The Loon’s wail catches me by surprise and is so clear and so close and so stirring that my brain registers the sound as fake before it will accept it as real. For a moment I am sure that the pale young man who passed my small kayak on his shiny blue paddleboard a fewContinue reading “I am here. Where Are You?”
Category Archives: Uncategorized
Cutting Someone’s Head Off is Definitely a Thing
It was quarter of ten on a sunny July morning, and I was in my old Volvo jetting over the Androscoggin for a quick trip to Rumford, headed for a stellar facebook marketplace find: a beautiful antique braided rug in mint condition for a hundred bucks. I’m tuned in to WCLZ, listening to obscureContinue reading “Cutting Someone’s Head Off is Definitely a Thing”
Natural Consequences
Well, my 8 year old wildcat Rhiordan had a rough go of February. He made some poor choices at co-op and broke several of the ground rules, which, despite me inventing and owning the co-op, must still apply fairly to all children attending, even my own son. In fact perhaps it is most important thatContinue reading “Natural Consequences”
We Made A Village
With the light of the day outside just about gone for the evening, I lit a candle at the bar while John poured Prosecco into two cut crystal coupes. He looked at me with a calm smile, waiting for me to finish my inner thought as I paused for a moment to gaze at theContinue reading “We Made A Village”
Just A Little Kindness This New Year
“La gentilezza… è imporTANTe,” our host Francesco told us quietly, but emphatically, as the warm Sardinian sun filtered onto the terrace where we sat enjoying hand-pressed Myrtle berry wine, fresh homemade ricotta, wild lavender honey, and the most succulent, silky, and perfectly balanced prosciutto imaginable. These accoutrements had all been graciously provided to us byContinue reading “Just A Little Kindness This New Year”
Whoops, I accidentally became an administrator
Over the past couple months, the Coal Burned Spoon has been squished hard to the side of the driver’s seat of my life, to make room for a giant, bossy co-pilot I never really wanted or asked for. This spring has undoubtedly been one of the most exciting times for the Sanctuary project, asContinue reading “Whoops, I accidentally became an administrator”
The Best Things Come…
In the 1980’s, Heinz Ketchup issued a series of commercials demonstrating all the good things that come to the smart people who are patient enough to wait for thick, rich, flavorful Heinz to slowly emerge from its glass bottle packaging. Like a butterfly emerging from its cocoon, it takes time – but the time isContinue reading “The Best Things Come…”
Finding Bright Spots in the Gloom
Most people want the first week of their New Year to signal a fresh start – to rethink old habits and patterns, become invigorated by the thought of positive change, and to see the world full of promising signs and new movement. The turning of the calendar page somehow offers us an imagined threshold overContinue reading “Finding Bright Spots in the Gloom”
The Problem with the Abundance Mindset
One of my early entrepreneurial chapters was a landscaping, hardscaping, and property maintenance business. I had just graduated college with a pre-law poli-sci degree, but was simultaneously realizing, quite inconveniently at the point of this life milestone, that I actually couldn’t stand being indoors and working in an office 9-5. I had mowed lawns andContinue reading “The Problem with the Abundance Mindset”
547 days: Getting Funded
547 days. From the day we first began in earnest the search for funds to make this dream come true, to the day we secured a deal. From slowly building networks of potential investors and presenting our pitch deck to them when we thought we could equity fund (and operate – ha!) the entire 32-unitContinue reading “547 days: Getting Funded”