i.

i wasn't always into plants. i've loved having a vegetable garden in the summer, but the few indoor plants i owned were more a fixture or tchotchke than anything else. but after a sweet friend gifted me jade and alien fingers (maybe 6 years ago, maybe longer?), i guess i really wanted to keep her gifts alive for a long, long time. and indeed, both those plants are thriving.

when we moved back from helsinki this past summer, we filled the house with living things. i fell naturally into a routine, speaking in a secret language with each plant: watering, pruning, relocating occasionally to a more optimal location. i figured out how to propagate, to have more living things around me. i subconsciously ended up tending to plants at work, so much so that they are now my official responsibility.

it wasn't until after petsitting (and now fostering) that i realized my tending to plants was a transference of energy. the houseplants a stand-in for soft, warm animals i have been tending, out of habit and out of need, since the early 2000s. keeping things alive.

ii.
fostering a dog has been really tender and special. we met stella (a 9-year old chihuahua weighing all of 6 lbs) the week i returned from sundance at the pixie project, and have had her for a few weeks. interacting with an animal you don't plan on keeping has some inherent differences. you are not looking to bond: you are providing a stable place for a creature (perhaps one with a history) to be safe, to self-soothe, and to decompress. stella slept the entirety of that first weekend, but after a few days, started compulsively licking herself. it took a few weeks of having her needs met and trusting our household (including a CBD tincture, and two different meds for anxiety) to finally see her settle into her true personality. sometimes silly, incredibly docile, quiet. she's off now to her new home now, and i know she's going to make them pretty dang happy.

iii.

on my bike ride to work, many mornings around the same time i'll see a man reaching into a dumpster adjacent to babydoll pizza to throw discarded pizza crusts onto a tin roof. he is awaited by dozens of seagulls and crows. scavengers fighting for scraps. i have no idea his story--whether he pulls over on his way to work, lives nearby, or even is looking for scraps of his own.

keep yourself alive,
rhienna



//places i'll be//
sat march 16 (and all subsequent third saturdays!) - DJing @ sweet hereafter 8pm-12a / free
sat march 23 DJing @ capitol 9pm-1am / free
wed april 10 DRINK & INK: drawings for charity! 6-10pm @ dig a pony
fri april 12 DJing @ beech st 9pm-1am / free
sat april 27 DJing @ capitol 9pm-1am / free