Feelin’ Good

WELCOME TO OUR “FEEL GOOD” ISSUE! I love the theme of this issue for a lot of reasons, but mostly because it is a catchall for good vibes. When we start brainstorming content, we quite literally begin with the question — what makes you feel good? It spans the gamut from being out in nature to helping others in the community to fast, flashy cars. And guess what? In this month’s issue we have all that — and much more.

But back to this idea of “feel good” for a moment. I have one feel-good moment that I have savored endlessly for the last two years. We were smack-dab in the middle of Covid and I had popped into Trader Joe’s to pick up a few things. When I reached the checkout, it was pure chaos all around me. As I was quickly placing my items on the conveyor belt, I heard the cashier behind me say to an older couple that there was not enough room on their credit card for the total bill. Everything was already bagged and as they started to go through the bags looking for things to take out, I turned around, handed the cashier my credit card and told her I would pay the balance. It wasn’t much, to be honest, and I couldn’t bear the thought of this couple who looked to be in their 70s suffering the indignity of rummaging through their bags trying to do the math.

As you can imagine the couple was very surprised and insisted on taking my name and address so they could pay me back, and obviously, I said no way. I just told them kindness is contagious and to pass it on, then walked away. I’ll never forget their faces when they spotted me in the parking lot, waving frantically and yelling thank you over and over again. The feel-good factor lies in knowing that they had all the ingredients they needed for that night’s dinner or maybe the old man loves chocolate and he had five bars of his favorite type in the bottom of one of the bags; either way, it was worth every penny. Just the thought of those two brings a smile to my face.

I hope that you find a few feel-good moments in this issue; there are certainly plenty to choose from — not least of all our gorgeous cover photo and the associated feature. Anyone who knows me knows I am genuinely obsessed with the weather (I always joke that I missed my calling as an on-air weather girl) and working with photographer/ meteorologist Jeff Lewis was a dream. He did such an incredible job of capturing the fairy-tale-like feeling that you get in the county this time of year. Is there anywhere more beautiful than Marin in the spring? Until next issue, I am sending you all the good vibes.

Casey Gillespie Creative Director and Co-Founder