Randi with an i

Another Grand Canyon post: Camping at the North Rim

September 12, 2022 Randi

Camping at the North Rim of the Grand Canyon is an annual thing now, and I love it!

Last year, I went on the first of (hopefully) many camping trips along the North Rim of Grand Canyon National Park. I’ve written a little bit about this before, but the northern Arizona Returned Peace Corps Volunteers adopted a section of the Grand Canyon Highway, which leads to the North Rim, and are now obligated to perform trash pick-ups along a two-mile stretch twice a year.

Which means, the northern Arizona Returned Peace Corps Volunteers are also obligated to go camping up on the North Rim twice a year as well. Those are the rules.

What I read: August 2022

August 31, 2022 Randi

My reading habits are… a little unpredictable.

I’ve always loved reading, but the older I get, the more and more my Kindle has to fight for my attention. Between wildfires at my day job, preparing yoga playlists and sequences for my night job, taking care of Yukon, gardening, knitting, recreating outdoors (camping? Great for reading! Paddle boarding? Not so much!), etc…

…reading always just seems to land at the bottom of my priority list.

However, I knew I wanted to prioritize reading just a little more this year. I started 2022 living alone in a remote Sierra Nevada cabin for a long-term work assignment, and given my seclusion, I had a LOT more time to dedicate to reading.

I naturally took a break once I got back to Flagstaff and work picked up during wildfire season, but once August started and monsoons became more frequent, I was back to draining my Kindle’s battery as fast as possible.

It’s only August, and I’ve already reached my reading goal for the year — thanks in part to the five books I devoured this month.

Cute enamel camp mugs

August 4, 2022 Randi

My style and tastes have definitely changed over the years (for better or worse, that remains to be seen), but my obsession for coffee mugs remains.

(After clicking that link, I’m gonna go ahead and say it’s changed for the better.)

I’m buying fewer and fewer ceramic mugs these days though because, well…

…I have more of a need for enamel coffee mugs.

A fungi foray

August 1, 2022 Randi

I had a pretty FUN-gi weekend here in northern Arizona.

Hehehe… puns.

My friend Megan, who recently joined the Arizona Mushroom Society, asked if I wanted to be her plus-one to a Sunday morning mushroom foray in the Kachina Peaks Wilderness here on the Coconino.

Why the heck not?

A few sustainable household upgrades

July 30, 2022 Randi

I’ve been wanting to write this post for a while.

Given the current state of… *gestures wildly,* I’ve been making it a point over the past year to upgrade a LOT of my household staples to more eco-friendly versions.

I mean, given that the Supreme Court just decided that the Environmental Protection Agency doesn’t actually have the legal authority with which to protect the environment…

AGH.

Deep breaths.

Anyway. I’ve spent the past year investing in a few reusable upgrades to common kitchen and household supplies. I know I’m one person and any changes I make are pretty much futile given the current state of affairs, but still. It feels good to reduce the number of single-use plastics that end up in local landfills!

Mid-summer garden check-in!

July 29, 2022 Randi

I can’t believe how close we are to August!

With that said. It’s been a few weeks since I posted about my first ever high-altitude gardening attempt, and so I figured I’d do a little check-in now that it’s been six or so weeks since that post.

Well. Fire season apparently continues! Sedona’s Committee Fire

July 28, 2022 Randi

Hahhahaha. So. Remember my last post about the Pipeline/Haywire/Double fires? And how excited I was that monsoonal rains had hit Flagstaff because it meant that fire season was over?

JOKE IS ON ME!

I spent alllll of last week working on the Committee Fire, a relatively small (acreage-wise) fire that was highly visible from Sedona.

(Knit) a bad weekend

July 12, 2022 Randi

This past weekend was, thankfully, pretty chill.

After weekends spent paddle boarding… and paddle boarding… and paddle boarding…

…and working on fire… after fire…

…I needed a break.

So, I spent this weekend doing nothing taxing and everything relaxing.

That means running our local urban trail system with Yukon. And taking (not teaching!) classes at the yoga studio. And going to the farmers market. And reading (and FINALLY finishing!) a book. And cooking.

And… learning how to knit!

More fire season on the Coconino: The Pipeline, Haywire and Double fires

July 7, 2022 Randi

YEEESSSSHHHHHH. I’m finally getting around to writing this one.

I wanna preface this by saying: Monsoons have arrived and fire restrictions have lifted (for the most part) here in northern Arizona and our local fire season is effectively over.

Fire season here in the Southwest works a little differently than fire season in the rest of the American West. Here in Arizona (and New Mexico), our spring starts out warm and dry. We have cooler nights up here at 7,000 feet, but humidity is very low, and a historic 1,200-year drought has exacerbated the lack of moisture here.

We deal with hot, sunny, dry days in April, May and June, and then once July hits — we get monsoonal rains, which typically end our fire season.

Of course, this is all climate-dependent, and due to the drought, the last few monsoon seasons in Flagstaff haven’t been as wet as normal.

Anyway. Our season got started WAY early this year with the Tunnel Fire that broke out back in April.

Once the Tunnel Fire was fully contained, we were still all holding our breath waiting for rain.

And… then instead, a few weeks later, we got the Pipeline Fire.

We have a deck!

July 6, 2022 Randi

Ryan and I (OK, entirely Ryan) finally got around to bringing a long-discussed project to fruition.

We built a deck in our side yard!