June 15-19

Hi Gang,

This week, I left virtual life for real life. By that I mean that I left my little spot in the woods to road-trip through the southwest. It’s so much more fun to zoom by car. What I love most about traveling is getting a glimpse into the lives of others. How do they spend time? What sustains their economy? What do they eat and create and believe? I usually leave the United States to look for new perspectives, but leaving my zip code was more than enough after 3 months in captivity. And wow, what a cultural contrast. Crossing a few state borders is enough for even a seasoned anthropologist.

First stop is Paso Robles, our voyage cut slightly short by wild fires further south. Wait… what are those people doing? They’re sitting INSIDE? At the bar?! We observe from afar, feeling a mix of nostalgia and grave concern. ‘Yes, that table outside is perfect, thank you.’ We enjoy good wine, a Sonic Labyrinth (ask me about that later), and views of vineyards.

I’m not a gambler, which makes Vegas a curious next stop. While mostly empty, hotels and casinos are open for business. We eat fake-outside and watch drunk gamblers stumble around with cigarettes and no masks. A friend who runs a hotel there explains that 40-50% of visitors drive up from SoCal, so they’re hoping they can sustain business until COVID passes. The hotel is immaculate – looks like a 1:1 staff-to-guest ratio – and all staff members are masked and armed with squirt bottles of cleaning solution. I’ve never felt this clean on the Strip. But the bellman tells us of all the guests he’s helped since early June, we’re only the third to wear masks. Total. Time to go.

Well damn. The Hoover Dam is closed. Onward. We make a pit stop at the World’s Largest Thermometer, which is just across the street from someplace called Alien Jerky. Masks should’ve been required here long before the pandemic. It’s inside Alien Jerky that a realization sets in: People’s choices are consistent. If you weren’t taking care of yourself before, you sure as hell aren’t going to start now.

Arizona is next. Just don’t go there. Not now, anyway. They should change the state tagline from “The Grand Canyon State” to, “Fk It.” People are outright defiant. No masks. No signs reminding people to be safe. Did EVERYONE in Arizona come in from the Alien Jerky store!? What is going on here? The red craggy ranges in Sedona are stunning – I hope the storied healing powers of the vortex are true… if not, Arizona is in big trouble.

Ah, New Mexico. Finally. Even the roads are better here. Masks are required everywhere – inside and out. Interstate signs remind you of this frequently. We stop at the Continental Divide and visit a Native American-operated store. The women behind the counter are vigilant, asking everyone to use hand sanitizer upon entry and policing the mask situation. As we read up on kachina dolls and carved fetishes, we also learn that the Native American population has been dangerously affected by COVID. By in large, these tribes live in squalor and in extremely remote areas, with no access to healthy food, good healthcare, or economic mobility. We leave with hand-carved sculptures and heavy hearts.

The long, barren drive to Santa Fe is speckled with impoverished reservations. It’s a significant part of our culture we don’t see or talk about. We arrive to protestors surrounding a monument that pays homage to the slaying of Native Americans. Splashed with red paint and hand prints, the pain of the past is very real today.

Now peering down on the lands we traveled from 30,000 feet above – today on Juneteenth – I’m grateful but shaken. We have a beautiful country with so many beautiful people. But we live in significant denial and self-centeredness. Holed up in our shelters, we truly have no concept of how others have experienced this year, much less the decades before. Are we ready to open our eyes? To take action, not out of self-protection but to protect and care for others? To take a deep look at where we’ve been and where we need to go? And make the sacrifices necessary to get there? I don’t know. I just know step 1: Leave your zip code.

News & Resources

Business, Leadership & Self

• Resilience Is About How You Recharge, Not How You Endure

• Managers, Encourage Your Team to Take Time Off

• No More Pizza Fridays: Companies Find New Perks for the Remote Worker

News of Interest

• I took my first flight in the COVID-19 era. Here's what it was like.

• CB Insights put together a list of 50 future unicorns

• Dolly Parton Statue May Replace KKK Leader Bust at Tennessee Capitol

• Father’s Day gift for the great dads in biotech

From the Community

• Shout out to Geoff Eich and the Blue Note team for releasing a free COVID Cancer Care program to help cancer patients cope with COVID-19-related stress and anxiety (with support from the NIH and FDA).

Food Fight – send me yours!

This week’s winner is Margaret Laws, CEO of Hope Lab. What a gorgeous dish, Margaret!

Chef’s comments: “For those of you who are fans of Yotam Ottolenghi and Nopi, I offer you Pistachio- and pine nut-crusted halibut with wild arugula and parsley vichyssoise. It’s easier than it looks, and the green is stunning!”

Cuteness Contest

We ran into these guys on the way to a ghost town called Oatman in the rocky hills of Arizona. They were a peaceful group of protestors who want us to know that Donkey Lives Matter.

Be well,

Jackie