Make Your Goals Greater Than Your Memories (08FEB2022)

Sunset Above the Clouds, Mount Baldy, Eagle River, Alaska (February 2021)

Alaska is beautiful. Transformational. It changes how you look at the world. Even during the heart of winter, the opportunities to get outside and experience nature are endless.

Mount Baldy is located in a suburb of Anchorage named Eagle River. It is an extremely popular hike. On a clear day, you can see Denali, which is over 250 miles away (4.5 hours by car). When I was in Alaska with the U.S. Coast Guard in 2021, I hiked Mount Baldy on several occasions. It was located within a short drive off base and the hike could be completed in a relatively short amount of time (i.e. after the workday was complete).

I love history. I have a Master of Arts in History (2006) and a Master of Historic Preservation (2009). One of the great things about where I live, Buffalo, New York, is the intact, historic, built environment. Buffalo has buildings designed by some of the greatest architects in the world (Yamasaki, Wright, Sullivan, and Richardson all left their mark on Buffalo). Buffalo celebrates its splendid architectural history, as it should (it is definitely worth checking out if you have never been - I would be happy to provide a tour).

But we should not let our memories, our past accomplishments, be greater than our dreams, what we are working towards - a better tomorrow. Mount Baldy is a spectacular climb, I want to do it again, but what is the next mountain that I will climb? Buffalo has a wonderful, historic, built environment, but what is next? What is our goal for Buffalo in 10-years, 20-years, or long after we are gone. What are doing to make tomorrow’s Buffalo better than it ever has been?

Let us keep striving, keep progressing, keep developing our minds, keep trying to make tomorrow a little better than today.

Best,

MB