Pine and Willow

23 | USA | Biologist | Books | Coffee | Music | Nature

[pineandwillow]

Rediscovering Happiness During the Holidays While Grieving

Discussing going through holidays while grieving and giving yourself permission to enjoy it

Let’s play some grapes and gripes, or roses and thorns, or whatever you want to call it. My dad died 4 years ago today. My mom died in July 2024, less than 6 months ago at the time of writing. I just “got through” my first holidays without either of my parents, and I am going to admit something out loud. I had a really good time. Best Thanksgiving and Christmas I’ve had in 17 years. That’s my…

Rediscovering Happiness During the Holidays While Grieving

[pineandwillow]

Insomnia & Grief.

It’s been a few months since my mom died in July. Life has resumed its mundane hum. I enjoy most days. I am able to talk about my mom without crying. However, I do not dare to stay up late alone with my thoughts. Insomnia is normal at any point in the grieving process. A few nights ago, I couldn’t sleep. Thinking about work, husband snoring, general existential thoughts. Then, with no warning,…

[pineandwillow]

Grief is weird.

I have had the experience now of losing both parents early in life. It’s a horrible experience. I’d like to think of myself as a very introspective person. There is always something to be observed and learned from. My dad’s death was filled with a lot of anger, regret, and deep waves of all consuming sorrow and self pity. I wasn’t really present in the last year of my dad’s life because I lived…

Grief is weird.

[pineandwillow]

A re-introduction

Hello. It’s been a minute. It’s been years. Since 2020, to be exact! I have more or less abandoned this blog, but it was once important to me. It was reaching people–reaching strangers! How neat is that. I want to get back to it. These last 4 years were some of the hardest of my life. I lost both my parents. My dad passed in 2021 from illness, and I just lost my mom July 3rd, 2024, also from…

[pineandwillow]

I heard Tumblr was a thing again???

[pineandwillow]

How to Use Social Media to Your Advantage

How to Use Social Media to Your Advantage

Whether you use all sorts of platforms or just one, you might have at some point (especially in 2020) found yourself utterly sick of the drama, ‘fake news’, politics, COVID articles, etc. You might have taken a social media detox from one or all platforms. You might have wondered if being on social media is even goodfor you. It is, after all, a known cause of mental health issues. You may have…

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[jemmasimmons]

“live fast, die young. bad girls do it well” I sing as I organize my sock drawer before going to bed at 9:30pm on a Friday night

[approvers]

[eilti]

[pineandwillow]

What's it like to be an early-career wildlife biologist?

What's it like to be an early-career wildlife biologist?

The beginning of a wildlife biology career isn’t for those who want a direct line approach to success (whatever success even is). It requires flexibility, freedom, a dash of minimalism, and often small sacrifices.

If you’re still in undergrad, this article is for you! Most likely you’ll be getting a Master’s degree someday and maybe a PhD after that, but the time spent between your undergrad…

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[pineandwillow]

How to give criticism the right way (when it's warranted).

How to give criticism the right way (when it's warranted).

Criticism isn’t always warranted. Obviously, it is inappropriate to just point out flaws on a whim and offer unsolicited advice to fix said flaws or errors. That being said, there are fair circumstances where critique is expected and warranted such as at work, at a competition, or when somebody asks for it.

I was reminded this week of what it feels like to receive poorly communicated…

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[shinji--moon-deactivated2017123]

[femmenietzsche]

Migrating eagles run up huge data roaming charges

Russian scientists tracking migrating eagles ran out of money after some of the birds flew to Iran and Pakistan and their SMS transmitters drew huge data roaming charges.

After learning of the team’s dilemma, Russian mobile phone operator Megafon offered to cancel the debt and put the project on a special, cheaper tariff.

The team had started crowdfunding on social media to pay off the bills.

The birds left from southern Russia and Kazakhstan.

The journey of one steppe eagle, called Min, was particularly expensive, as it flew to Iran from Kazakhstan.

Min accumulated SMS messages to send during the summer in Kazakhstan, but it was out of range of the mobile network. Unexpectedly the eagle flew straight to Iran, where it sent the huge backlog of messages.

The price per SMS in Kazakhstan was about 15 roubles (18p; 30 US cents), but each SMS from Iran cost 49 roubles. Min used up the entire tracking budget meant for all the eagles.

[argumate]

wow we really did develop a global communication network and then fuck it up that badly huh

[sleazeburger]

[pineandwillow]

I went backpacking for the first time, and I did it solo. Here's what I learned.

I went backpacking for the first time, and I did it solo. Here’s what I learned.

Hiking has been a passionate hobby of mine for about 3 years now, and I decided I wanted to level-up to backpacking. I love hiking so much that I decided it was necessary to sleep in the woods so I could get up the next day and immediately start hiking again. Yep!

So I did just that. I signed up for a credit card with a long 0% interest period, bought a bunch of backpacking stuff after…

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[pineandwillow]

So, you want to work with raptors!

So, you want to work with raptors!

If you’re reading this, you are probably about to get into bird zookeeping, bird handling, or even falconry. You’ve made a fantastic life choice! Congrats!

So, what’s it like to work with birds? Well, let’s start off by determining what kind of bird person you want to be. Rehab? Education? Hunting? All of the above?

I am a trained raptor handler for an education-based local raptor center.…

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[pineandwillow]

I've become a difficult person.

2019 is all about growth for me. I've lost my spark, and only I can get it back.

Hi. I’m 22 years old, and I only just now learned that I am a difficult person, and I have difficulty recognizing and understanding others’ perceptions of me.

Have I always been this way? Most likely not. I, sadly, got a taste of just how hard life can get starting two years ago, and I think it really changed who I am, how I act, and many other facets of my personality. In other words, I let…

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