The Bower

02/17/2026

Weekend with Pat Jobe

I curated a truly beautiful book. It unfolded almost on its own — not because of me, but because of the extraordinary community I’m privileged to be part of. The book is Welcome to Death Faire: Love, Loss and Healing in a Small Southern Town. Thirty-three authors and poets contributed to it. One of the storytellers, a pastor in western North Carolina, took a particular liking to the book and organized an entire weekend of readings in Forest City and Davidson, NC....

I curated a truly beautiful book. It unfolded almost on its own — not because of me, but because of the extraordinary community I’m privileged to be part of. The book is Welcome to Death Faire: Lov…

01/28/2024

My college roommate, Connie, told me about her trip to Vietnam and how magical it was to see the older women come together every morning at sunrise around Hoan Kiem Lake in Han Noi. She visited with her husband, Jeff who worked extensively in Asia and knew it well. The women did Tai Chi and danced and chanted to music. In fact the whole town was alive with folks running and stretching and dancing in groups....

My college roommate, Connie, told me about her trip to Vietnam and how magical it was to see the older women come together every morning at sunrise around Hoan Kiem Lake in Han Noi. She visited wit…

01/17/2024

It’s hard to sum up 18 years in a blog post. On Saturday night we will celebrate the end of a beautiful thing-Abundance NC. It’s not the end of abundance of course, but the non-profit organization will be dissolved according to the current Board of Directors and Executive Director. Abundance NC began in 2006 in our hot tub when we were frustrated at the lack of sustainability projects happening, the red tape and bureaucracy....

It’s hard to sum up 18 years in a blog post. On Saturday night we will celebrate the end of a beautiful thing-Abundance NC. It’s not the end of abundance of course, but the non-profit organization …

04/14/2022

01/09/2022

Riding your bike to go buy some steak? Refusing to fly, but still driving an SUV?

Few of us are perfect. Yet many of us are doing what we can. Author Sami Grover - a self-confessed climate hypocrite - says that is a-ok. Rather than stressing over where we fall short, we need to focus on our own unique opportunity to do the most possible good we can do.

Join us Feb 7th 5:30-6:30 in Fair Game to tap into your own, unique climate superpower. A reading and Discussion with Author, Sami Grover and Maria Kingery, Strategic Business Guide/ Leadership Coach and founder of 360Rocks!

04/18/2021

It seems that 5 years is a big milestone to get through when one has lost a precious love. In my healing, I knew it was coming up and I decided to go proactive rather than reactive. I envisioned my family coming together and cooking, sharing stories and photos and laughing and crying and spreading out the grief so that it is more bearable....

It seems that 5 years is a big milestone to get through when one has lost a precious love. In my healing, I knew it was coming up and I decided to go proactive rather than reactive. I envisioned my…