gossamer joy: Recent Episodes
Ray Don Tilley
This is Gossamer Joy, the Podcast, Episode 6:
00:00—Our Melting Pot
00:58—The Warrior’s Journey
05:01—Chaos Ahead, Unless We Learn
08:39—We’re All the Same
14:34—Community, for the Next Generation
20:13—A Spectrum of Complementary Human Beings
24:51—Looking Forward, Looking Out for Each Other
28:23—Parting Shots: Little Time, Big Issues
Organizations and speakers mentioned in this episode:
Texas Municipal League
Bonton Farms—Daron Babcock, Executive Director
Melanie Bloke
This is the finale of three podcasts on public service and our unusual election season. My guest, Annette Pernell, served six years as a council member in Orange, Texas, until moving in 2019 to Baltimore, where she has plans someday to return to public service. We met in 2018 when I, too, was a council member (Woodcreek), and we shared a table at Texas Municipal League’s six-day Leadership Academy in Round Rock.
Our first podcast, recorded July 12, was a chance to reconnect after leaving our respective offices. Summer protests for racial justice were in the air. We talked about leadership to change and the value of getting uncomfortable, stepping out of our own bubbles with open minds and open hearts. We considered the arc of history from our country’s founding, and took a long view with future generations in mind.
Then, we recorded a second podcast on October 28. Both of us had voted early, and we talked about the national election, just days away. This time, we focused in on voting and the public trust representing the competing interests of the greater community. We made it personal, too, contrasting wildly different perspectives on grandparents and ancestors, yet remarkably similar attitudes toward our own grandchildren’s opportunities.
This final episode in the series was recorded November 30 over Zoom. The election is past, but the transition of power is still a work in progress. At that time, President-elect Biden’s communications team, composed entirely of women, had recently been announced. We agreed that our great, divided country needs somehow now to heal and come together to recover from a global pandemic that has struck the U.S. disproportionately hard.
In a final segment, we touched on a series of big issues. Though we spent little time on each, you will find we scratched open new ground for further exploration.
Listening well was a theme that pervaded all three episodes. Gossamer Joy exists in part to create listening moments. We can understand each other and find common purpose. It starts with a willingness to hear and gather in without preconception what others have to say.
Annette Pernell and Ray Don Tilley, at Texas Municipal League recognition for Certified Municipal Officials, San Marcos, February 27, 2019 (photo: Diane Tilley)
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Gossamer Joy: Episode 5, Annette Pernell returns! We spoke October 28, over Zoom, one week before the election. We had voted as citizens for the first time in years, both freshly out of public office. The results were still unknown, but the lessons for our grandchildren were already clear. Our voting experiences were night and day, yet neither of left without feeling changed for good.
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This is Gossamer Joy, the Podcast, Episode 4:
0:00: Her First Mistake
1:33: Leadership to Change
4:53: Open Mind, Open Heart
7:14: Get Uncomfortable
9:53: What Change Does for Your Soul
12:00: Joy in Grands, Worry in Our Small World
14:20: Seems Like a Whole World Away
16:48: Seems Like Yesterday
I met Annette Pernell in May 2018 in Round Rock when she took a seat at the table where I sat with four others at the Texas Municipal League Leadership Academy. We were both council members at the time, and she had made the long drive from Orange, as east as it gets in Texas, and I from Woodcreek, an hour southwest. In that hotel ballroom, one of our first interactions became an indelible lesson, and this podcast was my chance to explore that story.
For the year that followed, Annette and I enjoyed good-natured competition as Leadership Fellows, accumulating TML Institute continuing education credits toward Certified Municipal Official designation. Seventy-two hours were required. I earned over a hundred; she cleared one-fifty, tops that year for TML. On our paths to earning C.M.O.s, Annette and I shared a number of classrooms and event halls. We met each other’s spouses and shared grandchildren tales.
Now, we have completed our terms in public office, and she has moved far from Texas. In her new home, she plans to seek election again, once residency allows. I am less sure, though grateful to have served.
Nonetheless, our friendship and TML lessons remain relevant. We share a remarkably small world. We are more alike than we are different. We both hope our grandchildren will improve on our world with all the courage and commitment that we devote to changing the world our grandparents’ inhabited. In our differences, we see a richness and variety for all our lives.
Annette and I recorded this exchange two months ago, but our conversation is fresh. And the conversation continues, for all of us. Even when it feels uncomfortable. We can be open, and lead. Change is good for the soul.
[Editor’s note: Hurricane Laura made landfall since we spoke. I know Annette joins me in prayers for recovery for the people of the Orange and Lake Charles areas.]
Annette Pernell and Ray Don Tilley, at Texas Municipal League recognition for Certified Municipal Officials, San Marcos, Texas, February 27, 2019 (photo: Diane Tilley)
Members of the 2018-19 class of Certified Municipal Officials, San Marcos, Texas, February 27, 2019 (photo: Diane Tilley)
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[Editor’s note: This recording is unbroken in timeframe, and represents the direct audio feed from the video system used to share the meeting online.]
Meeting agenda and packet are available on the City website: https://www.woodcreektx.gov/index.asp?SEC=B0AE750B-49F6-43C8-97B7-CF7251B3562D&Type=B_BASIC
“Sweep,” 8:26pm, May 28, 2020, Woodcreek, Texas (iPhone photo: © Ray Don Tilley)
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[Editor’s note: The recording is unbroken in timeframe to the 17:52 mark, at which time Council went into Executive Session. After a 5-second pause, the recording resumes with Council’s return from Executive Session 1 hour, 27 minutes later.]
Meeting agenda and packet are available on the City website:
https://www.woodcreektx.gov/index.asp?SEC=B0AE750B-49F6-43C8-97B7-CF7251B3562D&Type=B_BASIC
Cypress Creek, July 13, 2020, Woodcreek, Texas (iPhone photo: © Ray Don Tilley)
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[Editor’s note: This recording is unbroken in timeframe, but begins a minute or so into the meeting. My original call ten minutes early confirmed and “joined the meeting,” but I never heard any audio. Thus, when the 2:30 start time passed in silence, I had to reestablish a connection and be readmitted to the call.]
Meeting agenda and packet are available on the City website:
https://www.woodcreektx.gov/index.asp?SEC=B0AE750B-49F6-43C8-97B7-CF7251B3562D&Type=B_BASIC
Cypress Creek, July 6, 2020, Woodcreek, Texas (iPhone photo: © Ray Don Tilley)
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This is Gossamer Joy, the Podcast, Episode 3:
I first met the Rasco family on Nextdoor, the neighborhood website, even though I live on the same street among them. They are a part of the Wimberley Valley firmament. Monica Rasco and her husband Jeff are well into a third decade in Woodcreek, and Abby Adams, their granddaughter, knows no other home. Monica and Abby are my guests this episode, on the occasion of publishing the remarkable Goodnight Wimberley.
Their book is more than a local play on the Margaret Wise Brown classic from 1947. Like the greatest children’s literature, it proceeds through a child’s eyes to tell a vivid tale with profound lessons and enduring entertainment for readers of all ages.
The story is deceptively simple. We descend on that familiar Ranch Road 12 drive from San Marcos (although it could equally be from Dripping Springs): “In a great green valley / Where a creek meets a river / There is a place called Wimberley.” We see familiar characters and places, and one by one bid them goodnight. And, in the drifting rhythm of falling to sleep, the images and places slowly become more natural, eternal, and even in a way spiritual, to the final goodnight.
The shortest story requires the greatest care. In our interview, Monica and Abby matter-of-factly discuss the hard decision whether to include one particular “as.” And while Monica is clearly lead author of this book, do not discount Abby’s co-equal creative role. She has, after all, been a test audience from birth for her children’s librarian grandmother, listening to nearly as many different books as the days she has lived. She is the department of rhyme and chief inspiring officer.
Bethsaida Jacobsen’s particular artwork, a combination of stylized line drawing and expressive watercolor, presents its own underlying theme that complements the narrative. Like Wimberley, her paintings have a loose, almost relaxed feel that belies intense introspection and devotion to craft. She, too, lives just down the street. What a “sleepy little town.”
We recorded our conversation June 5, in the middle of virtual graduations everywhere, the latest surreal phase of dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic. Abby gives a frank, revealing look at remote learning from a student’s perspective, and Monica explains how the health crisis led her to consider shelving the whole book project. Now, she may have discovered a second book is merited.
Finally, I could not let them escape discussion of a very special relationship the three of us have shared reviving Woodcreek’s Parks & Recreation Board, creating a master plan to add and protect playscapes, pocket parks, trails, and street trees. Just as a children’s book speaks equally to adults, so shall a child’s perspective on political service command the ear of elected officials. She will, in 2024, have a vote and be able to serve. But—goodness and goodnight—that is another story.
These podcasts on Gossamer Joy present outstanding originals—right around the corner and beyond—characters worthy of a thoughtful listen. Settle in, and enjoy.
Monica Rasco and Abby Adams, Woodcreek, June 5, 2020 (photo: Ray Don Tilley)
Goodnight Wimberley, by Monica Rasco and Abby Adams; illustrated by Bethsaida Jacobsen
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[Editor’s note: This recording is unbroken in timeframe, except for the one-hour silence during Executive Session, which was removed. A three-minute silence occurs at 40 minutes in the recording when my call inexplicably dropped, and I had to reestablish a connection on the other provided phone number and be readmitted to the call.
For greater context and official sources, these links may be helpful:
Meeting Agenda, which includes Public Comments rules:
https://www.woodcreektx.gov/index.asp?SEC=B0AE750B-49F6-43C8-97B7-CF7251B3562D&Type=B_BASIC
Woodcreek Social Media Policy:
https://www.woodcreektx.gov/index.asp?SEC=35889D54-23D7-40C6-BFA7-E4B7147B5A3E&DE=6C23C4E9-44BF-4DAD-8BC8-2336CD5F362C&Type=B_BASIC
Public Information Act 2020 Handbook, State of Texas, especially Section 552.002 pdf pp. 31-32, 195-196:
https://www.texasattorneygeneral.gov/open-government/office-attorney-general-and-public-information-act
Open Meetings Act 2020 Handbook, State of Texas, especially Section 551.007 pdf pp. 9, 95-96:
https://www.texasattorneygeneral.gov/sites/default/files/files/divisions/open-government/openmeetings_hb.pdf
State law supersedes local policy.]
Meeting agenda and packet are available on the City website:
https://www.woodcreektx.gov/index.asp?SEC=B0AE750B-49F6-43C8-97B7-CF7251B3562D&Type=B_BASIC
Sunset, June 23, 2020, Woodcreek, Texas (photo: © Ray Don Tilley)
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This is Gossamer Joy, the Podcast, Episode 2:
I met Emma not long after she moved to town a few years ago. I thought I’d grown to know her pretty well, and then we sat down for this interview, and I got to meet her all over again. She never really meant to collect art. She assembled and made her colorful and inspiring surroundings in a roundabout way.
Emma grew up under “modest” conditions. It’s a proud upbringing I recognize. When you say you didn’t have much money, you refuse to give in to hardship. Never mind the creative thinking and long hours to cover bills.
Emma is a worker and a thinker, and her path has emerged from her willingness to support and care for others. Sometimes that has come at great risk and unknown consequences. Underneath her sunny demeanor lies a brooding understanding of the full range of humanity. And now, she has found peace.
No wonder, then, that she is equally at home among the dead and the living. She loves her life, and loves her friends and family, and in her joy embraces our common frailty and fleeting moments. Her social work continues in retirement, as she finds fascination and fulfillment where I, among the many, walk with trepidation.
These podcasts on Gossamer Joy present outstanding originals—right around the corner and beyond—characters worthy of a thoughtful listen. Settle in, and enjoy.
Emma Davenport, Wimberley, March 5, 2020 (photo: Ray Don Tilley)
Emma Davenport “Orangutan,” 1996, oxides, stains, and acrylics on concrete, collection of the artist
Chris Smartt “Sissy (aka Garden Goddess),” Dripping Springs, collection of Emma Davenport
Sandra Stevens “Milk Bath,” Sugar Land, collection of Emma Davenport
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Meeting agenda and packet are available on the City website: https://www.woodcreektx.gov/index.asp?SEC=B0AE750B-49F6-43C8-97B7-CF7251B3562D&DE=91CF4AAF-2D75-435A-B634-13F7B91FE1E1&Type=B_BASIC
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This is Gossamer Joy, the Podcast, Episode 1:
You might think an artist who has devoted decades to imagining and depicting space travel would be first in line to make the flight for real. Pat Rawlings will surprise you. He has detailed the Martian surface in painting after painting, shaping landforms and weather, and placing NASA hardware in rusty, powdery soil. But the idea of being “cooped up in a can” himself on a flight to Mars is a different story, and one of many we explore in this podcast.
Pat describes starting in 1st grade on an artful path and then in college risking it blindly before becoming a commercial artist trusted by aerospace engineers. He discusses a years-long project cataloguing every component of the Space Shuttle in illustrations for an easily-digested rescue manual.
Pat talks about arriving in the Wimberley Valley through chance and an admiration of natural beauty that runs deep. He shares his life and unique perspective freely—from earth to the airbrushed surface of Pluto and back to the live oaks of home.
Several works mentioned during the podcast appear here as illustrations. You’ll find many more online at patrawlings.com.
This episode launches a series of original podcasts on Gossamer Joy. In them, you will meet outstanding originals—right around the corner and beyond—always characters worthy of a thoughtful listen. Prepare for liftoff.
Pat Rawlings, February 24, 2020 (photo: © Ray Don Tilley)
“Distant Shores” NASA Artwork by Pat Rawlings
“First Light” NASA Artwork by Pat Rawlings
“We Have Liftoff” © Acme Brick Co., all rights reserved (artwork: Pat Rawlings)
“Red Brick Planet” © Acme Brick Co., all rights reserved (artwork: Pat Rawlings)
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Meeting agenda and packet are available on the City website: https://www.woodcreektx.gov/index.asp?SEC=91E99539-C851-4443-996F-03E67FE46EC8&DE=D81A1CFB-3F2B-4B9A-9107-B0FF3BABFB6C&Type=B_BASIC
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Meeting agenda and packet are available on the City website: https://www.woodcreektx.gov/index.asp?SEC=B0AE750B-49F6-43C8-97B7-CF7251B3562D&DE=91CF4AAF-2D75-435A-B634-13F7B91FE1E1&Type=B_BASIC
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Meeting agenda and packet are available on the City website: ttps://www.woodcreektx.gov/index.asp?SEC=B0AE750B-49F6-43C8-97B7-CF7251B3562D&DE=91CF4AAF-2D75-435A-B634-13F7B91FE1E1&Type=B_BASIC
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Meeting agenda and packet are available on the City website: https://www.woodcreektx.gov/index.asp?SEC=60DC477E-4CEF-47AE-8D8C-7A68056D1E80&DE=7A89C2DE-C3BF-45CB-96C6-50FF010BD468&Type=B_BASIC
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Meeting agenda and packet are available on the City website: https://www.woodcreektx.gov/index.asp?SEC=B0AE750B-49F6-43C8-97B7-CF7251B3562D&DE=FB3DABC9-382D-429B-957E-A10259057701&Type=B_BASIC
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Meeting agenda and packet are available on the City website: https://www.woodcreektx.gov/index.asp?SEC=B0AE750B-49F6-43C8-97B7-CF7251B3562D&DE=FB3DABC9-382D-429B-957E-A10259057701&Type=B_BASIC
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Meeting agenda and packet are available on the City website: https://www.woodcreektx.gov/index.asp?SEC=91E99539-C851-4443-996F-03E67FE46EC8&DE=DBE81624-C031-4EF0-825F-24C0B3308581&Type=B_BASIC
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