Tuesday, May 6, 2025

80 Possibilities



Tiny Moves for Strategic Agility, Integrity, and Survival

These are starting points. Each one is a small, doable action that can help you interrupt the spiral, regain a sense of direction, and stay connected to what matters.

Start anywhere. Just pick something that meets you where you are. Then try another tomorrow. Or not. This isn't a performance. It's an invitation to explore and experiment. It’s an offering to prime the pump of your own creative capacities.

PLEASE ​​​​​​​​​​​​​SHARE with others

  1. Name what still matters. Speak it out loud or write it down.

  2. Take a no-scroll hour. Just be where you are.

  3. Text someone: “Thinking of you. No pressure.” Start small.

  4. Make a “don’t adapt to this” list. Keep it visible.

  5. Cancel one nonessential task. Let the gap be restorative.

  6. Start a shared doc called “What We Still Believe.” Invite a few trusted people.

  7. Buy a banned book. Read it. Lend it. Talk about it.

  8. Choose one task that aligns with your values. Do that first.

  9. Unfollow one source that fuels distortion. Even if it’s “on your side.”

  10. Say, “I’m not sure yet.” Let it be a position, not a weakness.

  11. Keep a screenshot folder called “I’m not imagining this.” Fill it when needed.

  12. Write a legacy letter. Not for ego—for clarity.

  13. Write down one lie you’ve stopped believing. Honor that shift.

  14. Reclaim a phrase you stopped saying. Say it again.

  15. Sit in silence for five minutes. No fixing. Just feel what’s there.

  16. Post one link that affirms your values. No hot take needed.

  17. Check on someone who might be isolating. No agenda. Just presence.

  18. Use the word “we” instead of “I” in one sentence today. See what shifts.

  19. Create a folder called “Waypoints.” Fill it with anything that helps you navigate.

  20. Ask: What’s one thing I can still protect today? Then protect it.

  21. Switch to cash or a local credit union. Move with your values.

  22. Write a short note to someone who shaped your ethics. Let them know.

  23. Keep a visible object near you that reminds you who you are.

  24. Tell one true story that doesn’t fit the current narrative.

  25. Say “I need a minute” instead of pushing through. Protect your pacing.

  26. Reach out to someone older than you. Ask what they’ve seen before.

  27. Start a new text thread called “Tiny Moves.” Add one thing a week.

  28. Delete one productivity hack that makes you feel like a machine.

  29. Refuse to comply in advance. Notice when you start to. Stop.

  30. Write down your red lines. Even if you’re not close to crossing them.

  31. Attend a local meeting—even if you don’t speak. Presence is a signal.

  32. Donate to a bail fund or mutual aid project. Even a little helps.

  33. Display a quote, phrase, or symbol that grounds you. Public or private.

  34. Relearn one thing your ancestors survived. Trace the resilience.

  35. Take a walk with someone who doesn’t need fixing. Just witness each other.

  36. Remove one app that hijacks your attention. Reclaim your bandwidth.

  37. Check in with someone who's angry. Let them be angry. Listen anyway.

  38. Begin a playlist that helps you remember who you are. Music is memory.

  39. Name one thing authoritarian systems want you to forget or disavow. Write it down.

  40. Make something. Not to sell. Not to post. Just to create.

  41. Wear something meaningful. Even if no one asks.

  42. Gather banned or endangered books. Start a freedom shelf.

  43. Use one plainspoken truth in a conversation that matters.

  44. Host a no-agenda dinner. Let people just be.

  45. Start a paper journal labeled “I Am Still Here.”

  46. Offer someone else the benefit of the doubt—once.

  47. Block out one hour as unstructured time. See what emerges.

  48. Stop apologizing for how you’re surviving.

  49. Keep one object that reminds you of a future worth fighting for.

  50. Visit a place that holds memory. Let it teach you something.

  51. Say “no” without an explanation—once this week.

  52. Learn a neighbor’s name. Just start there.

  53. Name what the harm cost you. Not to dwell, but to remember.

  54. Create a backup plan that protects your values, not just your income.

  55. Write a refusal. Don’t send it. Just know you could.

  56. Abolish one internalized rule you never agreed to.

  57. Teach someone one thing you know about surviving this moment.

  58. Ask someone younger what they’re seeing. Listen. Don’t correct.

  59. Try one way to befriend yourself today. Grace, self-compassion, pausing, letting go of shame.

  60. Make a timeline of your moral clarity. Track what’s stayed true.

  61. Resist the pressure to summarize. Let complexity stand without apology.

  62. Put something old to new use. Let continuity be an act of care.

  63. Show up somewhere you’ve been avoiding. Say little. Be there anyway.

  64. Read one account from a community you’re not part of. Let it complicate your map.

  65. Write a future memory you want to make real. Give your imagination something to reach for.

  66. Start a Sunday ritual that feels like continuity. Repetition can be resistance.

  67. Create a shared photo album called “We’re Still Here.” Make survival visible.

  68. Offer someone a microgrant or cash gift—if you can. Mutual aid doesn’t have to be big to be real.

  69. Repair something small that you’ve been neglecting. Restoration is a form of presence.

  70. Say “I’m protecting my energy” instead of making excuses. Claim your boundaries out loud.

  71. Name what feels like home—and who’s not safe there yet. Let that gap guide your commitments.

  72. Record your voice reading something that matters. Save it for yourself or someone else.

  73. Say no to urgency once. Let it pass without chasing it.

  74. Look for the helpers—and thank them out loud. Gratitude keeps the connective tissue alive.

  75. Resist cynicism in one interaction. Stay real, not performative.

  76. Make or update your will. That’s a move too—toward clarity and care.

  77. Give someone permission to grieve without explaining. Make space for what can’t be fixed.

  78. Watch how you speak to yourself. Say one kinder thing.

  79. Reconnect with someone you drifted from. No explanation needed—just begin again.

  80. Let something take time on purpose. Signal to yourself that not everything needs to be fast.


 

Wednesday, April 30, 2025

April Showers Bring May Flowers (ha!)

Been a busy week, keeping up with TCF news, trying to figure out what's happening where on May Day, a tour of the under-construction Lebanese Garden and the Heritage Farm, Nature's Notebook on Monday, and a BioPark Conservation Committee meeting on Tuesday.  Today we spent our energy on planting out the veggies and herbs at our Community Garden, aka, Jane Foster's backyard.  



Hard work, but hopefully we'll get a handful of tasty things out of the ground.  Remember, photosynthesis is your friend.  

Tuesday, April 22, 2025

Earth Day

On this Earth Day 2025, I find myself rather well off despite all of the administration's evil machinations.  The courts are pushing back on Trump and Doge.  Thank you, ACLU and others.  Glad to learn that Harvard and many other Universities are standing up to TCF.  

The freezing-rain-trying-to-turn-into-snow managed to scare us off from the "No Kings" march on Saturday.  Instead, we had Greek takeout for lunch with friends.  Easter was another Greek feast with Cousin Katia and Blake.  Not surprisingly, we had leftover Greek last night.   

Nature's Notebook continues on schedule.  For the moment Doge's efficiency Gestapo haven't found their funding stream.  Things are popping despite a couple chilly nights.  Daytime temps are heading back into the 80's.  With Saturday's 0.4" of precipitation, we expect even more rapid changes.  The big surprise for us this week was the foot-tall Asclepius speciosa, which has exploded out of the ground in the past two weeks.  

On the way out of the Botanic Garden, we took the usual shortcut through the Japanese Garden.  Peonies and Viburnum were blooming promiscuously.  In the planters along the Festival Green, we found Spanish bluebells, Hyacinthoides hispanica.


Now if we can just keep TCF from butchering the Endangered Species Act and gutting our National Monuments, things can calm down, at least locally.  Don't ask me about the stock market, tariffs, and the economic outlook.  


Sunday, April 20, 2025

Precipitation

Rain, blessed rain.  After 151 days, Albuquerque finally picked up some rain.  It clocked in at 0.3", which is piddling little after a 5 month dry spell, the longest on record.  But I'll take what I can get.  

The clouds rolled in Friday afternoon, conveniently after I finished General Grounds at the Heritage Farm opening.  I was pleasantly surprised by how many people talked about their travels in Scotland while viewing the Highland Coos. 


Meanwhile, the weather quite literally dampened the "No Kings" rally at the Civic Plaza.  We drove by and saw a good number (a couple hundred?) of protesters.  We'll see how the next march goes. 
 

Sunday, April 13, 2025

Rare Plants of BernCo

Here's my preliminary target list of plants to hunt this year:  

Astragalus feensis (Santa Fe Milkvetch) — April–June, 5100-6000 ft

Dalea scariosa (La Jolla Prairie Clover) — August–September, 4750-4900 ft (D*)

Delphinium sapellonis (Sapello Canyon Larkspur) — July–September, 8000-11,500 (D*)

Heuchera pulchella (Sandia Mountain Alum-Root) — July–September, 8000-10,700 

Mentzelia todiltoensis (Todilto Stickleaf) — June–September, 5600-5840 ft

Muhlenbergia arsenei (Navajo Muhly) — August–September, 4600-6500 ft (D*)

Physaria iveyana (Sandia Mountain Bladderpod) — May–June, North Sandia Crest

Sclerocactus papyracanthus (Grama Grass Cactus) — April–June, above Placitas (D*)

Silene plankii (Plank's Catchfly) — July–September, 5000-9200 ft

Spiranthes magnicamporum (Great Plains Lady's Tresses) — mid-July–August, 4560-6500 ft (D*)

Although a number have been dropped from the NMRPTC strategy list (D* above), they have been listed by at least one agency at one time.  

As for a schedule, Astragalus and Sclerocactus get going in April.  Physaria kicks in later in May.  Mentzelia begins blooming in June, followed by Delpinium, Heuchera, Silene, and Sprianthes in July.  Dalea and Muhlenbergia round out this list of ten species.  

While July looks to be the peak month for plant hunting, I'll also be chasing Aphyllon up in Rio Ariba County.  Busy times ahead!



Wednesday, April 9, 2025

The Conservation Committee

Today marks my first meeting with the BioPark's Conservation Committee.  Like the mayor's Biological Park Advisory Board, we'll be meeting in the library at the Zoo.  There are 16 people on the committee and they oversee the disbursement of funding for various conservation projects.  

As the only botanist in the group, I'll be interested in how to move them towards more plant-based habitat conservation.  Right now, they only fund our membership in the Botanic Gardens Conservation International program with North American plants.  They also support the IUCN Species Survival Commission, which is very general and includes plant species.  Otherwise, everything involves individual animal species.  

Graphical representation of conservation support

I'm also worried that federal dollars for various grants will have disappeared since Doge started making cuts.  I'm also concerned about Emilie and Clay, who recently left the BioPark for Applied Ecology, Inc.  

_______________

Late pm update:  Meeting was moved to Colores.  16 attendees and a good amount of administrivia was covered.  Looking forward to learning more as the group gets its feet under itself.  



Tuesday, April 1, 2025

Hanami

It's cherry blossom-viewing time.

Crab apple blossoms
The offset bridge with a path among the flowering crab apples
Cherry blossoms in the Sasebo Japanese Garden
Crab apple 'Prairie Fire'
Sakura 'Kwanzan' cherry behind the waterfall
Crab apple detail
Crab apple on the Woodland Path
Flowering almond

Sadly, Tuesday's predicted high winds will like move our trees from Mankai to Chirihajime in a single day.  Perhaps we will have a sakura fubuki, a cherry blossom storm.