Wow. Not since Sabrina Imbler's How Far the Light Reaches back in 2023 has someone made me so happy to be a queer nature lover. About the scope--this is a white/rose gold MDF stainless steel cardiology scope. It's the first I've bought of the stainless steel variety rather than the titanium from this brand. I'm not sure how I would feel if I used this somewhat heavy instrument daily for my job, but as a cardiophile I do love a nice, heavy chest piece. Feels and sounds better, though it's hard to say how much of that assessment of mine is just psychological. There's definitely something about a white stethoscope, and I've daydreamed about them since I was a small child. I've been keeping this one handy since I bought it because there is something really comforting about this color combo. Some people have plushies or action figures--I have stethoscopes. (Ok--tbh I have all three).
But about Patricia Ononiwu Kaishian's memoir--it's perfect, it's divine, and my only gripe is that it's too short at 255 pages. Kaishian, a mycologist, talks about her struggles to fit in as queer, neurodivergent child with unique special interests and how she found refuge in the swamps and forests near her home. (My ignorance is gonna show here, because I had no idea there were swamps in New York until I read this book). Growing up and immersing herself in the sciences, she learned about the queerness of many creatures (fungi included), and how scientific research has traditionally held very hetero- and cisnormative views that negatively affected outcomes and contrasts glaringly with overwhelming evidence of queerness in nature. I got to learn about sit spots--a form of meditation that seems much more accessible in my view than many others because I'm lousy at relaxing. Loved the sections about cicadas and their uncanny understanding of time, empathetic crows, and magnetized eels. Also all of the sociological and ecological revelations...it really is quite a lot from such a short read. It's also not overly scientific even though it is science-based, so that was easy enough for me to stomach with my humanities background.
