Navigating a career when you were left out for a while — It is summer before the solstice and the weather is fair. I have more time to write these days. I am on the precipice of what some call an empty nest. I am the mother of two young adult children who are now in college. I’m so proud of them…

The Sunday Dispatch ~ June 4, 2023 — At times life changes faster than you can scramble. Pillars shift, maybe even crumble, making it difficult to see how to get through. Resilience is the capacity to adapt to changing circumstances and bounce back from adversity, sometimes despite the odds. Being resilient isn’t something one acquires overnight. …

Art for the sake of art — Sometimes the hardest task to accomplish is to not mess up a good thing. It can be easy not to realize how good you have it until something or someone comes along to compromise the whole equation. Suddenly you realize how idyllic it all is and that you need to…

A journey across pages of shared appreciation. — The scent of paper. The promise of knowledge and adventure. A sense of hope and wonder, or perhaps content amusement. These are some of the things I love about a life of reading and being surrounded by books. Simple things sometimes bring the most joy in life. Stepping into a…

Cultivating an opportunity incubator — The Sunday Dispatch ~ September 17, 2023 In my last dispatch, I mentioned investing in and developing economic hubs throughout the full parameters of a city. While there is much social emphasis on increasing population density of downtowns and urban centers, I think we should also consider cultivating multiple nodes…

The challenge of cultivating new opportunities — The Sunday Dispatch ~ September 10, 2023 Long ago, my friend Anni noticed that everything is a process in this town. Need change for the parking meter? Try to get change for a dollar and good luck to you — it becomes an arduous journey of looking for a bank because the local shop with a cash…

Waking up to an ocean moved inland — The Sunday Dispatch ~ September 3, 2023 It was 18 years ago this past Tuesday (August 29) that marked the anniversary of Hurricane Katrina making landfall in the Gulf of Mexico. I remember when it happened. It was a slow unfolding disaster as the nation woke up to the reality of what had just happened. It was…

Somehow for me that is molten glass — The Sunday Dispatch ~ August 6, 2023 Do what makes you happy, they say — “If people did what made them happy, instead of what is expected of them, the world would be a much better place” — a fellow I met some thirty years ago who looked like Santa and had lived in California for thirty…

Finding permanence in a changing landscape — The Sunday Dispatch ~ July 23, 2023 As I round the corner, I am embraced by the inviting ambience of a patio garden. It is almost as if this space appeared by magic. The last time I walked by, it was an apothecary. Now it is something else altogether, much to my delight. I quickly learned that…