I continue to be confused as to whether anyone reads these summaries. Anyway: It's been almost four years since we moved to the island from San Francisco. Two or three nights after we moved, my wife and I took the ferry into Seattle to attend a dinner for a friend's non-profit. It was so fun! And we met lots of fascinating people. These included: a very kind muckety muck at Starbucks; podcaster-rockstar double-threat John Roderick; and a wonderful guy who worked for Pearl Jam. A great many quintessentially Seattle-seeming things were happening in that one room. The experience left me exhilarated and optimistic; I thought to myself, "Wowzers! I just got here and I'm already having dinner with someone high up in the Pearl Jam organization!"

Four years later, I get into Seattle very rarely and live a pretty quiet life on the island. Do I feel like I'm missing out sometimes? Absolutely. Is this the life I imagined for myself? No way. Still, I'm happy. I feel lucky. I take a lot of nice walks. So...did I change? I changed by not changing at all. Small town predicts my fate.

Special thanks to this week's guests: Michael Barbaro and a mylar balloon whose flying days are through. This week's walk is sponsored by my old neighbor, San Francisco-based certified professional life coach Pam Daghlian. Pam is great, and offering a special rate for WALKING listeners at: pamdaghlian.com/walking