September, a month for beginnings, change, and our anniversary: today we celebrate our 42nd on the Mendocino Coast! On September 15, 1980, we moved into what was then Unit 4 of the Big River Lodge. And on that first day I stood on the deck, looking over what was then a pasture out to the ocean, feeling I was in heaven. All these many years later, I still feel that.
Today, we are mindful of other Septembers, our children readying for the first day of school with anticipation and excitement. As the yellow school bus once again rumbles down the hill, we sense a new cycle beginning.
Perhaps this is why, even more than January, September feels like a fresh start: a time for taking stock, for planting new intentions. Here, we decide what improvements we’ll undertake over the fall and winter. And for those projects not yet completed, we resolve to complete them.
We took small steps creating the Stanford Inn as it is today. Sid teaches his small steps approach to personal growth – personal aspirations. It is how we have lived and worked and we feel that it is a critical part of our advocacy to make changes for personal and global health.
Jeff joins me in wishing you a wonderful autumn.
Joan
October 1980: Jeff mowing during our first month at the Inn on the first major purchase!