Our electronic world of instant communication fosters speed, speed and more speed. The faster the better.
Speed is not always good. It can breed mindless forward motion. It can breed frustration and impatience. Speed and impatience cause accidents. A high-speed world tugs against careful planning, clear thinking and deliberate process.
Downshifting requires a pause. After a pause, things quiet down. The resulting mental space offers opportunity for thought before action.
In North Baltimore, the slower process is under way on several fronts. At home, a leaking steam pipe a year ago caused damage and consternation. Water leaked through the living room ceiling, which then was cut open with a hand saw. The cautious carpenter chose the longer, slower hand saw route, because it would create less plaster dust than a power saw.
Next, much thought was given by several plumbers about the best course of action to take with the 90-year-old pipe. The pipe joint was at a spot between the second floor hall and the paneling in the front hall.Finally, after days of deliberation, we agreed with the plumber, who said replacing the pipe would cause too much destruction. Cutting into the front hall paneling was not something anyone wanted to do. The pipe led only to a radiator in a tiny bathroom above. An electric heater would be enough to heat that room.
One year later, the steam pipe is capped, the bathroom radiator gone, and an electric line runs to the first outlet that bathroom has ever had. A bonus is that the small room feels bigger. The living room ceiling below will soon be closed, repaired and repainted. Old house repairs are constant and never speedy.
Farther up Roland Avenue, Jean Brune, the head of Roland Park Country School for 24 years, recently announced her retirement for the end of the2015-2016 school year. By giving notice 18 months in advance, Brune gives the school's board of trustees plenty of time to form a search committee and find a suitable candidate. The length of time also allows for a thoughtful, smooth transition of leadership — especially important after the long tenure of a leader.
Construction on Roland Avenue and Northern Parkway feels endless. First came a long delay to the start of construction. Then came the tedious, traffic-snarling construction, which began not in early summer, as hoped, but in late fall. Weather and temperatures have caused some further slowing.
I keep hearing, "When are they going to be finished?"
But again, the process is working, and when the extensive project is finished, Roland Avenue will be smoother and safer. The project includes new lanes and entrances on Northern Parkway at Gilman and Bryn Mawr schools, a refurbished median on Roland Avenue in front of Gilman, extensive infrastructure repairs under the road, new curbs and sidewalks, construction of new crosswalks and bump outs from Cold Spring Lane north, and repaving of the entire stretch.
The extended time of the project may have worked in the interest of all who travel Roland Avenue.About six weeks ago, greater Roland Park master plan representatives were contacted by the city about adding protected bike lanes on Roland. This is what the community had originally requested. Now, after the tragic death of cyclist Tom Palermo, the news that the buffered lanes will be built is especially welcomed. Hopefully, they will extend north of the reconstruction project to Lake Avenue and include the stretch where Palermo was struck.
The same slow process has been taken in charging Heather Cook, bishop suffragan of the Episcopal Diocese of Maryland, with manslaughter and leaving the scene of an accident in the death of Palermo. The process rankled some. Many called for swift justice. While attorney-friends say that the process of bringing the charges against Cook was, in this case, actually fast, it was not fast enough for many.
A thorough and accurate investigation, however, takes time.
Some wonder if the Episcopal committee overseeing nominations for the Maryland bishop took enough time for a thorough investigation of what had happened since Cook's 2010 arrest for driving under the influence. Others wonder if her colleagues had noticed any impairment in the months before she struck Palermo, or if they had tried to help her seek treatment. Now, a slow process of investigation is under way within the Episcopal diocese.
On a recent Friday, my husband and a friend were out walking in the neighborhood. A large car zoomed up the narrow street. Uncharacteristically, my husband motioned for the car to slow down. The driver stopped and rolled down his window, and my husband said, "A little too fast for this residential area."
In the aftermath of Tom Palermo's death, may we all become more aggressive about slowing down.