What Makes a Great Town?

When I started this Only in Olney blog in 2010, I wanted to give our "townees" a platform to discuss topics meaningful to them for which our OBEX listserv wasn't the appropriate vehicle. I then decided that this blog would be a place of inspiration and giggles rather than a place for venting and complaining, if only to extend our lifespan.

I reached out to the community to find people of all shapes and sizes that were willing to be guest bloggers and share their everyday experiences in and around Olney (nod to the "Greater Olney Community") from their unique perspective. It's been a slow progress but as you can see from our blog archive, we currently have 9 bloggers who have posted a total of 136 blog posts.

The latest discussion on the OBEX is about whether Olney is a great town. So that got me thinking, 

What Makes a Great Town?

Certainly the people. I would surmise. But you'd have to add the amenities, the activities. Some might add the schools, green space, traffic, crime, diversity, services for specific populations.

As one OBEX poster noted, Olney is a community where:

• People hold doors open for moms with strollers.
• A wallet you leave at a checkout will still be there when you run back from the parking lot.
• Generations have performed in the same high school musical.
• Getting your house TP'd at least once is a given.

Perhaps that's a good enough definition of a great town. Perhaps not. Perhaps in 2016, because the world seems like a scary place, we are challenged with pushing that definition even further:

• Are we satisfied?
• Is it enough?
• What more are we capable of?

P.S. I'm always looking for more bloggers. Are you a teen, young adult, senior citizen? We Want You!! Don't be scared. Blogging is easy!

A Musical Olney Community

About six months ago, my 11-year-old son went to sing with his Olney church group.

His teacher asked if she could speak to me. "Everyone wrote a song to share," she said. "But when your son sang his song for the group, the adult leaders' jaws were on the floor."

I didn't understand. My son had been writing songs since the age of four, and I'd never given it a second thought.

The choir teacher sensed my confusion. "He has a gift," she clarified. "And if it's okay with you, we'd like to help you nurture that gift."

We talked about another Olney man she knew, a voice teacher who - coincidentally - had just started teaching voice to my other son. The choir director and the voice teacher talked, and they connected my son with yet another Olney man - a recent college graduate who could transpose my son's songs from a child's singing to sheet music.

Now, six months later, the choir will be performing one of my son's songs during their Christmas Eve service. My son and I went to a rehearsal a few days ago and I heard, for the first time, the results of the efforts of several musical members of the Olney community.

I was floored. My 11-year-old son had conceived a song only a few months ago - and now it is going to be performed live by a group of ukelele-playing kids for a huge audience. This isn't something I could have done without the choir director, the voice teacher or the musical transcriber. Such a small world - and an absolutely brilliant group of musicians.

I am proud to consider my son a new member of the musical Olney community.

A Lovely, Quaint Intimate Setting

Olney was beautiful tonight. I was driving into Olney from Dr. Bird Road at night and it felt magical... bigger than I want to remember and smaller than a typical DC suburb. We are growing and expanding and hopefully we would not lose sight of the lovely quaint intimate setting.

What's for Dinner?

Day 1 of my blog... the first ever. Let me start with a simple topic, and I promise, I will get more complicated.... and hopefully, more interesting.

When you live in Olney and have kids, we all know that we are thirty minutes away from most things... so it is lovely to have a nice big car... for car pooling, for the many errands, for hauling stuff.... all those things we tell ourselves that we cannot live without.  

So I was off to a mission this weekend. To find that perfect big car with the family package - either standard or as an option... to help us with a more active life style, to help us conquer life in Olney and beyond!

Alas, it did not work as planned. The crossovers (from Sedan to SUV) ... well, I won't name them so I won't be sued... but the third row was a joke or for some unfathomable reason they discontinued it for most popular brands.  And oh, the moon roof (which at least for one brand is to die for) does not come with the family package (don't ask me  why! -- may be the kids stick their heads out of the car and that is too much of a liability for the car company? or they figure us parents don't know what we are doing... hmmm...). 

So after a day of looking and being confused, off to the next big decision. Food! What to eat for dinner and where? And can we make it light? We were tired and hungry... I had a hankering for a nice, spicy cuisine. We went up and down Rockville pike for a bit in search of spicy food with no luck... So we decided to come back to Olney, where our hearts and homes are... stop by at Panera at the Olney Town Center for a bite (it was quiet and lovely compared to a few other places) ... we had a turkey chile and a sandwich... and just remembered what a lovely quiet and relaxed little spot in this world we get to live in and enjoy...! We are very very very fortunate to be here - only in Olney!

Onley in Olney

When I first moved to Olney, my puzzled friends asked, "You live in a town called ... Only?" I quickly learned to over-enunciate the first syllable and state  "Oll-ney, not Only." To drive the point home further, I'd automatically spell "O-l-n-e-y" to prevent any confusion with "Only." Now when asked where I live, I compulsively (and probably irritatingly to the listener) reply in a single breath "Oooolll-ney, O-l-n-e-y!"

Perhaps the sign maker for The Winemaker at Olney could had used my annoying delivery of "Oooolll-ney, O-l-n-e-y!"

One of us has to go - the spider or me

I'm beginning to wonder who really lives at my address. I thought it was me and my family. We pay the mortgage, we mow the grass, we take in the mail. But after yet another morning attempting to sweep away the spider cob webs (of my mind - couldn't resist) along my front porch, I'm beginning to wonder.
There's not just one cute little spider web. There's an entire family system in every corner of my porch - at the eaves, around the light, at the window, in the seams. I'll confess I'm not a big spider fan though I always appreciate the beauty and intricacies of a complex spider web. But when there are bug carcasses, spider pods, spider webs and little and big spiders at every turn - making my house look like something out of the Adam's Family - I have to protest! Help! Why is this happening?
I already feel badly about the dead deer. They're dead because we built on their land (poor Bambie!!) Is our house built on a spider cemetary ala Poltergeist? Do I have to move?

I would love to hear if anyone else in Olneyland has the same problem and has a suggestion for how I can safely move this spider family to another location so I don't have to sell my house!

At the library

Libraries are magical places. My childhood library was monumental. We went to the city's main library, simply because it was the closest, but also because it was amazing. There are some advantages to small-town living, one of which is that the children's librarian still recognizes my mother when they see each other in the grocery store. I've lived away from my childhood hometown for 16 years; but I had such a close relationship with my favorite librarian that she still asks after me.

I still have my library card with my 3rd grade signature. I would have one from even younger, but I had to turn it in. The earlier card was made of paper. In 3rd grade the library system switched to barcoding, and I got a plastic library card. There was a rule in the children's room of the library: each patron could check out four books per visit. I made my selections so carefully, knowing how I'd reread those four books for several weeks before I traded them in for new stories.

We now regularly take our small children to the Olney library, and imagine my surprise and horror that there are no limits on books. I would have been so good with telling E to select four books but the lovely librarian on the first day said, "sweetie, pick as many as you'd like!"

Do NOT give instructions like that to my child, for she will hold those words in her heart as Truth. Please and thank you?

So the girls run around making piles of books on the little kid-sized tables until I finally point out that we can not carry anymore. E finds a series that she is currently enjoying, such as Curious George, and tries to gather one of every Curious George on the shelves. (Do you know how many Curious George books there are? No? Many. Many many many. Could someone please give a name to the man with the yellow hat already?) L finds a book that enchants her and tries to take every copy of that same book off the shelf. She truly wants all four copies of Learn Baby Sign Language. Try to replace one, let alone three, and she'll shriek for all to hear: my babies, my babies! as if her offspring have been kidnapped.

For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction. There is no physical way to enforce both
1) Pick as many books as you'd like
and
2) Shh! Quiet voices. We're in a library.

But it's all worthwhile, I remind myself, because I'm providing them The Library Experience. I'm a good mom, see?

Earlier this week, we made our last trip to the library. It closes at the end of the month for a two-year renovation. I know how badly it needs rehabbing; but this is the only library my kids know. It's the one they love and the one that provides the foundation for their sweet library memories.

We'll find another branch to visit, I'm sure.

But it will be bittersweet to spend two years driving past a closed Olney library.

At the Sandy Spring Volunteer Fire Department

We spent the afternoon climbing up and down fire trucks, in and out of an ambulance, and through a medivac helicopter. To a little kid? That's about the coolest thing ever.

Today was the open house at the Sandy Spring Volunteer Fire Department. The fire station down Georgia Avenue that we pass every day without much thought puts on a fantastic annual event. This wasn't our first year visiting, and I'm sure we'll be back.

The kids loved the red firefighter hats and badges they received, as well as the lollipops and coloring books and running through the smoke maze and operating a real fire hose. It was a wonderland of fun for them and they absorbed good safety lessons, perhaps without realizing so.

And for us, the grownups? We spent the afternoon among the rescue workers that keep our community safe, and other happy families enjoying the autumn day. Just another nice feature of living in Olney.

Real Housewives of Olney - Sneak Peek

he e-mails are flying between the ladies trying to schedule the annual Back to School event. The ladies reminisce and remember how this event has evolved over the years.

Coffee and pastries at a home, while the pre-schoolers play. Conversations with complete sentences.

Breakfast out when youngest start pre-school, "We're out!"

When pre-schoolers start all-day school - Quick lunch of every appetizer on the menu. "Real food for lunch, I will never eat another PB&J sandwich again."

Used to all the children being in school - Leisurely lunch. "What teachers do you kids have?" "Mrs. So and So." "Oh no, I hear she is awful."

Oldest children entering middle school and becoming tweens, someone (Patty Party) suggests ordering a glass of wine with lunch. "Cheers"

Older children are starting high school (teen-agers), younger ones starting middle school (tweens) The wine becomes a martini. "Did Johnny pass his driver's test?"

Older children college, younger children in high school, keep the martinis coming. "Another round." We don't need to be home in time for the school bus and we are living with men and teenagers.

What will the ladies talk about this year, check back on Thursday.

Real Housewives of Olney

Without further ado I would like to introduce you to the Real Housewives of Olney:

Sally Sport - 5'6", 120 lbs., blonde hair, OBGC sweatshirt with comfortable jeans and athletic shoes. Ponytail thread through the back of a Norbeck Country Club baseball cap, light make-up, minimal jewelry. She is a stay at home mom who is never home. She drives a Ford Expedition which is where she spends most of her time. Her motto is, "I am Olney's biggest athletic supporter."

Valerie Volunteer - Short with a few extra pounds, brunette, nice jeans and a cute top, think Ann Taylor Loft. Tasteful jewelry, low heels, neatly applied make-up. Works part-time, is involved in everything from the PTA to the HOA. She is even starting to get involved in local politics. Her motto is, "They couldn't afford to hire me, so I do it for free."

Wendy Walker - Fit and tan, petite and trim. She is usually in fitness wear. Hair is almost always in a ponytail under a baseball cap. Minimal if any make-up and jewelry. She works from home as a consultant. When she is not walking the streets of Olney she is at Fitness First on the cardio machines, in spin class or working out with a personal trainer. Her motto is "I am all about multi-tasking. I can walk the dog, visit with friends, book parties and work out at the same time."

Patty Party - Tall, slim, beautiful and always ready for a party. She is always dressed in the latest fashions with high heels, bling and a new designer bag. Her hair is cut fashionably short and her makeup is expertly applied. She makes an entrance when she walks into a room. She attends everything usually to find out where the party is. She is a full time travel agent. Martini lunches, happy hours, if there are drinks and friends she is there. Her motto is, "If it is happening in the greater Olney area I'm there."

Kelly Knowle - Her motto is "I may not do everything, but I know everything." Kelly is medium height, appropriate weight with medium length brown hair. She wears her hair down as often as she wears it in a ponytail. Her wardrobe is the most diverse of all the housewives with athletic clothes, casual and some more fashionable items. She always looks great, no matter where you run into her. She is a work from home mom. She knows where to be seen and who to talk with to stay in the know.

The Real Housewives of Olney are fictional characters, any resemblance to actual people is purely coincidental. The events and places discussed in this series of blog posts will mostly be real places and real events. I am not reporting on events so creative license will be taken. Let me also say that I have the utmost respect and admiration for all the housewives in Olney who give their time, their talents and their knowledge to make Olney the wonderful place it is. Our children and husbands are lucky to have us and the community we make.

Check back every Thursday (maybe Friday) to find out what the housewives are making happen in our little corner of the world. Note: Cross posted at www.BlogByB.com

Five good years

Yesterday marked the fifth anniversary of the day we purchased our home in Olney. Five years ago we were living in a townhouse in Gaithersburg, I was pregnant with our first child, and the housing market was at its peak. We knew we wanted to capitalize on the gains in the value of our townhouse to get a single-family home, as well as a little more space and quiet. We wanted to stay in Montgomery County, but we knew we could go anywhere.

We chose Olney.

I remember the moment we pulled into the not-yet-ours driveway to look through the house we now live in. The sun was low in the sky and the whole street looked golden. Two or three families were chatting in the middle of the street, and I remember thinking, what a lovely quiet street. It must receive so little traffic if everyone just gathers in the middle like that.

We walked through the home and thought it might be just want we want. We had one other home in mind, one in Rockville, and every feature in this house was compared in our minds against the Rockville address.

This one had a bigger yard. That one had a bigger bathtub. This one had a longer commute. That one had a more congested neighborhood. This one cost more, but that one needed a lot more work. We walked through the rooms again and again, thinking, is this the one? Which house is right for us?

We walked outside in the summer dusk and one of the adults from the conversation on the street called over to us. "So are you going to be our new neighbors?"

"I don't know," I called back. "Should we be?"

"For this street, you have to have kids!" called a second person, gesturing to the crew on bicycles and scooters and blowing bubbles in the last light.

I pointed to my rounding belly. "Four more months," I called out. "We'll have one soon."

"So buy the house!" yelled a third prospective neighbor. "You'll love it here!"

And we did. The strangers who encouraged the most hope-fueled purchase we've ever made are now our friendly neighbors. We had that first baby and added another two kids and we finished the basement. We took out some tree limbs and we chatted over fence posts and bubbles, now blown by our own babes, floating into sunsets.

There's a house down the hill at the end of our street that's for sale now. If we saw any prospective buyers looking about, I'd tell them:

Buy the house. You'll love it here.

For the Love of Olney

When I was growing up Sundays meant dinner with family. One particular Sunday during my junior year in high school my grandmother asked me if I knew anything about an accident in Olney. She said she was driving on Rt. 108 at about 10:30 on Thursday morning and there were a few cars pulled off to the side of the road with someone wrapped in a blanket. She went on to say one of the cars was a candy apple red Mustang convertible that looked just like my car. I assured her I didn't know anything, I was in school at 10:30 on Thursday morning.

I lied. I had taken a friend home to get her homework and I hit a dog. The dog had run into the street right in front of The Olney House (Riccuiti's). Of course I stopped, but someone else did also. They wrapped the dog in a blanket and took it to Town and Country Animal Clinic. After school I went to the clinic and asked Dr. Wendy how the dog was and if they had found the owners. She told me the dog was going to be fine and they had found the owners. She also told me I should not be leaving school during the day, but she wouldn't tell my parents, this time.

Olney has changed. Sunday dinner has been replaced by drinks at the Grille, family has become friends who happen to live close by, but the sense of community found in and around Olney has stayed the same. I know my kids do things they shouldn't do, but I also know there are people like my grandmother and Dr. Wendy who see them doing it.

Olney has made the transition from a family oriented farm town to a community oriented suburb of a major city. There are many reasons and many people who have made this happen, but in the end it is the housewives of Olney who maintain the community that make this such a great place for families.

Given the popularity of Bravo TVs Real Housewives franchise I have decided to begin a series about The Real Housewives of Olney. My plan is to write a new blog post every Thursday looking at Olney through the eyes of the Housewives. I have created 5 fictional characters who I will introduce to you this Thursday. My goal is to keep the series light and fun while celebrating the uniqueness of Olney and those of us who live here.

The Real Housewives of Olney are fictional characters, any resemblance to actual people is purely coincidental. The events and places discussed in this series of blog posts will mostly be real places and real events. I am not reporting facts so creative license will be taken. Let me also say that I have the utmost respect and admiration for all the housewives in Olney who give their time, their talents and their knowledge to make Olney the wonderful place it is. Our children and husbands are lucky to have us and the community we make.

Check back Thursday to meet The Real Housewives of Olney.