Cries of Love?

I had heard about them but it wasn't until I heard the sound for myself that it all made sense. "Did anyone hear a horrible screaming sound last night?" asked the OBEX member. Well, the other morning, around 5am, I was awakened by a horrible screaming. It sounded like someone was being killed. It woke me up as well as my 14 year old daughter. "Did you hear that sound?" she asked. I immediately guessed what it was having heard about it on the OBEX. "I think it's a fox!" But could it really be? The sound was so foreign. Of course, my daughter found the fox sound on the internet and replayed it for me. She said it was the "mating cry." Oy! Good luck with that...

Gone with the Wind?

This week's howling winds remind me of Hurricane Sandy blowing through here last fall. Everywhere I see flying debris, trash cans in the streets ... even my huge Montgomery County-issued blue paper recycling cart was blown over!

Yet standing undisturbed in the gale-force winds are the two speed cameras on Route 108. Last summer after they were installed, I had to remind myself to slow down in certain spots (Speed Camera Paranoia). Shortly before Hurricane Sandy in October, as people battened down the hatches and tied down anything that moved, the speed cameras disappeared. "What? Where did they go?" I asked myself before realizing that of course they were removed in preparation for the storm. By November and after the storm, the cameras were back in place.

But then in early December, the camera on 108's westbound side right before St. John's disappeared ...  only to reappear in a spot past St. John's. Therefore, with a false sense of relief motorists would tell themselves, "Oh good, no more speed camera" and whiz past St. John's only to realize a second later, "Hey, wait, what's that white thing up there --" FLASH! And then in early January, just when everyone was used to slowing down after St. John's, the westbound speed camera was moved back to its original spot before St. John's. I guess this game of musical chairs is supposed to keep us drivers on our toes (or maybe our feet off the gas).

Strangely, the speed camera next to the post office has never budged; it stands sentry over 108's eastbound traffic, unshakable in the tempestuous winds.

Let It Snow, Let It Snow, Let It Snow?

Ah -- winter again in Olney! After last year's snowless, eerily mild "winter", the natural order of things has returned with below-freezing temperatures. Last "winter" my daughter never had a chance to wear her new snow boots, the brand-new snow saucer collected dust, and my tulips came up too early (the ones I planted in Tiptoe Through the Tulips). If someone does not believe in global warming, I present last year's "winter" as creepy proof.

At the Olney Swim Center on Wednesday, I overhead several people admitting in hushed voices that they wanted true winter weather this year. "I hate to say this, but we need the freezing temperatures ... at least to kill off germs," one woman whispered. "I hope we get at least some snow," her friend murmured while glancing around to make sure she was not overheard.

After Friday's snowfall -- of only about an inch, but we'll take what we can get -- my daughter donned her snow pants, pulled on her still-new snow boots (I actually might get my money's worth) and gleefully slid down a nearby hill on the previously unused, dusted-off snow saucer (new tags finally and legitimately cut off).

I agree with Richy Slyon's celebratory posting on the return of snow (Sniff, sniff. Love the Snow)  ... but only up to a point.  After last week's 4-day weekend, the kids returned to a full day of school on Wednesday only to have a delayed opening on Thursday. And then on Friday, MCPS closed schools 2 1/2 hours early in anticipation of ... the 1-inch snowfall. I am from New Jersey, where schools do not close unless we are attacked by a blizzard of 12 inches or more! Monday morning's weather forecast predicts ice and I sense another delayed opening. Yes, I welcome the return of true winter but be careful what you wish for.

Sniff, sniff. Love the snow

Well, our first 2 hour delay of the school year. It was well worth the wait.  Nothings beats the opportunity of sleeping in for another glorious two hours. And this one was such a nice treat. Hopes were high last winter for something, anything, frozen and cold to fall. Doesn't count if it's on the weekend or a holiday. So, really enjoyed this. Now if only I didn't take a sick day off it would have been even more special...

The Birds

Sunday's warm temperatures brought people out and about; I went for a walk and saw kids playing and adults taking down holiday decorations. My husband decided to wash my car, because:

• he is sweet;
• he wanted to wash the salt and sand off the car;
• he didn't purchase a car wash (and save .20 a gallon!) while pumping gas at Fletcher's earlier; and
• the birds are at it again.  

Our feathered friends haven't flown south for the winter, probably because Olney winters have been unseasonably warm recently. And like local deer, the birds seem to have found plenty to eat, as evinced by their multicolored droppings all over our driveway, cars, and garage door. Yes, you read that correctly -- garage door. How does THAT even happen? How globs falling from the sky manage to land on a vertical surface partially covered by an overhanging roof defies physics to me!

My poor husband frequently laments the birds' attraction to our cars as toilets. However, I pointed out to him that unlike the doomed people in Hitchcock's macabre classic The Birds, we are not being attacked by homicidal fowl. I asked, "Which situation would you rather be in: menaced by beasts of flight or having your car pooped on by them?"

Besides, having bird droppings land on you is supposedly a sign of good fortune. If this superstition is true, we should win the next lottery.

A Psycho Halloween

Last night for Halloween, I did not have any decorations but created a spooky atmospherewith scaaarrrry mooooood music.

My plan was to cue up my iPod to blare music from the shower/stabbing scene in Alfred Hitchcock's movie Psycho each time trick-or-treaters came to the door. As I opened it slowly, peals of screeching violins would greet unsuspecting visitors (listen at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vfthzU3V4zo).

So I set my iPod, speakers and a bowl of candy next to the door; then I crouched on floor, peeked out to spot approaching trick-or-treaters, pushed "play" on the iPod, cranked up the shrieking violins ... and opened the door to startled faces. Then I'd ask if anyone had a peanut allergy while handing out candy. After they left, I shut the door, re-cued the soundtrack to the beginning of the screaming violin sequence, hit "pause" and crouched in wait to surprise the next set of victims. I did this over and over again for 3 hours.

"The Scream" by Edvard Munch

Composer Bernard Herrmann's music elicited various reactions: some kids stepped back, eyes widening in surprise (maybe a little fear); some kids stood stockstill (maybe in horror?) but then regained their composure and held out their bags; and some kids grinned, commenting "I like your cool music!" Of course some kids ignored the music completely and just eyed the candy.

A few trick-or-treaters asked where the music was from. My reply "the movie Psycho" usually drew blank looks. "Oh, your parents would know the movie Psycho," I'd explain.

One boy answered, "Oh yeah, I saw that movie on Netflix!" I know this kid -- he is only 9 years old.  I wonder what he thought of a naked Janet Leigh attacked by a knife-welding crossdresser.

Overall, I consider the evening a success ... except now I am deaf with high-pitched violins echoing inside my throbbing head.

For Halloween my daughter dressed as a secret agent in a black trench coat, black fedora and large black sunglasses. When she returned from trick-or-treating, she said that some people thought she was one of the Blues Brothers. "Who are the Blues Brothers?" she asked. Maybe the kid who saw Psycho could tell her.

Speed Camera Paranoia

Last month, I opened the mail to my first speeding ticket (in awhile). To my surprise, however, the ticket was for driving about 11 miles per hour above the posted speed limit on Avery Road, not on Route 108. Journeying through the forest, I must have missed the camera among the foliage and deer on Avery Road.

Speed cameras are ubiquitous in Montgomery County. Love 'em or hate 'em, you have to admit that they do slow zipping cars to a safer speed. The OBX has been fabulous about alerting readers of Olney's newest speed cameras: two on Route 108 by St. John's Episcopal School and two on Bowie Mill Road by Sequoyah ES. Even my husband phoned (hopefully not while driving) to warn to me on the day he saw the speed cameras set up by Sequoyah ES. Everyone has become so vigilant; I have become paranoid. Whenever I see a light flash beside the road, I don't think of something negative (like a gunshot or an explosion) or preposterous (a disco ball? paparazzi? where's the party?) No, I think: Uh-oh -- did I (or please, someone else) just get a speeding ticket?

On morning while traveling eastbound on Route 108 en route to the post office, I concentrated so hard on slowing down in front of the speed camera that I forgot about the post office ... and drove right past it! I made a (legal) U-turn to backtrack to the post office. I focused so intently on Route 108's westbound side's speed camera that I barely noticed the flash on a car in front of me which had actually sped up as it passed the speed camera.

Last week, when I trekked up Georgia Avenue to the Howard County's Glenwood library (about which I raved in the post "Library Traitor" on 2/19/11), I saw "Photo Enforced" speed limit signs posted by Glenwood Middle School and Bushy Park Elementary School, both just south of the library. By now conditioned like Pavlov's dog, I automatically slowed down and quickly scanned everywhere for an ominous white box or at least a camera perched atop a pole. Strangely, I saw nothing ... or was I missing something? Then I realized I was in Howard County, which uses mostly mobile speed cameras. With no white speed camera van in sight, I breathed a sigh of relief and sped on. Just kidding -- I didn't speed up.