January is a cold, wet reality check after the festive atmosphere of the holiday season and is often ranked as the worst month of the year to no one’s surprise. Whether you are working off the holiday excesses, working on a new year’s resolution, or getting back in the swing of work / school, the short, dreary days can dampen anyone’s spirits.

Side gigs are fun. It usually means you’ve found something to add to your daily responsibilities that's worth the time and effort. In the case of Amber and Hunter Harris, both chefs working in the restaurant industry, launching a monthly supper club is a test of bigger things to come.

This week, I met two 13-year-old boys who have started a business called Bay Boys Lure Company. Thomas Gross and Bennett Lieb are 7th graders at Bayside Academy and are on their way to creating a very successful business: conceived, funded, manufactured, and marketed entirely by themselves. Of course, because they are so young, moms and dads are advisors, yet mothers, Kim Gross and Ashley Lieb, clearly state that these entrepreneurs are on their own.

I am one of those people who turn their heads at the sight of a classic car. I have many nostalgic and fond memories associated with restored vintage automobiles and trucks from different periods. My friend, David Pierce, just bought a classic MGB which I first saw last week with him smiling behind the wheel.

Did you know that cilantro is the only herb that can detoxify heavy metals from our bodies? Or that ginger and turmeric are natural painkillers and have antiviral properties, or that beet juice gives you energy?

The restaurant business is not for the faint of heart. It’s a business that requires passion and love, with a pursuit of excellence that has no end. Sustainability means meeting the challenge every single day.

Part II: The Life and Times of Jimbo Meador Jimbo Meador has experienced many different and interesting occupations throughout his life, and most were squarely in his wheelhouse. He managed Bon Secour Fisheries for several years at the peak of the oyster and shrimp business. While there, he and Chris Nelson, a marine biologist and owner of Bon Secure Fisheries, had a grant to grow oyster spat in a lab for farming oysters in Bon Secour Bay before it was a widely accepted thing.

I ran into Jimbo Meador at a grocery store a few weeks ago. After exchanging pleasantries, we decided to meet for coffee and a visit. I left looking forward to it like a kid waiting for Christmas. I wasn’t sure what we would discuss. I planned to listen and learn and relish in the moment. Any time spent with Jimbo is memorable.