**This blog posted has been updated from its original posting on February 14, 2012** Observing our world from the middle-aged cheap seats, I can recite a litany of reasons to not love what I see. School shootings, freak and destructive storms, crazy political rancor – it can all make a gal a little despondent. However, in the spirit of this upcoming Valentine's Day, I would like to instead share that hope - and youth - springs eternal and is most certainly thriving in a place that has taken a … [Read more...]