Over the Christmas holiday, Mary and I drove from West Virginia to visit her widowed birth mother who lives in Baltimore. I'll call her Ruth. Mary and I grew up in the Baltimore area. Wow! What a striking decline in our beloved hometown, once renowned as Charm City. We saw countless blocks of empty trashed row-houses. Baltimore is also known for great neighborhoods; Fells Point, Little Italy, and so on. We drove through Highland town, pronounced, “Hollin” town by locals. I was shocked to see so many Highland town businesses which once thrived were gone, the storefronts boarded up. They should have grown rather than failed. Upon our arrival, Ruth excitedly greeted us with a hug. Ruth has lived in her Dundalk home for 39 years, a block from the city line. Her companion is Corky, her old fat hound dog. She said thugs from the city have begun spilling over into her neighborhood. There is a party house a few doors down from her with loud music filled with...(Read Full Post)