Currently: June

Currently living/working: The brief—yet psychotic—summer schedule continues. In June, Justin led 34 hikes & gave 4 presentations, while I led 13 hikes & gave 14 presentations. Of course there’s lots of airbnb cleaning/laundry in between, as well other random jobs mixed in. Full, very full! 

Current mood: Riding high on the annual miracle of summer in Alaska. 

Currently thankful for: Challenging opportunities through our jobs. I can’t emphasize this enough: Alaska is a school of hard knocks and a lifelong learning experience. Who would have thought our vocabulary would regularly include words like extrapolate, ecotone and herbaceous? But it’s in the name of being an authentic storyteller who can connect people to nature. Side note proud moment:  the power went out all over Denali 15 minutes before I was going to give a presentation to 45 people … and I nailed the improvisation! 

Currently proud of: Every summer in Denali overflows with opportunity, energy, people, projects, and plans—typically all at once. And the midnight sun fools you into thinking you’ve got endless reserves. Everyone wants to maximize summer, but the pace can swallow you if you’re not careful. I’m happy to report both Justin & I have been balancing all the things (thus far), and have even managed to incorporate free time to enjoy summer, like hosting a few friends this month. 

Currently worried about: Though I love summer with every fiber of my being, persistent doom looms since we live in a boreal forest prone to wind-driven, canopy-running monster wildfires. There were about 350 wildfires across Alaska in 2024. In 2025, there’s already been 309. Lightening ignited the woods about 10 miles north of us, which quickly spread to 20,000 acres. Our borough does a stellar job of keeping the community in a “ready, set, go” evacuation status, and we’ve yet to enter the “ready” phase. I’ve heard about 20 structures have been lost, and during my shift at the library this week, I met a man who lost everything. Amazingly, he admitted he’s been expecting it all these years and he put a positive spin on it: “at least my overgrown land is cleared for me to rebuild.” Justin & I know we are ill prepared for a wildfire with too many trees around our property and lacking a generator …

Currently amazed by: Climate change is so fascinating, yet so scary! I know it’s happening everywhere, but here’s what’s happening in the far north latitudes. On June 17, there were 15,718 lightening strikes across Alaska, which broke a record and started the massive wildfire nearby (see above). We had a mild winter, heavy snowfall in April & May, a lingering cold spring with measurable rain, and a heatwave (75 degrees in AK somehow feels like 90 degrees in the lower 48) with intermittent hail that damaged our shed roof! To be honest, I am obsessed with watching how things unfold, but sheesh, it’s wild. 

Current guilty pleasure: Not trying to over-romanticize our life, but I’ve seen a moose pretty much everyday in June. When I drive to work. When I walk from the parking lot in the national park to my office. When I guide people on a hike. When I am giving a presentation and they are out the window. When I am at our cabin & hear splashing in the pond (now dry). 

Current confession: We’ve owned a few Subarus in our life, but haven’t had one since we worked for Leave No Trace Center for Outdoor Ethics. I’ve missed it! So when my uncle in Fairbanks asked Justin to help him buy a used car “with no frills and specifically a CD player,” a lightbulb went off in Justin’s head! That described our 2nd vehicle (a 2012 Ford Focus)! If Justin was going to go through the hassle of helping him procure a car, why not just sell my uncle ours so we can upgrade! I’m elated I ended up with a 2018 Subaru Outback (Justin is the best car shopper), which is the same car we had through our job at Leave No Trace back in 2018! 

Currently excited for: Justin started working part-time at Discover Denali, our borough’s tourism department, in April 2024. He calls himself a glorified admin to the executive director, but when the executive director suddenly left in April 2025, he had to step up his duties for the past few months. It was challenging, but they just hired a new executive director, so yippee! 

Currently not excited for: Every year, we sand & stain another wall of our cabin, and this year, it’s the large front-facing wall, which needs the most work and will be the hardest to do with all the electrical boxes, etc. We keep procrastinate getting started … 

Currently regretting: I traded rhubarb for gift cards to one of my favorite local restaurants! Rhubarb is one of the few plants I’ve had success growing and though I make a yummy rhubarb crisp, I have no use for this much bounty, but the local restaurants do! I should have been doing this every summer!

Currently reading: My sister-in-law gifted me The God of the Woods by Liz Moore last summer, so it continued my fiction frenzy. It was a tiny bit slow and jumped back and forth from one character perspective to another, which I disliked, but I still enjoyed it. 

Currently watching on Netflix/Peacock: We’re outside watching “Denali TV” as much as we can be right now, and looking at our screens less. But we did just start watching The Waterfront on Netflix, and it seems like our kind of show.