Thursday evening, I felt a sense of pride in our community as I watched SJI volunteers giving up their time, tutoring English at the public library. Their service reminded me of a poem by Linda Ellis: “For it matters not, how much we own, the cars…the house…the cash. What matters is how we live and love and how we spend our dash.” The “dash” Linda is referring to is the line on the tombstone between the dates of birth and death. Another way of thinking about it is: What we do each day is important, because we’re exchanging a day of our life for it. I need to improve how I spend my dash. Maybe you do too.

Mike Buettell

San Juan Island