So far behind this year on uploading photos!! Attempting to catch us up from last 6 months!! This post and beyond will all just be collections of some photos from Feb-August 2021….been a super crazy busy time!!
February 2021: family time! /
January 2021: Prioritizing Priorities /
Welp, 2021 got off to a BUSY start! Working new jobs, working towards stacking up 100 days this season, working to find a house…lots of stuff going on but SO fun. :)
Ringing in 2021
Before the Big Snow
The Big Snow
December 2020: The end of an era, a well-deserved break, and Christmas time! /
December 2020 was a transition and decompression month for us. We both had our last days at our jobs, and then were able to take a few weeks off together to ski as much as possible before starting our next jobs at the start of the new year! Super exciting. Feeling like two lucky ducks. 3-part photo series to document!
1. PRE WORK AND DAY TRIP RECREATING
2. MAIDEN VOYAGE OF THE HILLEBERG!
3. CHRISTMAS AND POST-CHRISTMAS
Snowvember and welcoming in Water Year 2021 /
…although low tide!! What a crazy month it was! It seems things began to look up moving into the new (water) year. :)
Early ThanksChristmasGiving in IL (including much leaf peeping and dining extravaganzas) /
We headed back to IL on the early side for holiday celebrations this year to avoid travel complications associated with COVID— had a wonderful little visit and got an early Christmas present from Mama Nature of getting to enjoy the leaves turning in incredible form!!! We even got to stay in the local AirBnB, aka Basecamp in the driveway. :) As always, happy times and decadent dining with the Dierkers!
Sour bats and big puffies /
This year we got in not one but TWO tiny family backpacking trips! Got in our trip with the Perrot elders in late October over a chilly, blustery weekend in the Hoover Wilderness. Was filled with lots of wind, snacks, and a beautiful sunset!
October turns, trails, and other times /
Adapt and revise /
September was a tough month of continually changing plans…was supposed to go backpacking, then everything caught on fire, our permit was cancelled, AND Alex got sick (all within 2 days)…never tested positive, but sure seemed COVID-y. Watched all of the Marvel movies in bed for a week and a half instead! Not our ideal use of PTO, but was necessary, and some classic 2020!
Vehicles and AQI /
It was the best of times, it was the worst of times…our free time was primarily occupied by dealing with simultaneous car breakdowns, a very serendipitous opportunity to shuttle and borrow a functional car, making decisions about repairs and what type of new vehicle to replace the Jeep with, learning about TrueCar and the art of negotiation, and some running thrown in there too! Big month! In the background was the start to a pretty terrible wildfire season in the West, during which we also learned how to time our runs and choose routes on the fly in areas with the better AQI. Yay PurpleAir!
Sweetness goes West (aka Elder Dierker summer visit) /
Photo essay from the Dierkers pulling the A-liner out to Reno and posting up in the Sierra with us for a few weeks! SUCH FUN TIMES, and a few firsts, including their first Sierra backpacking experience!
<3<3<3
Carson Pass
Mt Tallac
Hoover Wilderness Backpacking
TRT + Tahoe City
Other Reno Base Camp Times!
Heat of the Summer 2020 /
Fourth of July skiing on Shasta /
Hey June /
JUNE TURNS WITH HOLLY AND COLIN
OTHER JUNE TIMES
Turn it and burn it /
Theme of May 2020: corn in the AM, sand in the PM. Sometimes with some running and hiking thrown in there too.
RENO/MT ROSE/NORTH SHORE TIMES
DOCTOR SISTER!
EAST SIDE TIMES PART 1 WITH ELISE AND RYAN
Bonus: old photos of the Perrot Elders skiing False White on Father’s Day weekend pre-Dani
BDAY OUTDOOR CELEBRATIONS/EAST SIDE TIMES PART 2
Transition season art /
Edible and mailable!
Spring high desert blooms /
Reno Spring Livin' /
“The only life worth living is the adventurous life….he who lives the adventurous life will remain unafraid when he finds himself alone.” -Raymond B. Fosdick
A LA CASA DE DIERKER
AROUND TOWN
GOOD TIMES IN A POPUP BOOK
Keep Your Heart Young /
A little Brandi Carlile during music night at Casa de Dierker :)
XOXO, D&D
Earth Day 50 /
nearby traffic whizz, zoom, rumble
fading, replaced by the conversation of water and terrain
burnt light, giving way to pale sunflower and open water blue above
the beams dazzling, combining with crisp air, burning the nostrils, drawing tears protectively into the eyes
refracting rays exponentially
the smell of melting vanilla ice cream in the ponderosas
their bark rough and warm, catching our hands
t-t-t-t-t-t-t-t-t-tap tap tap the woodpecker knocks
while chee chee and chickadeedeedee replies from other branches emerge
a bed of needles to lie in, a canopy of prickly green and sky above
gravity draws down,
down.
soft, firm earth below, still damp from winter snow
un-judging, constant, support.
I am not normally moved to writing poems and such, but in taking a slow walk in the woods the morning of the 50th anniversary of Earth Day, I felt ideas and words and sounds and smells all swirling in my consciousness at once, and with it a deep sense of appreciation. We can do better. Alex and I. You. Us. We have incredible gratitude for this planet that houses us, feeds us, gives us water and air and land on which to subsist in and play in. Thanks, Ma Earth. We’ll keep finding ways to do better by you.
Love, D(&D)
The remainder of March 2020...procrasticooking and PHYSICAL distancing /
Just two kids over here in Reno, NV trying to find our way during these crazy, crazy times, just like everyone else. We’ve been navigating the constantly changing landscape of acceptable risk, new foods to test out making, our freezer’s capacity, facetime socializing, how and when to grocery shop, etc. Right now, we’ve just been trying to minimize the number of times we come into contact with other people, which we’ve completely reduced to just the grocery store every 1-2 weeks. We’ve also been washing our hands like crazy people, are making some face masks this weekend, and are trying to stay as healthy as possible. We are now coworkers in our home office too, which has been AWESOME and easy and great to be able to help each other with work questions…also we’ve both been eating better and more consistently, hooray! We’re fully committed to only going as far as Mt Rose, so it looks like we’ll be getting to know the Reno area extra well in the near future! Feeling really lucky to have each other, our apartment, and this area right now.
