As 2024 kicks into gear, we’ve already seen a glimpse of the tumultuous times ahead.

One section of the state remains cut off from the other, with no clear end to the chaos in sight, while a presidential election with perhaps unparalleled historic stakes looms like a thunderstorm cloud moving slowly but methodically across the bay.

Even still, similar to a silent field covered in a fresh coating of snow, there’s something about February and the beginnings of a new year that provide a sense of opportunities and hope renewed.

High school seniors enter the final stretch of their primary school journey, looking ahead to exciting futures at universities or jumping into career paths that will form the foundation of our workforce for decades to come.

Political hopefuls eye their own opportunities to enter the political arena, seeking to turn their ambitious goals into action for the first time, while incumbents seek more time to get their priorities across the goal line before their own moment in time runs out.
At the municipal level, budget season is in full swing, this year with the added difficulty of federal dollars from Covid running dry. For the financially savvy, it is an opportunity to find creative ways to continue delivering the governmental services people rely on to enjoy their lives, and for which the people working in government dedicate their own careers for.

And while the visual observations of a mythical, immortal groundhog are not a scientific basis by which to base our own feelings and plans for the future, we find it a more enjoyable experience to embrace the hope conjured by the thoughts of an early spring; a rebirth of longer, warmer days, and brighter sunrises just over the horizon.

Even as we clear our driveways of soaking wet, heavy snow, it feels as though change and the season of renewal is already among us.