Suzanne and Nicki met each other during the Covid vaccine frenzy of 2021. Suzanne was working on her book (“Wild Houston”) and Nicki was an editor, so they compared their favorite remedies for writer’s block. Nicki describes their first date as an “inquisition” and was impressed at Suzanne’s ability to hurl question after question at her subject. (As a journalist, it was usually Nicki’s move to interview her dates. She was taken aback that Suzanne had upstaged her.) Suzanne and Nicki continued exchanging texts afterwards, with Nicki expressing concern at Suzanne’s proclivity for falling into wetlands. For their third date, Suzanne took Nicki on what would be the first of many forced hikes, this time at the Houston Arboretum. Surrounded by prairie grasses and bullfrog serenades, love blossomed! Eighteen months later, Suzanne proposed to Nicki in the midst of yet another obligate wilderness walk, and their lifetime of adventure began.