Keeping Perspective

By Bettina McBee | Photos by Terri Lee

Terri Lee spent decades thriving on her love of mathematics. While she was a nuclear engineer, she worked in an environment where precise measures, regulated procedures, and awareness were paramount. And safety attire was the fashion.

Lee grew up in San Mateo, California, where she attended Aragon High School. After graduation, she attended the University of California, Santa Barbara. During her freshman year, Lee took an introductory nuclear engineering course and aced it. In 1979, she became one of the first women to graduate with a degree in nuclear engineering from the school.

She worked in San Jose before moving to Wilmington, North Carolina, where she took a position as a reactor engineer for the Brunswick Nuclear Plant. She then ventured to Salem County, New Jersey, to work for Hope Creek Nuclear Generating Station.

Upon retiring, Lee gave up her hard hat and hazmat suit for leisure attire and bought airplane tickets, traveling to England, Norway, and Spain, and to Hawai´i, hiking and touring museums. In 2020, Lee had her first tarot card reading and immediately embarked on a journey of spiritual learning and healing, which she continues to this day, doing tarot readings, crystal bowl sound healing, Reiki, and painting. In December 2021, Lee traveled to Carmel and fell in love with the beach community, and by May 2022, she packed her bags and drove to Carmel to start a new adventure and rediscover herself through her art.

“I’m a literal person, so a rock is a rock,” Lee says, laughing. “Art helps me see the rock as a collection of colors.” Currently, her art themes focus on landscapes and abstractions in acrylic, watercolor, and ink and pen, and appreciating the beauty in life and the planet. She also said: “I’m supposed to be here in Carmel,” she says, “there’s no doubt in my mind.” is at the pleasure of the owner of the facilities. Compass is a real estate broker licensed by the State of California and abides by Equal Housing Opportunity laws. License Number 01991628, 01527235, 1527365. All material presented herein is intended for informational purposes only and is compiled from sources deemed reliable but have not been verified. Changes in price, condition, sale, or withdrawal may be made without notice. No statement is made as to the accuracy of any description. All measurements and square footage are approximate.

For more information, follow @shaktilee13 on Instagram.

Secluded, yet minutes from Carmel-by-the-Sea and Monterey, Teháma is a last-of-its-kind community where owners enjoy the perfect balance of natural beauty, unmatched privacy, and convenience to the best the peninsula has to offer. With a limited number of homesites remaining, this is your opportunity to build the home, and life, you’ve always dreamed of.

Homesites from 3.5 to 25 acres with prices starting at $2.25M. Contact our Real Estate Sales Team for a private showing.

155 highland drive , carmel , ca 93923 reservations ( 800 ) 635-4774 ticklepinkinn . com

Gracious Elegance