Randi with an i

Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore (and some Traverse City, Mich. things)

September 13, 2023 Randi

I mentioned it in my last post, but a recent trip to Michigan gave me a chance to drag Ryan up to Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore and show him all the fun things Traverse City has to offer.

We didn’t leave Ypsilanti until later Saturday afternoon because we were both exhausted from non-stop family visits after our 6 a.m. flight out of Phoenix. (6 a.m. flights mean we have to wake up at 1 to make it down to Phoenix from Flagstaff.)

But, I never thought I’d get a chance to bring Ryan up to Sleeping Bear during the summer, because fire season.

So, we crammed as much as possible into our brief overnight trip up north.

Michigan (again)

September 12, 2023 Randi

TWO Michigan visits in one summer?

PetiteKnit’s Oslo beanie (my latest knitting project)

September 6, 2023 Randi

We’re now past Labor Day weekend, which means it’s fall now. Right? Right?

That means KNITTING.

Earlier this week, my friend Lexie invited me over to see her new house (congrats again, Lexie and Nate) and to sit on her porch and knit.

I’m pretty sure heaven exists, and I’m pretty sure knitting on Lexie’s porch is heaven.

Lexie’s invite gave me an excuse to pick up my long-abandoned knitting project that I started in January of this year.

S#!T I’ve been loving lately (September 2023 edition)

September 4, 2023 Randi

Well. The July edition of this post was pretty damn heavy with wildfire-related gadgets and gizmos, and I hate to say it, but — thanks to a later-than-usual monsoon season that extended Arizona’s wildfire season into mid-August — so is this post is as well.

Here’s some of the stuff I’ve recently bought, or rediscovered, or have found to be worthy enough of my time, money and energy to share.

What I read: August 2023

August 31, 2023 Randi

Well, the first half of August was insanely busy thanks to a few surprising late-season fires.

I didn’t have much time for reading throughout the first half of the month, but luckily, monsoons are here! Which means I’ve spent a lot of rainy weekend afternoons reading over the last couple of weeks.

Despite ignoring my Kindle for the first few weeks of August, I was able to finish four books this month — all fiction novels this time around.

Mid-August garden check-in

August 16, 2023 Randi

This summer has totally gotten away from me. Late monsoons mean a longer fire season which means more time away from my apartment and less time to tend to my garden.

Last year, I wrote about the beginning, middle and end of our summer gardening experience.

But, this summer has been so busy with work that I’ve barely had time to tend to my garden, let alone write about it.

So, let’s start from the beginning!

Some (more) recent fires: The Scott and the Brady

August 15, 2023 Randi

What a weird fire season. It’s mid-August and I’m still finding my work life consumed with wildfire response!

I just wrapped up two back-to-back fires, the Scott Fire located here on my forest, and the Brady Fire, located south of my forest on the Tonto.

What I read: (June and) July 2023

July 31, 2023 Randi

You might have noticed (probably not, who am I kidding) there was no “What I read” post last month.

Sad to say… that’s because I only read one single book in June. Whoops.

Work kept me a little busy.

But, luckily, I did sneak in some time for some reading this month. Quite a bit of reading, actually, thanks in part to a trip back home to Michigan, which allowed for a lot of time with my Kindle. I finished eight books in July, which brings me past the halfway point of my annual goal of 50 books.

A week back home in Michigan: Kayaking, a Tigers game, Detroit cocktail bars and Ann Arbor restaurants

July 31, 2023 Randi

What a week!

I got back from a quick four-day trip to Michigan that I booked last-minute and kind of spontaneously for an unexpected family thing.

It was kind of nice in a way. During my last trip home to Michigan, I booked it faarrr in advance, and let everyone know about my travel plans, which means I spent way too long trying to cram in visits with friends I haven’t seen in forever.

Booking so last-minute this time around meant I had a lot of unstructured free time, and a lot of time to spend with family, which was something I didn’t realize I needed until I had it.

Working on wildfires: What’s in my ‘PIO kit’ + tips for how to build a PIO kit

July 22, 2023 Randi

Well, here’s a unique version of the typical “what’s in my bag” posts that were popular circa 2014.

I’ve shared quite a bit of info about my day job, and even more info about the wildfires I work on as part of that job.

One of the tools I really rely on to do my job is what I call my PIO kit.