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Life outside the editor

About Me

Above everything, I enjoy getting out with my dogs and husband and going to remote places. These days that means our log home outside Duluth, Minnesota, where the wildlife outnumbers the neighbors and every season looks completely different.

Home

My Home in Duluth

We moved to the woods outside Duluth in February 2026. Since then we’ve watched the property cycle through all four seasons — and met a lot of the locals.

Winter

Dec – Mar

Snow piled past the deck rails, hoarfrost on every branch, and two dogs who think every drift is a playground.

Home, under fresh snow
Sunset off the deck
Hoarfrost
Simone in her element

Spring

Apr – Jun

The thaw brings the first bonfires, green trails, and long walks along the rocky shore of Lake Superior.

Lake Superior
First bonfire of the year

Summer

Jun – Sep

Paddleboarding, sunsets off the back of the cabin, and a road trip north to visit Smokey Bear.

Paddleboarding
Sunset beside the cabin
Smokey Bear

Fall

Sep – Nov

The hills turn orange and red, and the lakers keep rolling across Lake Superior.

Fall overlook
Peak color
A laker heading out

My Home in Duluth

The Neighbors

The property is busier than any city block we’ve lived on. Everyone below wandered through our yard, driveway, or deck this year.

  • Black bear
  • Porcupine
  • Bobcats
  • White-tailed deer
  • Rabbits
  • Chipmunks
  • Red squirrels
  • Mallards
  • Blue jays
  • Pileated woodpecker
  • Hawks
  • Bees
  • Caterpillars

Big visitors

Black bear · May
Porcupine · April
Bobcats · October
Fawns · June
Bobcats on the driveway
White-tailed deer

Small neighbors

Rabbit
Chipmunk
Rabbits on the path
Red squirrel
Raiding the feeder

Birds

Pileated woodpecker
Hawk overhead
Blue jays
Mallard
Junco

Bees & bugs

A swarm moved in
Rehoming day
Bumblebee
Woolly bear

My Home in Duluth

Growing on the Property

Peonies by the cabin, wildflowers along every trail, berries in midsummer, and mushrooms popping up after every rain.

Peonies
Wild rose
Wildflowers
Sunflower
Goldenrod
Berries
Mushrooms

My Home in Duluth

Eating Around the North Shore

Local beer flights, fresh fish, and big breakfasts. Simone approves.

Local beer flight
Seared tuna
Breakfast
Simone, hoping

Adventures

Travel

All photos are licensed under CC BY 2.0. You’re free to share and adapt them — please credit by linking back to walsh.app or the original album.

ScotlandJune 2022
Rocky Point, MexicoAugust 2021
Mt. KilimanjaroDecember 2020
PortlandAugust 2018

Costa Rica

February 2020Full album →
El Tabacón
Crossing an old bridge
Toucan
White water rafting

Japan

April 2019Full album →
Monkey!
Monkey Mountain
Nick and me
Nara Park

Banff & Calgary, Canada

August 2018Full album →
Calgary

Kesugi Ridge, Alaska

July 2017Full album →
Kesugi Ridge
Anchorage airport
Nick trekking along

Duluth, Minnesota

December 2016 · our first visitFull album →
Sub-freezing
The lift bridge
House on the Rock
Snow drifts

Iceland

July 2016Full album →
Blue Lagoon
Glacier
Puffin
Dettifoss
Godafoss
Arctic foxes

Hobbies

What I Do for Fun

Escape RoomsTeam building

Team building and developing interpersonal bonds is one of the reasons I love escape rooms.

Team Outings

Board Games

I love supporting creators of board games and rewarding them for the time and effort they put into the design and systems.

8Kickstarter games backed since 2017
Cards Against HumanityCards Against Humanity
Frosthaven

Acrylic on CanvasPainting

Bear — Silhouette
West Fork Trail — Sedona

MiniaturesFrosthaven

Amateur Photography

I enjoy landscape and nature photography — most of this page is my work. For more, see my travels.

Campfire in the forest
Antelope Canyon

Chess

I enjoy learning about different openings, strategy, and tactics. Come join me and we can blunder together!

1200Rating on Chess.com
Challenge me

Animals

The Pack

Kesugi, our German Shepherd, loves to explore the forests. In 2023 we added Simone, a St. Bernard rescue, to our home after she was abandoned in the streets.

KesugiGerman Shepherd · “The Ancient One”

We got Kesugi after we finished backpacking through the grizzly-filled mountains of Alaska’s Kesugi Ridge. Kesugi is a Tanaina word that means The Ancient One.

SimoneSt. Bernard · Rescue

Simone was rescued by the AZ Mastiff Society after they found her abandoned. She has a lot of fear aggression and anxiety about just about everything, but she also has a lot of love to offer.

Giving back

Volunteerism

“We die two deaths. One when our body dies and another when we are no longer remembered.”

When I die, I want to be remembered as someone who loved my friends, family, and pets deeply, and that I did everything I could to make the world a better place with my actions. That extends into the workplace with the tools that I build to help others.

Causes I believe in

  • LGBTQ+ rights and equality
  • Climate change, reducing our footprints, and replanting forests
  • Helping the impoverished and less fortunate
  • Animal sanctuaries
  • Disaster relief
  • Cancer research

Locks of Love

When the Covid pandemic happened, I wanted to take advantage of full-remote work, so I grew out my hair to donate to Locks of Love. Cancer has run in my family, and I have family members who actively have cancer. My heart goes out to those affected by cancer directly or indirectly.

Before
After

Girls Who Code

$6,000+Raised in a fundraiser I started, end of 2020

Save The Family

$500Raised through a music competition, 2020
Fundraising
Volunteering

Recent participation

  • Taji 100 (2024) — empowering veterans to stay active and healthy
  • AIDS Walk (2023)
  • Taji 100 (2023)

Organizations supported

  • Ukraine Crisis
  • Wikipedia
  • WHO
  • Save the Family
  • National Forest Foundation
  • Humane Society
  • Salvation Army + Red Cross
  • Feed My Starving Children
  • Meals on Wheels
  • Lupus Foundation