So glad you're enjoying the AMA, Rachel! Thanks for the thoughtful questions :)
On navigating growth and change within our partnership, I feel like the honest answer is rather unsexy: communication. We talk a lot about what's shifting and changing for us in real time, how we can support each other in those shifts, and what that means/looks like in the partnership. In regard to the specific things you mentioned (queerness & gender identity), I asked Gent for his take on that the other day and he said: "I always want you to be your most full self! I don't want to be in partnership with only a static, singular version of who you are, I'm here for all of it." <3
The hiking thing has definitely been hard for us — he injured his spine in September 2023 and has been in varying degrees of pain on and off ever since, which makes backpacking tough and risky (the possibility of having a bad flare up while out in a remote area is scary!) After now exhausting all the non-invasive treatment options and not really seeing results, he's probably going to talk to a surgeon soon about the possibility of a discectomy, which could potentially eliminate his pain.
Bigger picture than that, though, is the lifestyle shifts we've made in the past few years: adopting two young dogs, getting a flock of chickens, starting a vegetable garden – all things that require one or both of us being home more often than long-distance hiking requires (in addition to the way we're prioritizing reductions in spending and air travel). This past summer we had hoped to do a lot more mini adventures in the Northeast, but my dad's death and Gent's hospitalization and recovery for lyme and meningitis derailed all of that. So I'm hopeful that 2026 can be a year of balancing our growing farmstead plans with lots of fun outdoor time!
Deleting this comment will remove it from the email, and will also delete any replies to it.
So glad you're enjoying the AMA, Rachel! Thanks for the thoughtful questions :)
On navigating growth and change within our partnership, I feel like the honest answer is rather unsexy: communication. We talk a lot about what's shifting and changing for us in real time, how we can support each other in those shifts, and what that means/looks like in the partnership. In regard to the specific things you mentioned (queerness & gender identity), I asked Gent for his take on that the other day and he said: "I always want you to be your most full self! I don't want to be in partnership with only a static, singular version of who you are, I'm here for all of it." <3
The hiking thing has definitely been hard for us — he injured his spine in September 2023 and has been in varying degrees of pain on and off ever since, which makes backpacking tough and risky (the possibility of having a bad flare up while out in a remote area is scary!) After now exhausting all the non-invasive treatment options and not really seeing results, he's probably going to talk to a surgeon soon about the possibility of a discectomy, which could potentially eliminate his pain.
Bigger picture than that, though, is the lifestyle shifts we've made in the past few years: adopting two young dogs, getting a flock of chickens, starting a vegetable garden – all things that require one or both of us being home more often than long-distance hiking requires (in addition to the way we're prioritizing reductions in spending and air travel). This past summer we had hoped to do a lot more mini adventures in the Northeast, but my dad's death and Gent's hospitalization and recovery for lyme and meningitis derailed all of that. So I'm hopeful that 2026 can be a year of balancing our growing farmstead plans with lots of fun outdoor time!