Recent Posts

Randy standing in a lawn holding a large banner that says Randy Westlund for Post Falls City Council

Why I'm Running For City Council

I’m running for Post Falls City Council because I want my children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren to grow up as part of a thriving, resilient, local community here in North Idaho.
orange and black butterfly with wings open resting on the surface of water with ripples going out around it

A DIY Future: How to Discover Options and Effect Change

How bad do things have to get before you try to change them? How do you figure out that change is even possible, and build up the inertia to act?
the cover of the book Arbitrary Lines by M. Nolan Gray

Book Review: Arbitrary Lines: How Zoning Broke the American City and How to Fix It by M. Nolan Gray

You might expect zoning to be a boring topic, but M Nolan Gray makes a compelling case for why you ought to care about zoning, explaining what it is, where it came from—and why we should abolish it.
WWII propaganda poster with the words 'Your own vegetables all the year round…' above a picture of a basket of vegetables with the text 'if you dig for victory now' below'

Why Idaho Needs a Victory Garden Tax Credit

Global supply chains are fragile. We need supply chain resilience—especially food independence. To that end, we propose a “Victory Garden” tax credit, which, like its namesake in WWII, will prompt people to grow some of their own food. Dig for Victory!
a woman wearing a white hat, a blouse, and jeans crouches in a garden row while an older man standing near her holds a hoe, leaning over as if working, green trees in the background

What Is Localism?

Localism prioritizes the local above the distant, the organic above the centrally planned, insisting that local communities be stable, sustainable, and relatively self-sufficient. Here are seven ways localism benefits our communities.
Hardcover edition of the book Live Not By Lies by Rod Dreher

Book Review: Live Not by Lies by Rod Dreher: A Manual for Christian Dissidents

This book argues that communist totalitarianism is coming to America, soon, and we have to prepare now if we're going to survive. But Dreher isn't nearly worried enough.
Paperback copy of the book The Benedict Option by Rod Dreher

Book Review: The Benedict Option by Rod Dreher: A Strategy for Christians in a Post-Christian Nation

This book presents a strategy for Christians living in a post-Christian nation: namely, that we've lost the culture war and need to focus on preserving the light.
modern bridge over a river

Dialogue Takes Two: Why Sharing Ideas Matters

Friends have shut down conversations because they disagreed with me. But dialogue is important—for finding common ground, truth, understanding—and it's only possible if everyone in the conversation is willing to talk.

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About

We're Jacqueline and Randy, a blogging duo with backgrounds in tech, robots, art, and writing, now raising our family in northern Idaho.

Our goal is to encourage deliberate choices, individual responsibility, and lifelong curiosity by sharing stories about our adventures in living, loving, and learning.

Learn more about us.


Connect:

whoo@deliberateowl.com

Start here

Curious about our life and journey? Here are some good places to start reading:

Jacqueline and Randy leaning their heads together smiling at the camera

A Blog About Education, Lifestyles, and Community

A brief history of how the Deliberate Owl came to be and why we're writing a blog about us, our lives, and how we're living out our values.
Priests in red and gold celebrate a traditional Latin Mass

Discovering the Traditional Catholic Mass

How I discovered the traditional Latin Mass a few years ago, why that discovery changed everything for me, and what was wrong with the Novus Ordo Masses I'd attended.