Photo credit: Keith Krueger

      by Linda Martinson
Blue Ridge Naturalist

I was walking recently with a seven-year-old friend while she collected caterpillars. She placed them on her arms and on the handlebar of her scooter and wondered how many legs they had. I mentioned to her that, hopefully, all of her caterpillars will turn into butterflies. She glanced at me skeptically and said, “I just can’t understand how that happens.”

In my past professional life, I worked on economic analysis and rate case financing at the Georgia Power Company for several years, which was much more fun than it sounds. After we got Plant Vogtle on line (it is the last nuclear plant commissioned in the US), I moved on to Georgia Tech, another bastion of engineering and male authority. There I worked my way up to Vice President of Planning, Budget and Finance. It was in this position that I learned a lot about not-for-profit accounting and college finance and planning, and I also mastered the Art of the Argument. My final professional gig was as head of an independent school of 700+ students from 3 years old through the 12th grade. The Galloway School in Atlanta is a wonderful school — many of the children in my life attended there—and it was quite a privilege and great fun to lead the charge there for the final 12 years of my career. It convinced me that the honest, extensive and effective education of children should be our number one priority.

My wife Karen and I moved to Asheville 4 years ago after 30 years in the always summer climate of Tampa, Florida. The change of season, mild winters, and the great bio-diversity of the Appalachian area held a special appeal for us and we have enjoyed every minute of it.