Friends and friends,

Greetings, I hope you are having a bright spring day.

I would like to share some news with you. News that I hope is really important. Let’s see what news is there that I can share, I have been in a bit of a mood lately. “OK, that is not news,” brain to Monty, “That is something you do not want to share”. When has that ever stopped me before?

Let’s start again, a long time ago on a far-off star, oh goodness that is most likely make believe and certainly not news. Unless you have a live video feed from way back then and in that case that would be super cool. Otherwise, that has already been done a thousand times and I do not have the skills of Master Lucas.

How about this, all my friends are arguing about Trump and I know how to stop them from doing that and bring peace to America. NO! Last I checked fake news is out and again that has been done a thousand times over.

Then what can I share? Well, thank goodness, what I want to share is not like one of the above stories. At least I hope it is not.

Here is what I would like to share with you. I am going to be stepping forward with a project I have been working on and really hope in the bottom of my heart that I can complete. And this last week and through April 27 we will be rolling out the first stage, a new blog called Green Urban Paddle. The project is called BRG Street Community and it brings together all the disjointed pieces of my life into a single opportunity. All the sadness, madness, good times, skills (yes I have plenty of skill), knowledge, ideas – all of it – into one single focus. And most importantly I am not working alone. We have a small but growing team of excellent individuals.

The project has some powerful, proven, and balanced concepts but it is still unique in that all the disparate pieces work together to strengthen each other. For example, the environmental concepts are also good economic concepts too. When one neighbor helps out another neighbor both become stronger and more productive. I am not going to spell it all out right here. That is what the blog is for.

However, the blog is more than just about BRG Street or me. It is about living and growing and experiencing the fullness we were designed to be by nature or by God.

Here is a little more about how all this all came together. Many of you know I lost my wife, Kathy, in 2010 and life has not been easy. I made a new friend, Karla Davis, in 2014. Her journey was very much like mine, so much so we start calling each other twin. We talked almost daily as a way to get me back on my feet and back to working on one of my business projects. Going back to work had proven to be more than I could handle. As we talked this project started to come together and life started to make sense for us. Each tragedy we had experienced was needed to us either understand one of the pieces of the project or how the project as a whole fit together. This was also true of our successes and our skills. We felt the project was given to us. But one more tragedy was to happen and in June 2016, one day short of Kathy being gone for six years, I lost Karla too. So we as a team continue in honor of these friends and loved ones.

This last week we started the per-launched of GreenUrbanPaddle.com and I would really appreciate if you would take a look. Green Urban Paddle will be a place to see posts about the many pieces that we believe are important to living life to the fullest. So you should expect the blog to include kayaking, gardening, exercise tips, and thoughtful conversation.

Please join us as we paddle along.

Your friend who loves to share,

Monty

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