Fall colors are making their way across the Saint Paul landscape this month and out on the high plains of northern Montana the hues of autumn color began upon the landscape in August. This past June, Bill completed his five year Montana project - the renovation a vacant main-street building in the little town of Opheim. The Outpost Café had a sixty day run. Bill was the waiter, chef and bottle washer seven days a week, eighty-hours a week. It had been many years since he had last cooked commercially and though he’s vegetarian he can make a great meatloaf and meatballs. He knew also that his made from scratch apple pies were good when retired farm wives left no crusts behind. Why was the Outpost only open for sixty days? To show it off to the community and region being he hopes to see it become a Community' owned café. Stay tuned...

Last fall in Saint Paul, Bill finished his campaign for a seat on the city council. All seven seats were up for re-election. He finished a strong second in the primary then went on to the general election against the incumbent. In all, he walked every block within this large ward, twice. He enjoyed greatly his face to face conversations with the public. He ultimately missed his opponent by 6% or 334 votes for the Ward Two seat. Will he give it another go in 2011? Perhaps he will. The bar can yet be higher for downtown and the waterfront area which form the heart of Ward Two. Regionally and nationally, Saint Paul need not continue to be overlooked nor be in the shadow of its bigger twin Minneapolis and nearby Bloomington - home of the Mall of America.

Change is constant. An everyday part of our being and the environment which we live, whether in a larger city such as Saint Paul or small Montana village like Opheim. In our lives, sometimes it’s barely perceptible, as is our aging process or sometimes it is significant, like the death of Jim Senior in May, Bill’s great friend from England whom he wrote of last year. More changes will be coming to Bill’s life in the coming months. In another year or so he’ll let you know how and where he landed.