Hey Friend,

Running a moving company for nearly 40 years, you get a glimpse into a variety of passions via the belongings that your clients cherish. From a kitchen stocked with gourmet cookware to a garage filled with woodworking tools or a spare bedroom turned music room, our homes and belongings speak to the depth of human curiosity, often inspiring me to explore what passion of mine I have yet to discover.

In that spirit of personal discovery, my wife and I recently embarked on a new adventure: creating our own sourdough starter, the leavening agent in sourdough bread which consists of bacteria and yeast. While you can buy sourdough starter off the shelf and ready for use, we decided to DIY it! Check out the pics below for proof (yes, that is a baking pun)!

Frankly, the whole process is a little bit eerie! What seemingly starts as a mix of flour and water soon reveals itself to be a living, breathing colony of microorganisms that live in your refrigerator and require daily—sometimes twice daily—feedings! I'm already entrusted with the task of twice-daily feeding our dogs, who are visible to the naked eye, and I feel nervous about that responsibility!

And the more I learned about starter, the eerier the whole idea became! As it turns out, some of these little colonies that lurk in the back of many a refrigerator have been passed down for generations going back decades, even centuries—as far back as the French Revolution! I mean, if sourdough starter could talk, imagine the stories it could tell!

Eerie or no, we set out on our new endeavor and sought expert tips. We visited a shop in Los Angeles, where an experienced artisan described making starter the way a painter uses a color wheel. Add a little of this or a little of that to bring out the flavors you want. It sounded fun and creative! Yet, while we were there another patron quietly whispered his own pro tips under his breath, contradicting her and pointing toward a much more scientific approach. Equipped with a broad spectrum of advice, we returned home ready to grow our own little colony of yeast and bacteria to hand down to our children.

Perhaps we needed more science because our first attempt at creating a starter did not last more than a few days. But, don't fret! We haven't given up. We've already started our second attempt! Honestly, by the time this newsletter hits your inbox, we might be on our third attempt. But we'll keep trying. After all, some challenges are worth the effort (not to mention that I have to leave my offspring some sort of inheritance)!

Of course, as many things do, this simple challenge made me think of our clients and what they experience moving into a new home. Moving out of a house or apartment must be completed by a certain date. But the process of moving into a new space is different. There is no end date for turning a residence into a home because it is a lifelong journey. I appreciate being part of that process as we deliver cherished belongings to a household's new residence, their home ever in the making—just like a sourdough starter that continues to blossom and grow unendingly (if you treat it right)!

So, enough about me! I'd love to hear from you—what new passion or hobby are you exploring? Whether it's starting fresh in a new home or learning something new, feel free to share! Inspiration is always welcome.