Strategic visioning and scenario planning

Welcome to my life these days. I've gotten the opportunity through work lately to try to pull myself from the Must Do Now pile enough to condsider What Can Be. Here are a few of the questions that I'm pondering for an upcoming meeting:

"What kind of future do you envision for health and health care for the residents of Colorado?"
"What should the philanthropic mission be?"
"What would be an effective use of your grant dollars, in your view?"

I guess I just said that this is an opportunity. And it is. But it's quite a weighty opportunity, a responsibility really. Sometimes I wonder whether I am qualified to have an opinion on these matters at all. Do you feel more comfortable with someone like me answering these questions, or with someone with a full career's worth of health policy knowledge? Do you like the fact that there is a mix of people answering the questions together? I think I take comfort in that. But I can't get too comfortable because then I start thinking about whether we have enough people answering the questions.

In the time that I didn't spend thinking about these "visions", I thought about my tuna sandwich trashed mouth and wished I had a piece of Original flavor Trident. I pondered the vacation I've been pondering for months...should it be in Costa Rica, Oaxaca or the Florida Keys? Should I ask the auditor out for drinks? After all, she's about my age and we bonded over the lack of basketball opportunities for women after college. Would it be better as a first impression to beat my boyfriend's dad in a basketball pool, to tie or to lose? If I could paint a picture at this moment, what would be my subject?

South Dakota, a small town

One of my roommates is a Public Policy grad student at DU. She met a fellow Augie grad of mine in one of her classes a few weeks ago. I'm pretty sure this is how the conversation went, although I didn't ask. "Ah, actually I'm from SD." "NO! Me, too!" "Where'd you go to school?" "Do you know X?" "She's my roommate!" SD has to be one of the only states that allows a good chance of two acquaintences knowing the same people, strictly based on State residence. I don't even ask people in Denver if they know other people in Denver! But, last month I met a woman who started attending my church group. She was from SD and it turns out that she was good friends with the son of my parents' best friends and my brother's Best Man. Why not?

Hill City, my home town, is a microcosm of the SD microcosm. We all know each other (and too much about each other), we know hosptitality, we know independence and we know a cowboy/farmer sense of integrity. This is a huge, sappy generalization of my state...and I realize a rather shabby addition to the body of SD-lovin' blog work that is now so readily available on the internet. Still, I challenge you to find an individual so cheesily in love with her home. My father, and now by brother, have based their careers on tourism. They joke with me that in the last two years that I've been living in Denver, the number of visitors from Colorado has increased dramatically.

A friend requested information about where to eat and where to get a good cup of coffee on his way through Hill City. More than happy to oblige. (Although this information may be unhelpful at this point as my blog has been hibernating for a couple of months.)

The Alpine Inn (it's on Main St) - This is one of the Black Hills' most well-known and loved eateries. If you are passing through town in the evening, you can order a small or large steak. That's your only choice. It comes with a baked potato and a quarter wedge of iceberg lettuce slathered in ranch dressing, whether you like it or not. If you have the privilege of enjoying lunch at the Alpine, order from an extensive menu of European fare. The owner was born in Germany and you have a good chance of meeting her as she often still works as a hostess. Get dessert. If I was going, I would get a Monte Cristo and the Berry Delight. Or the Wild Green Splendor and Napolean. Or the Cheesy Turkey and Bread Pudding. Or...

Be sure to stop at Granite Sports right across the street. I remember when this buidling housed the Corner Market in about 1985. Now you can get climbing equipment and lessons and browse a wide variety of all things outdoorsy.

There are many options for coffee, but I think one of the newest is your best bet. Dry Creek Roasting Company is a block south of the Alpine. My middle school basketball coach's son owns it.

If anyone else needs help with South Dakota vacation planning, give me a holler!