Neighborfully: 3 Invites

Hello, You -

This is Neighborfully, a dispatch from Neighborful Station, and it's such a delight to be here with you. I'm making a couple changes to the format of these newsletters, so let's try something new together.

Each episode of Neighborful Station includes 3 invitations into the life of the community, and to each invitation, You say yes. Starting today, our emails will take the same form.

Invite 1: Summer Breeze

This winter has been too real for many of us in the northern and eastern parts of the US. So to get us started today, I want to invite you into a little bit of an escape.

Take a moment, right now, and think about a time when you've been in a warm and breezy place in the summertime. This might have been a beach vacation, or an evening around the fire pit in your neighbor's backyard. Feel the gentle play between warm and cool on your skin, and look around in your mind's eye at the lush green landscape surrounding you, as you take a deep breath.

I'm reminding myself right now that Daylight Savings Time will begin in the US a little more than 2 weeks(!) from now, and on that Sunday evening, sunset in Philadelphia will be exactly 7:00 p.m. The Sun is 20% stronger in Philly today than it was on the 1st of this month. My car is warm inside every time I get in it now while the Sun is out, even on cold days.

Thank you for hanging in there, arctic friends. ❄️❤️😊

Invite 2: The Neighborful Goodnight

This week, I'm going to host The Neighborful Goodnight tomorrow evening, Friday the 20th, at 8:00 Eastern, 7:00 Central. We will do this just once for the week, as a way to transition from the work week into the weekend.

📅 : Tomorrow, Friday, Feb 20th

⏰ : 8:00p ET/7:00p CT/5:00p PT

💻 : Google Meet

Click here to add to your calendar.

If you have been enjoying the live broadcasts, you can access all of the ones that have happened so far on the Neighborful Station YouTube channel. People continue to report that it's helpful for their sleep, and when you watch the recording, you can start it at a time that works best for you.

Invite 3: Listen to Neighborful Station

In future weeks, I'm going to move the latest episode to Monday's edition of Neighborfully, and I'll use the Thursday edition to share a little more of a sneak preview for the upcoming episode. But for this transitional time, I'll cover both.

Our latest episode is Sock Hop (Apple)(Spotify)(YouTube). You agree to serve as a chaperone for a middle school dance at the Care Center, and quickly realize that the elder residents are much more of a handful than the kids. 🕺💃🪩

Coming up on Saturday: Tireless Mechanics. This Vault episode, originally aired last July, takes us on a free-wheeling visit with Jacey, a mechanic at the local car repair shop. This episode is axle-lutely hilarious. 🚘🔧🤣

Tireless Mechanics was inspired by The Lift Garage, a fantastic nonprofit based in Minneapolis, and by Girls Auto Clinic right here in suburban Philly. I've long had an interest in figuring out free or lower-cost auto repair services for folks who don't have a lot of money, but need a car to get to work.

Some years back, I learned that a large share of the traffic stops in my town were related to expired inspections - in PA, we have a requirement that your car gets a safety and emissions inspection every year. Repairs can be really expensive, because the inspection covers tires, brakes, windshields, and the emissions system.

Our town is designed to make sure that people have the things they need to live good and generous lives. The US is organized around cars, especially smaller towns like Neighborful Station. Even when we have good public transit and intercity trains - things that are also part of the Neighborful universe - people are still going to need access to cars.

Tireless Mechanics is a fun and punny episode, but it's also about imagining a world in which the cost of having access to a car doesn't stretch us to our limits. It's also about giving ourselves enough knowledge to deal with our cars confidently when they misbehave. Neighborful Station imagines how we can create community together by removing fear from people's lives. It's... wheelie important.

Wish of the Week

May you enjoy the strengthening Sun, as it leads us toward warmer and longer days.

Adventure Time radicalized me, Michael