Get a pot of water boiling, gently add eggs, boil 4 minutes. Done!
I’m tempted to make some of them deviled, though I can totally do that during the party if I want to.
It turns out that the shipping for the micro veggies was going to be more than the cost of the veggies and flowers, so I’m still hunting down edible flowers.
But I found mini cucumbers, and small grapes. I may look for champagne grapes; they’re delicious and sooooo cute.
The only thing I still need to find still is the mini graham cracker crust tart shells that I wanted for the mud pies. I do have a 9" one, so if we don’t wind up with individual mud pies it won’t be a problem. It would be awesome to pick up some edible flowers, but if I don’t it won’t be the end of the world. There’s tons of dandelions in my own yard and around the neighborhood. My neighbors would probably pay me to pick them.
♡Living with a dog in a fowest cottage with stone paths to the lake nearby, making fwends with frogs and fairies. Collecting mushrooms, watering a flower garden, baking apple pie and going out for picnic
a concept: scattered afternoon showers, the sun peeking through the clouds, sipping fragrant tea by the window, the scent of early spring just after the snow melts, a cool breeze pleasantly chilling your skin, a half-written paper on the table before you, a crow sits in the tree outside and caws gaily as it cleans its feathers in the rain, in the distance the other birds weave their voices together in song
My whole family is sending me news of the weather because we have a massive storm system moving through right now, and my grandma and mom are both messaging every couple minutes to remind me that there’s a tornado warning at the moment.
Meanwhile I’m home alone and just finished brewing some milk tea to enjoy while I continue writing.
That moment when you’ve just returned from a long journey in the cold, northern lands and finally get to sleep in your own bed, snuggled in the warmth of home, and when you wake up the next morning the first spring storm has beset your village and ushered in a new season, and you throw open your windows to greet the rain while you sip your tea and enjoy a good, full breakfast.
That moment when you’re walking in the winter wood on a snowy night and it’s so quiet that you can hear the bell-like sound of each crystalline flake colliding with what’s already pooled on the ground like silver gems in a dragon’s hoard, and after a while, when your feet grow weary from pressing onwards in the deep, drifting piles of snow, you sit down to take a rest on an icy throne and finally feel at home.
That moment when you’re standing on the a vast lake, there’s ice beneath your feet but you can see it cracking and falling apart in the distance, and the heavy drifts of snow pooled on its surface make the lake look like a frozen version of Mars, and the sky is a beautiful sunset that could make even the gods pause to wonder, and you can finally just
goblinmom, who is currently hardcore craving sweets: Oh! I know what we can use the jar of frosting for! Those crepes you make!!! We can mix the frosting with some berries for them!
me: The same crepes you usually say are too rich and sweet?
mom: It’s not like we have to put sugar in the crepes!
me, glancing between her and the frosting on the table: Did you just forget what frosting is?
So my mom loves to watch apocalypse movies and believes (understandably so) that America is going to probably crash within the next decade, most likely to internal conflict.
And that got me thinking, if America were to fall, like actually fall and not rebuild again (maybe break apart into smaller countries but still), what would it be like?
Obviously during the breaking and falling there’s going to be tons of dangerous conflict and bloodshed and it’s going to be horrible. But after that’s over, is it still going to be as bad as the movies make it out to be? Are people going to be skulking through shadowy corners, eating rats in abandoned, crumbling cities to survive? Or building totalitarian city-states and destroying any and all outsiders who approach?
Honestly, some people might try to go that route, but they’ll probably be shunned and separated from the main crowd pretty quickly. I think the vast majority of people would say “fuck that” and just get on with their lives, just as we always have throughout history.
Here’s what I think (and hope) the aftermath will probably head towards given the direction our younger generations’ mentalities and mindsets:
When everything crashes around us, I think humans will pick up and move on. Because humans have a few strong points that we, sadly, don’t use very often in the current day, but that doesn’t mean that they aren’t still there at our core.
We are naturally empathetic, capable of understanding the emotions of those around us and are apt to strong feelings of protectiveness and duty as a result. We are extremely innovative and adaptable, able to live and thrive in any environment with a little time and effort. And we are social, pack animals who needs bonds for comfort, often taking in other creatures and plants into our homes that originally had nothing to do with us simply because we want them to live better than they could without us.
Do I think that some humans will still go the stereotypical “I believe everyone is evil and a threat” route and attempt to steal from and assault everyone in sight? Probably. Some humans are dumb like that.
But honestly, for the most part, I think most humans will band together in new territories, work together to not just survive but to rebuild better than before, and move forward.
This viewpoint, focusing on community, compassion, living naturally, and utilizing all the amazing sciences available for better purposes, is called Solarpunk! It centers around the practices of equality, innovation, environmental activism, and wonder at the world around us!
Something else I like about it, is that instead of some other mentalities that try to say “all science is bad because it’s used for bad things”, Solarpunk instead says “okay, this specific branch of science is currently used for a bad thing, so instead of shaming this piece of human advancement, how do we put it to a better use that doesn’t harm us or the environment?” Solarpunk focuses on FIXING problems, not just complaining about them, and doesn’t shy away from science despite being rooted in natural practices!
Despite the kind of information and stories the media likes to shine its spotlights on, and what many societies attempt to push us to believe, humans aren’t necessarily a bad or evil species. I think we’ve just been trapped in a system that feeds on negativity for too long.
It’s time for us to transcend above this guys, we’re better than this! So I encourage you to choose compassion over greed, love over loathing, and trying again over giving up!
I never noticed this the other times I watched Tim Burton’s version of Alice in Wonderland, but during the scene when the Hatter is about to be executed, there’s a pit in front of the stage where his head is obviously supposed to drop into. So I was like, “Hmm…so do the heads just…pile up down there and rot?”
And then it hit me.
The pit connects to the moat, where all the other victims’ heads are displayed.
Always remember: the main three enemies of dealing with depression are Stillness, Darkness, and Stagnation!
For stillness, try to keep active. On days where you’re struggling and have low-energy, try sitting on the exercise ball or doing some stretches in bed. Even just rolling around or kicking your legs can help!
For darkness, get ample sunshine by sitting near a window or going outside, even if it’s just to lie down in the grass! Even just turning a light on so you aren’t sitting in the dark can have a positive effect. This is necessary because without adequate light, your brain will continue to release hormones telling you to sleep, which saps your energy and increases depression. Getting more light will naturally increase the amount of energy you have!
And for stagnation, make sure to get fresh air and try to switch up your routine! Doing the same things over and over again can cause your brain to become complacent and bored. This can also increase depression, as well as anxiety and many other disorders. Breathing stale air all the time triggers a similar effect. So even if it’s something as small as walking a slightly different route than usual or showering at a different time than you typically would, throwing a curve ball at your sense of normalcy from time to time is incredibly efficient in handling the symptoms of depression. My favorite way to do this is learn a new daily word and what it means, or try to name one object/place/name/etc per letter. It gets your brain moving and keeps you on your toes, in a sense!
