community – Honey it's Thursday

Letter from the Editor – January 2026

Dear Busy Bees,

It’s been a minute since I’ve published anything here – since June 2023. You may be wondering why I haven’t been writing here, what I’ve been up to and what the vision for this blog is going forward.

I haven’t been writing here, though I have been writing especially lately. That’s related to both good and bad experiences in my personal life, and I think you may be able to relate. I was studying very hard and growing in my career and went through a very busy season that stretched into a couple years. I took a few important tests related to this and they were time intensive. I also worked very hard at that career and unfortunately started to take time for myself less. Not very Thursday of me.

It is still the purpose of this blog to make space for good times, to explore and to create. It also is becoming a goal to find how to stay present and plugged in to ourselves and joy. On that note, while I am sad I didn’t publish here for a while, I know it had to become a tertiary priority for a while due to what I was doing. If there is a next time, I hope I will take the time to recognize that and communicate it here. That’s probably a good general lesson for life. I am proud that I have become less hard on myself since I last wrote here. I am also taking better care of myself.

Since the last time I published, I have traveled to Fla., Calif., Ky and the Bahamas. I attempted to go to Bonnaroo in Manchester, Tenn. which was cancelled due to flooding and rain. It was still a great experience for me. I look forward to recapping some of my travels. I am still mostly located in Clarksville, Tenn., with strong roots in San Diego, Calif. In the time since I last wrote I have met and made friends in Clarksville and had some character shaping experiences. My roots are in Clarksville too.

My husband and I spent time planning a wedding in Calif. I got married in May 2024 to my amazing husband. Knowing that next month is Valentine’s let me just say this: May you also find the love that is the person who lets you be safe coming out of your shell. If he doesn’t make you feel comfortable expressing yourself when you are doing things aligned with your values he isn’t for you. He should make you feel safer when you do the right thing. If he doesn’t adore and cherish you and make you feel beautiful, you’re simply not right for each other. While you do have to choose and commit to each other everyday and navigate difficult seasons, if someone offers you love less than this, don’t waste your time. Don’t want or be placated by quarter and half-measures especially before the seasons of life even truly begin.

Speaking of busy seasons, I have changed locations and career spaces for work a few times. I have had some moments of nostalgia and reflection related to how to make my next career move. While I am limited in what I can share about work, that has been a lot of adjustments and I’m glad to say it should be more settled soon. I am excited for the next chapter and feel like I am cautiously testing the waters.

Another thing that may be settled soon is house renovations! We are a vanity and toilet installation away from being done with a house remodel. It cannot come too soon! It’s amazing how delays and construction go so hand in hand.

As we go forward into the now, I reflect on goals and purpose. I (obviously) hope projects and changes get wrapped up. I hope to find clarity but understand that even without clarity I still have the values that make me who I am and will be safe due to the life I’ve already built, alongside my husband. Sometimes that is the truest mark of success one can have. I am excited to reflect on my experiences and journeys in a few ways though maybe I’m still taking my time on that.

My goals for this blog are often similar to my goals as a person. There are things I want to explore, like writing, audio and coding. I also want to reflect on journeys in a way that is appropriate. I want to continue to be someone who is plugged in to my community, the moment and myself. I want to be present and mindful. I want to find balance while also acknowledging that there are different seasons and energy levels. Often balance is a myth and what matters is routine and checking in. Some days you have to prioritize your health and some days you must make time for friends. I want to have a good time and be social. A lot of that good time connects to reading books, traveling, and being creative.

My purpose for this blog is to take time for the best things in life. To prioritize joy and health.

I hope that I can work on my professional presence in a way where I can be non-judgmental, open, and always keep the goal in mind. I struggle with taking care of myself as much as others do and in a way that supports that presence. I hope that I will continue to grow in that ability.

I feel like you may be asking what’s next? To that I hope to see myself writing more, both here and in a novel. I hope to eventually get into audio or podcast creation. I am also wondering if I should revisit coding, particularly if I decide to shift careers again. I am planning on looking into the Google Developer Program. I’ve always liked writing about my explorations and learning.

I have been doing some things which I hope to continue doing. I have been getting back to crafting, loom-knitting, sewing and miniatures. Those will be easy to write about. I have been focused on decluttering and cleaning my space and making sure my stuff reflects the person I am trying to be. I’ve had great results and my house feels calm, other than the renovations. There are so many better resources on decluttering than mine, so I probably won’t write on that. I have also been doing a fair amount of reading, which I also intend to write about more.

I hope to continue to set down roots where I’m planted. I’ve been realizing that I need to attend more coffee meetups with other women. Often times it feels like it is just my husband and I in this state. I know that’s not the case as I do have friends and communities here, but it can be a challenge and a delight to move somewhere you don’t know anyone. My husband and I both do a lot to support each other and if you aren’t in the club that his career puts us in, then you probably can’t understand its specific challenges and the type of loneliness that it can cause us to face. I frequently struggle with loneliness and having experiences where family/coworkers/acquaintances don’t understand how to support me, even when I have supported them. It is heartbreaking and can be the cherry on the cake somedays.

While I have a wonderful dance community, I have been struggling to find a renaissance reenactment group here that meets regularly. I reflected a bit about people who have made those groups meaningful to me in the past. They were always providing hospitality and food, in addition to knowledge. I think I want to start hosting intimate feasts at our home to build a closer-knit group of historical reenactment enthusiasts.

Thank you for letting me recap my challenges and last couple years. I appreciate taking the time to refocus and look forward to writing in the future.

All my love,

Honey

Clarksville Community envisions the future at Regional Planning Events

Monday, July 11th, 2022 at 7:30 p.m. the Clarksville Montgomery County Regional Planning Commission (CMCRPC) hosted the first of three Comprehensive Plan Workshops.

Held at William O Beach Civic Hall, the event was intended to intentionally plan development in the Clarksville region. City and county members were invited on Facebook and by website to help decide what matters to the community in planning for future development.

This topic is an important one as Clarksville grows rapidly.

“Data shows Montgomery County is the 4th fastest growing county in Tennessee” says Erica Francis of WKRN News at https://tinyurl.com/mr9x4rpk

Other news articles frequently discuss population growth in Clarksville, TN.

A series of events were held at different times at Kenwood High School and Old Glory Distillery, that same week. Community members were encouraged to sit together at tables and the events were fairly well attended. At the end of the meeting, each table presented a map and ideas for how the community should be planned. They were later hung on the wall and added to the CMCRPC website.

Image by Sarah Hughes. Maps made by small groups for ideas of how to plan Montgomery County, Clarksville, TN. All rights reserved.

The Facebook invitations and CMCRPC website seem to be aimed at giving the community a voice in planning growth.

“Help shape a Vision for HOW and WHERE we grow in the City and County,” the Facebook event said.

“Join us for one of three Comprehensive Plan Community-wide Visioning Workshops. If you care about Housing, Transportation, Open Spaces and Recreation; bring your opinions and ideas to share in small groups and draw on maps!!”

See the event on Facebook here: https://tinyurl.com/3fnz6n9f

Image by Sarah Hughes. Notes of ideas made by small groups for ideas of how to plan Montgomery County, Clarksville, TN. All rights reserved.

The plan is partially organized by the Houseal-Lavigne Consultant Team. Presenters listed the next steps as more workshops, and allowing the community to use the CMCRPC website online questionnaire to aid scenario planning.

The consultant team is working on a comprehensive plan with the CMCRPC. They consider that comprehensive plan “a roadmap or blueprint for the next two decades”.

It is a recommendation for physical development of the area,roads and infrastructure. Planning those areas will affect applications for grants and funding. It is most likely an 18th month process. The CMCRPC plans to present a draft soon.

Additional information can be found at https://www.cmcrpc.com/workshopsandpresentations/

The meeting opened by asking people to sum up one word that was their vision for Clarksville and add it to a word collage here https://pollev.com/hlplanning976

An introductory overview of the comprehensive plan was debuted Dec. 15th, 2021. Presentation materials are available at the website and feature different visions of how a city can look.

The next CMCRPC meeting is Tuesday, Aug. 23 at 2:00 p.m. Consider attending to share your opinion. Or visit the CMCRPC website to voice your opinion and get familiar with the plan.

Clarksville museum offers social distanced Valentine’s day boxes

by Sarah Hughes

Looking for a way to support Clarksville culture and have a great Valentine’s day? Reserve your own themed date night in a box from the Custom House Museum and Cultural Center.

Photo provided by https://customshousemuseum.org/. All rights reserved.

As of 6:30 PM, Tuesday, Jan. 19, 2021, The Custom House Museum and Cultural Center is taking orders for special Valentine’s treat boxes. The boxes will be available for pick up and delivery in February.

This offering is presented by the Museum Guild as a part of an event called Valentines Delivered: Date Night in a Box. The event replaces an annual winter fundraiser, Champagne & Chocolate.

Funds raised go towards artifact conservation, collections, exhibits and educational programming. It’s a gift that helps the community, and allows for easy social distancing.

The boxes contain assorted goodies, including a few locally manufactured items. They are perfect for sharing with a date or group of four. However, sharing is not required.

Delivery and Pickup will be Feb. 8 through 12. Orders can be placed through the museum’s website. Limited quantities are available. https://customshousemuseum.org/valentines-delivered/

Honey it’s Thursday
…because honey’s sweet and we put out on Thursdays…

Letter from the Editor – February 2018

Dear Honey Readers,

After some googling and soul-searching, I decided to disable commenting on this blog. This decision has to do with a few thoughts I’ve had. One is I would rather focus on my craft of writing and learning small-time website design, than devote my limited time to sorting and approving comments. The next is most of the comments I received tended to be advertisements/bots/possibly shady snippets of software code, and not people wanting to have a real conversation or build some type of community. I was starting to worry a little too much about the shady category. I still am. Perhaps as I get better at this, I will start to add comments back in and talk about how to prevent code-insertion or identity issues in blogs.

However, there have been some impressive commentators who have graced this site with a quick line. Notably, a Donald Trump, who I’m pretty sure wasn’t that one, and a website for something to do with boobsigns, whatever that is (please, for your computers safety, don’t google it, I won’t be liable for whatever horror or virus results). I’m sorry to say I removed the temptation of cluttering up the comments with perplexing snippets of dubious sincerity. Though there were some comments where people didn’t seem to have a suggestion, and were just commenting to comment without saying very much. Some of these also made me wonder if those people had read my article, because the comment often seemed to not correspond to any of my content. I did sort of enjoy deleting those comments, along with what I’ll call ad-comments or mal-comments (based on adware and malware). However, I immensely appreciated all of the positive feedback and questions I received. Some of you seemed inspiringly interested in blogging. To those people, I am sorry to have cut the conversation short. I value criticism and have been especially learning to embrace it this year. I hope that the time I invest into helps to create articles and creative writing that makes up for my decision.

My problem of time limitations is partially to do with changes I’m making to do this better in the future. I’m currently taking a CSS, HTML, and XHTML class. It has been in addition to learning Javascript at home and at work, the latter of which I’ve also been spending more time at. I think I might be crazy, as it’s shapin up to be a pretty tight schedule, but somehow I know I can do it. I’ve definitely been enjoying happiness in a sort of flow state of all I’m working on.

Since you last heard from me, it’s been a pretty weird year. In May 2017, I had some health problems that took till November to resolve, and could have been cancer. Luckily, I do not have cancer, and all is back to normal in terms of body things. Yay! (Fuck cancer). Those months weren’t all bad, although other people close to me have also been sick with illnesses of their own. I went on some epic adventures and absorbed a bunch of art scenes. I’ve been getting back to performing on stage for bellydance and other styles. I’ve been doing Brazilian Jiu Jitsu since January 2017. It has been amazing! It’s a lot more mental than I thought, as well as having a great community and being a great work out. It has made me more energetic and helped my dance considerably. In August 2017, I performed at a community festival, and another performance is in the works for February. In October, I left the North American continent for the first time to see Germany, Prague, and Italy. That was also my first real vacation since I started work at my current company. It was amazing! I’ve also been crafting somewhat regularly, but have mostly favored small projects. By August 2018, I hope to get to bigger, more involved projects like a French Court dress complete with panniers. Also, I’ve been pretty into film, catching up on a lot of American Film Institute favored movies, and cult pieces of the 1980s and 90s. I’ve seen a few friends quite a bit, and have enjoyed getting closer to them.

I hope to keep writing, and inspire you. If you would like to be a part of Honey It’s Thursday, feel free to comment your interest! I’ll be leaving the comments on here so you can contact me.

Thank you for reading,

Honey