Now. Like, right now.

Let’s get in sync on the living situation because I’m often asked where am I and if I’ve moved.

No, I have not moved, but I have been moving around. Data Storey and I still happily live in Tacoma, Washington, but have migrated elsewhere during the winter months to primarily escape the long dark hours that wrap the Pacific Northwest like a life-sucking, cold blanket. It’s even worse in Alaska—where I spent 20 years of my life—and I don’t intend to give the short daylight hours any more of my life when I can avoid it. Last winter we lived in Sonoma, California for a few months. In the same few months when the state went from Biblical drought conditions to rainforest. I did not expect to earn an honorary Boy Scout badge in water management.

This year we have lived in Henderson, Nevada, Palm Springs, California, and we’re back to our AirBNB in the heart of wine country. In a few weeks, we’ll head North and prepare for Spring. We’ve done quite a bit in the last couple of months and have hosted several of our friends throughout the journey which has made each place even more memorable.

While I can see doing this regularly, I think living out of suitcases for four months is about as much as I can stand. Though we’ve lived in some nice properties, there’s a temporary feeling to life that starts to set in. I’m happy to be where we are right now, but I’m also excited to go home.

I could see a future where we live half of our year in Sonoma. In many ways The Valley of the Moon is perfect. It’s off the main roads and doesn’t get nearly the amount of tourism that Napa and Healdsburg get. There are fantastic markets and a diverse selection of bars and restaurants for every kind of occasion. And when the sun is out, the entire valley feels like magic. The house where we stay is on a small hill overlooking a gulley. Hundreds of birds fly and chirp around while hawks soar above. At night the frogs and owls come out and make themselves known. It’s a very nice place, but the costs and difficulty of living in California make it a challenge to consider.

For fun, I continue to hunt people in Fortnite Zero Build. Earlier this year I set a personal best of 20 kills in one match and won. I enjoy the Fortnite platform that Epic has built and love that they keep making it better. I’m also playing Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown and Mario vs. Donkey Kong on Nintendo Switch. The Switch is such a great console. It would be my go-to for everything if it was more powerful. That’s all I want out of the next version: Keep it all the same but give it more oomph. I hope Nintendo doesn’t blow it with a gadgety upgrade later this year.

As for reading, I’m working through Do: A Manual of Living, The 3 Alarms, Be Useful, (by the way, if you haven't already, check out the three-part series on Arnold's life, we really enjoyed it), Poor Charlie’s Almanac, and a handful of other books on collaboration and leadership. The more books I read about these two topics the more I believe there are only about 30-40 things anyone needs to be successful. Even fewer if you consider the fundamentals of just being a good human being.

For fun, I devoured Incredible Doom after a recommendation by Dave. Also reading The Weatherman, Strange Adventures, and re-reading DMZ. I’ve started The Sympathizer and Starter Villian. 

I canceled our subscription to the New York Times and Google TV. The first is because I no longer consider their quality of reporting worth the price tag. I miss playing Connections, but have since picked up a Puzzmo subscription to scratch that itch.

Work is still in progress and I’ll have more to say on that later.