The best we can do is hope for summer rain and keep our little corner of Orcas Island cleared and ready so there’s little fuel for a truly big fire to burn.
Category Archive: Orcas Island
Using the UV Index in Sunburn Season ☀️
I recently added a new data point to my weather watching that has transformed how I think about summer days. It’s called the UV Index and I encourage you to track it, too.
The Pig War 🐖
The post below was sent as an issue of my newsletter, Ready for Rain. As I write this from my home office, I can see Canada’s Gulf Islands, which are like sister islands to the San Juan Islands. This view is one I don’t take for granted because living on the...
Blisters, Beds, and Bourbon 🥃
The post below was sent as an issue of my newsletter, Ready for Rain. On Friday of last week, a dump truck arrived at our house and dropped off two loads of dirt, which is about twenty cubic yards, or about the size of a 70s station wagon. In construction, it’s...
The Traffic Jam at Safari Island 🦭🦌🐋
The post below was sent as an issue of my newsletter, Ready for Rain. In the evenings this time of year, we often hear a deep growling sound coming from across the water that sounds like a call-and-response conversation. We soon learned that the growls come from...
The Creative Brief 📄
Starting then, the idea of eventually building a new house on the island started to dominate our thoughts. What would we build? What could we build?
This Fireplace Sucks 🔥
Sometime in the middle of the house project, I learned a lesson about chimneys that has fascinated me ever since. We were talking about the metal tubes, or “flues” that would eventually stick out of our roof and vent our two wood-burning fireplaces. According to the fireplace company, the size of the fireplaces meant the flues needed to be eighteen feet high to work. This explains why.
The Dogs of the House Project 🐶 🐕
There is an unwritten rule about home building projects on Orcas Island: well-behaved dogs are welcome. One any given day there is at least one dog one site and we’ve grown to love them all.
Hibernating in the PNW ☔️ 🦠
The winter of 2020-21 was no regular winter. A range of factors all converged to make it like a hibernation that could only end in the spring.
The Blackout ⚡️
What do you do when the power goes out? You see it as a challenge and a game to be played. We asked: how comfortable can we be without electricity?
This Was 2020
This was my 2020.
Smart Lights, Smart Home 💡🏡
Our final decisions on smart home lighting and home automation options for our house on Orcas Island.
Senioritis at the Guesthouse 🏡 ➡️ 🏡
After 16 months in our tiny guesthouse, we’ve gotten used to it. But as the house project nears completion, the small things are becoming a bit more grating.
Podcast Interview with Donald Miller, Building a StoryBrand
I love connecting with Donald Miller and this podcast episode shows shows why. He’s an amazing host and someone I respect.
A Thud, Then a Gasp
There comes a time in every vehicle owner’s life when they are forced to test just how far a tank of gas will go. We see the gauge point to the upper case “E” and say it’s arbitrary; just a label. What matters is what’s inside the tank. We can push it a little...
The Impossible Skyscraper in the Guesthouse 🏢 🛋
The pile of boxes we have stacked in the guesthouse represent a lot of decisions about the house project.
A Little Smoke, A Little Fog
Morning on the water in Deer Harbor. The smoke from wildfires on California has drifted up to Orcas Island.
Being One with the Dirt on Orcas Island 🐕🦺 🥾
Being one with the dirt is part of the transition and how you become part of the island itself.
Podcast Interview: Mixergy with Andrew Warner
I was interviewed by Andrew Warner at Mixergy. It was my third appearance on the show and, like the others, ended up going in directions I didn’t expect.
A Story On Big Enough Launch Day 📹 📄
On the day Big Enough launched I sat down in front of the camera to share a story from the book about making a video for Google.