I took part in a fascinating exercise last week in Redmond, which tried to simulate the difficulty of life on the edge of poverty.

It was designed to unmoor participants and send them straight into a confusing world — the rules of which were opaque and out of control. You know, sort of like life.

But it was harder than the middle class life some of us are used to. Troubles bubbled from out of our control — whether it be our failing health or our problematic family members or our past bad decisions that haunt our present. Underlying all of it was the existential dread of trying to pay the mortgage or rent at the end of the month.

Having finished the hours-long simulation, all participants seemed outright exhausted. But many were also inspired to think differently about services and empathy for those in need. Out of good thought experiments come good thoughts. And I’m excited to see and report on what comes from simulations like this.

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Now for some fun: It’s rockchuck season in Redmond.

It’s that time of year that the marmots dig burrows and poke their heads out of seemingly every crack and crevice in town. The little buggers hibernate for roughly eight months a year, making their annual return a welcome summer surprise for Redmond residents.

To help celebrate, send a photo of your back yard/neighborhood/local rockchuck, and if it’s chosen as the “Chuck of the Week,” you can win prizes and prestige. We’ll also get to see photos of a bunch of cute little buggers in each week’s paper — making all of us winners.

Send a photo of your rockchuck and include their assumed name and the general location where you snapped the photo — and maybe a little bit about your captured chuck’s personality. If your chuck is chosen as the “Chuck of the Week,” your photograph will be printed in that week’s Spokesman and you’ll receive a free one-year subscription to the paper.

Email your photo and contact information to news@redmondspokesman.com for consideration. I’m looking forward to seeing them!

-Tim Trainor is editor of the Redmond Spokesman.