I mean, I know she’s prolly just another stage name of Dawn Oregon’s or Hannah Montana’s or whatev, but I’m not really sure who that is neither. I hear she won a Grammy, but I got no TV, so I’m not sure.

Biggest question I get on being TV-free: How do I fill up my evenings?

Well, I don’t want to admit to my Buffy dvd collection (borrowed, but still…), so I usually veer away from that. It’s surprisingly easy to not mention vampire slayers if you don’t wanna go there. So instead I talk about lots of things in my 'hood, like the live music on Tuesdays at the Parkside open mic (holla!), or getting drinks with friends at Hamilton Tavern, or the Tuesday Clementine's Margaritas 'n tacos, or the neighborhood meetings....

I blogged about no TV this week at www.salamanderpoints.com--check it out. Meanwhile, stop by tonight to hear the strummings and the hummings (Matt Beale a.k.a. Patient Zero, above) at the Parkside. Tuesday is the new Friday, and if you miss it, you're missing out!