Catching up on the confession I have to make

This week I didn't get around to the Fifth District Community Engagement newsletter. I didn't say much about it on Substack. I can't always explain everything that is going on. 

I do like doing that newsletter, though. The idea, though, was to do it while my parents transitioned to a retirement community in Lynchburg. That ended up not taking, so they're now in Pennsylvania.

I'm still very much interested in doing the work of writing about what's coming up at meetings of local government in the Fifth District. This work is the culmination of my career, and I see so much potential in learning about that space. 

But now that my parents aren't there, I'm beginning to wonder if can sustain the energy for this work. 

These days, however, I don't let doubt in for very long. If I commit to something, I'm going to see it through.  I just need to be able to cut back when I need to to focus on the main event. This week's release of the draft zoning code took a lot of my energy. That's the main thing I want to write about, and I don't think I've had the capacity this year to do it correctly. I think my newsletter from Tuesday was okay for what it is, but I know I need to be doing more to explain what could happen. 

But hey, after I hit post I'm going to try to get the next set of stories written up and ready to go. This is what I do for a living and I seem to be able to organize my time to get it all moving forward, day in and day out. 

I'm grateful for the regular gnome. A reference that I hope I get in the future. I may not. That's the risk of being a weirdo.