Eyes Wide Open

Since I’ve started Bucket List Community Cafe, I’ve been walking through the streets of Northwest Denver with my eyes wide open. I no longer have my head in my phone and my thoughts in the clouds. I notice people and places and how things around me are changing. I listen to the sounds of life. Today my barista at Tenn Street Coffee and Books talked to a woman about her vegetable garden on Stuart Street and how she was going to make a tomato tart. I pay attention to the buildings going up and going for sale and the businesses opening and closing. When I walk I notice how people turn their houses into homes with lovely gardens and quirky touches.

I also find I’m following others in the community who care about where they live. I’ve learned there are numerous community organizations like Sunnyside United Neighbors, Berkeley Regis United Neighbors and The Berkeley Neighborhood Association and I’ve paid attention to what interests them. I’m sure there are more that I will discover as I venture further from my neighborhood. I’ve also learned about upcoming publications in the community like The Denver North Star which will begin publishing soon.

I’ve relied on others in the community like the Denver Post, The Know, Westword, 303 Magazine and 5280 for information to aggregate and am grateful that they have people on the beat to cover what’s new. I’m hoping to have more time to do original reporting soon. I’m excited about the possibilities in this hyperlocal space I’m carving out on Facebook. I’m also having fun seeing the community through the eyes of my dog, Ca$h. She is exploring the community with me and loves sitting in her patch of grass out in front of our house and watching her world too. Today she met Atlas.

For twenty years I lived in the suburbs of Denver where the life and pace are very different. It’s a thrill for me to be living a more urban life now and be in a community that’s as interesting and diverse as Northwest Denver. I’m grateful to each of you who is discovering my site and appreciate you engaging with me. Tell me your news. Tell me about your openings and events and favorites. Give me feedback on the site so it can be even better and reflect what you care about. And thanks for helping this national news journalist focus on what’s right in front of me at the Bucket List Community Cafe.