Franklin Taggart's Unconventional Life Blog

Hi Friends, The beginning of 2018 has been full of big and small changes. I have been laying low for a lot of it. I'll get to the reasons in a bit. First thing I want to say is I hope that your year is off to a great start! Tonight's Alley Lights concert at the Rialto in Loveland has been a big part of my life this year. Last year I attended a breakfast meeting of the Loveland Downtown Business Alliance where I heard a concern on the part of a downtown business owner who was concerned about sending his employees into the alley at night to empty trash because the lighting there was less than adequate. We also found out that alley lighting had not been included in a long term development plan for downtown, so we needed a more immediate solution. I had the idea to put on a benefit concert to raise money for a seed fund for this effort. I mentioned the idea to Jacque Wedding-Scott at the Loveland Downtown Partnership and the Alley Lights Concert was born. My friends Dave Beegle

 I've had a couple of good days of rest after a particularly full and challenging year. I'm excited to have a few days to recover and clean out the corners to get ready for 2017. Before I do that, I'd like to send gratitude to so many people. While it wasn't the easiest year, I was surrounded by love and goodness in a multitude of forms. I'm grateful first to Monica and B, and our little dog, too. For those who don't know, my dad spent the last year living with us in between independent and assisted living facilities. I didn't know the extent to which he would need to be taken care of, and our little family rose to the occasion. We made sure he was clean and fed, and Vinnie would have little visits with him. We had another family member for a few months in the midst of that. The identity isn't important, but it's only to say that we had our hands full.  Thankfully that chapter is closed. Despite the added stress and overwhelm, we managed to stay