Conniption just dropped in and told me that today Double Engine was driving past our house and there were tons of cop cars on York Road and all the cops were out, guns drawn, taking aim at some shirtless guy in a tree in front of our house.
We live in a perpetual COPs episode. Our neighbors across the alley were held up in front of the Towson Courthouse and mugged.
Always good to shoot the shit with Conniption--we discussed beer, which reminded me I rarely drink beer anymore, the primary reason being my beer-drinking pals are all mommies and daddies now.
7 comments:
come to Boston and bring Cha. I'll drink beer with you.
It's a date.
There was a disturbing article in the Times last week (front page) about Baltimore. You guys had something like 35 murders in January alone. All drug related, apparently. There was no mention of the amount of muggings.
Every time I come home and visit, the city looks more and more like a giant slum (entering the town via Amtrack, riding through the most bombed-out sections, I feel like I'm looking at old Jacob Riis photos).
And yet people are buying those old rowhomes in dicey areas and fixing them up. How do they manage to walk to their cars at night?
I saw that article--homicides in Baltimore way up compared to other cities, but every other crime is way down. And the majority of homicides in Baltimore are drug dealers who are killed by other drug dealers.
Still, many areas aren't safe.
Whenever people tell us we're crazy to travel to places like Honduras or the Philippines because it's so dangerous, I say: "I live in Baltimore, for Christ's sake!"
I actually wouldn't mind getting one of those Edith Wharton mansion/townhouses in the city, but because DC denizens are moving out here in droves and driving up the market, I can't afford it.
Cities suck. Wonderful to visit but I'm just waiting for the day when I can move back into the open air...
I remember moving to Philly for graduate school after living in the middle of nowhere for years and I couldn't sleep because of the traffic and lights and shouting and gunfire for weeks.
Then, I tried to spend the night at my folks' and the frogs and crickets and screech owls kept me up all night.
I like both a lot, and ideally would split time some day between country house and city house.
Fat chance!
Hey, it's a very worthy goal!!!
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