Third Place | Mixed Metaphors

May 12 2024

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The Third Place Project

In Search of a Home Away from Home & Work

“Your third place should come with a sense of ease and offer respite from the world without removing you from it altogether.” — Emily McGowan

As I write, tomorrow is Monday and I return to work. I’m grateful. In my 7^th decade, I’m living an engaging, meaningful, and satisfying balanced life. I work half-time, Mondays-Thursdays, doing work that is a passion rather than a vocation. Work provides an opportunity to give back to my community at the same time it supports me financially, emotionally, and spiritually. Work is my ‘second place.’ Continue reading →

Tagged Ancora Maple Bluff, Apple Island, Chocolaterian, First Place, Hotel Washington, Lakeside St. Coffeehouse, Linden Cohousing, Lysistrata, Northstreet, Ray Oldenburg, Second Place, Sundance 608, The Great Good Place, Third Place

Mar 05 2016

2 Comments

Posts

On the Move Again!

“The first step in getting somewhere is to decide you’re not going to stay where you are.” — Unknown

It’s that time of year in Madison, Wisconsin when U-Hauls and Two Men and a Truck will soon clog the streets. Popup curbside flea markets appear overnight as university students dump their second-hand furniture and poorly-assembled IKEA desks and bookcases rather than move them. It’s so commonplace that when student leases expire on August 15^th, we’ve dubbed it “Hippie Christmas.” Continue reading →

Tagged Aging in Place, Cohousing, Home, Letting Go, Madison, Moving, New Beginnings, Packing, Racine, Third Act, Third Place, Unpacking, UW Madison, UW Parkside, Wisconsin

Dec 26 2015

4 Comments

Posts

Full Moon on Christmas Day: Part II

Christmas Present and Christmas Future

“Your life will be a great and continuous unfolding. You will come to know things that can only be known with the wisdom of age and the grace of years. Most of those things will have to do with forgiveness.” — Cheryl Strayed

This is Part II of a personal essay on the holidays. The subject of Part I was pre-holiday musings and reminiscing about childhood Christmas celebrations past. I’m grateful to my parents for their gifts to me, most importantly their love, nurturing, and support and for the delight I experienced on Christmas morning as a child when I saw the decorated tree and gift-wrapped presents.

Part II is also recognition that things change; we experience loss in our life as we age. Loved ones leave us, others die, and some traditions are more difficult to sustain. People move across country, move on from childhood to adulthood, and sometimes family members and loved ones create chasms too difficult to bridge. Continue reading →

Tagged AA, Christmas, Family, Family Traditions, Fathers, Films, Friends, Full Cold Moon, Full Moon, Holidays, Home, Matriarch, Memoir, Mothers, Movies, Relationships, Stories, Third Place

Nov 29 2015

Posts

Waxing Sentimental

Nostalgia: (n.) a sentimental yearning for the happiness of a former place or time.

Tomorrow, Monday, November 30^th is Cyber Monday. It’s the online equivalent of Black Friday, the Monday following Thanksgiving when people return to work and shop online and take advantage of deep discounts and promotions. In late November 2005, The New York Times reported: “The name Cyber Monday grew out of the observation that millions of otherwise productive working Americans, fresh off a Thanksgiving weekend of window shopping, were returning to high-speed Internet connections at work Monday and buying what they liked.” Continue reading →

Tagged Baby Boomers, Bookstores, Brick & Mortar, Cyber Monday, E-Commerce, Films, Madison, Movies, Music, Nostalgia, Online Retailers, Racine, Record Stores, Seventies, Sixties, Third Place, Tower Records, Video Stores

Mixed Metaphors

Mixed Metaphors, Oh My! – A place where words, this writer, and readers play together.

Tag Archives: Third Place

The Third Place Project

On the Move Again!

Full Moon on Christmas Day: Part II

Waxing Sentimental