Category: River Roots Redevelopment Column
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The Upstarts
By: Selina Pedi-Smith, Pellere Foundation The sun finally came out in the last few days, AND our skid loader is finally up and running again. So, I’ve been doing a lot more digging! I’m happy to report that our driveway drainage network is almost complete, and a ton of work has been done on the… Read more
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Nothin’ But Mud
By: Selina Pedi-Smith, Pellere Foundation There’s nothing like renting a relatively expensive piece of outdoor equipment to have you watching the sky and mumbling to yourself like a soothsayer of old. Or desperately searching your memory for any recollection of a May quite so wet. The weather is always contrary right when we need it… Read more
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The Week Before the Work
By: Selina Pedi-Smith, Pellere Foundation Happy May! I really wish my brain would come up with something other than “Where did the year go??” when I look at the calendar, but…here it is. May. And I do not, in fact, know where the rest of the year has gone. I do know where the last… Read more
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Sound Familiar?
By: Selina Pedi-Smith, Pellere Foundation Tell me if this sounds familiar. People are talking. It’s going well. The conversation is thoughtful; folks are asking good questions, considering different angles, making sure they understand the full picture. And then it…just sort of…keeps going. One more perspective. One more possibility. One more thing to take into account… Read more
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Says Who??
By: Selina Pedi-Smith, Pellere Foundation Each week, when I sit down to figure out what I’m going to write about, I usually go back and read the last column or two and see where my thoughts want to go next. I got to the last sentence of last week’s article, though, and stopped. “Where a… Read more
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A Little Adjustment
By: Selina Pedi-Smith, Pellere Foundation A couple weeks ago now, we recorded our first podcast episode, which went…surprisingly smoothly. In hindsight, that probably should have made us suspicious. Everything worked. The conversation flowed. The sound was clean. We wrapped it up, looked at each other, and thought, “Well…that wasn’t so bad!” And then, about a… Read more
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Connection Across Differences: Part 4
By: Selina Pedi-Smith, Pellere Foundation The question we left off with last week was “How do we create communities where differences don’t immediately divide, and where connection is intentional, not accidental?” I ask myself this question so often. Especially after watching the news, which, frankly, I avoid. I prefer to read my news rather than… Read more
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Connection Across Differences: Part 3
By: Selina Pedi-Smith, Pellere Foundation Our snippet of conversation last week left off with a thought about processing difficult feelings, like anger, and staying grounded as a way of staying connected through differences. Disagreeing and staying connected. Oof. That has, historically, been really hard for me. Once upon a time I would just…avoid any and… Read more
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Connection Across Differences: Part 2
By: Selina Pedi-Smith, Pellere Foundation Last week, we ended with an open question: “Maybe the question isn’t how we resolve every difference, but how we decide which conversations are worth staying in.” That’s an incredibly powerful point. I think a lot about the energy we give to things, to people. The older I get, the… Read more
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When Conversation Connects
By: Selina Pedi-Smith, Pellere Foundation So…what does connection actually look like? Let’s say that we have decided to intentionally nurture connection. Great. Step one complete. Then, we allow ourselves to notice the opportunities where connection can exist alongside our ‘normal’ life. Fabulous. Step two complete. Then…what? What does it actually look like when two or… Read more