Work with 2 of my volunteer groups is heating up, and these days, my rallies, demonstrations, phone calls and letter writing is very much another p/t job, so I guess you could say 3 of my volunteer groups are heating up.

I am very excited to have succeeded in building consensus between my environmental group and another nonprofit here in town that seeks to protect a certain river that is a sole source aquifer and supplies drinking water to half the population.

More recently, I joined a book club and the person who heads it up is none other than the chair of the river group. We got to talking about a certain thing we observed on the river that we both recognize is a problem.  He was very excited about the possiblity of partnering with us to tackle it. I was ready to make a presentation to pitch the idea at our meeting this past week, but too many people could not make the meeting. Nonetheless, I got buy-in from 2 key people and finally got the go-ahead to invite the river man to come to our next meeting for further discussion.

In my 2nd volunteer group, I also scored a win by recruiting someone to act as our group's treasurer. We are desperate for board members; he's got a lot of good experience. Someone else may be bringing on 2 more new members whom we have yet to meet.

In the more immediate term, we have a beach litter cleanup this weekend, and then I organized another cleanup in another town for late April. I'm picking up more of the detail work that our former exec director did. I have to write a donor acknowledgement letter, and after that create a flyer to publicize the 2nd town cleanup on social media. A lot to do. I don't have a graphic design background, so that part of it has been a bit of a struggle.

Not much else new at the moment. Just trying to watch my spending and maintain my exercise and healthy diet habits.

It's impossible to ignore everything that's happening in the world around us. I've become increasingly involved in local rallies, letter-writing and so on. I went to a rally yesterday in my hometown and listened to a series of heartfelt testimonials by local people. Included among them was the mother of a child killed in a school shooting here who somehow has the strength and determination to fight gun violence. 

I did not expect that this is the turn my retirement would take. It often feels overwhelming, but I strive to do at least one small thing each day, and I'm trying to build a network with like-minded friends. Nearly every town around here has formed some sort of group that people can join. It's really heartwarming. I sometimes wonder how history will look at this period 10 years from now. I want to do my part, and be on the right side of history.

In other news...

My credit score has I believe risen a notch with my new car loan payments. It stands at 834 now, and I got the same message Dido did. He he.

I'm trying to avoid making purchases at Walmart, Amazon and Target. It hasn't been that hard.