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#nativeplants

21 posts20 participants0 posts today

Greetings! I've moved instances so now it's time to rewrite an #intro

I love #languages #linguistics and #etymology. I'm hesitant to list what languages I study as my interests tend to shift, but I know a few phrases in some European languages. Speaking is the hardest part of using a language given that darn real-time compilation aspect, so it's safe to say reading is the easiest to get a grasp of. I've really gotten in to #Latin of late thanks to my dealings with learning plant species.

Speaking of which, I'm also really into #NativePlants, #ReWilding and #Permaculture. I've spent over the past 2 years converting my traditional American hellscape of a lawn into a recovering (thriving, even?) ecosystem of native plants. It's not much, but it's work 🧑‍🌾🚜 Currently I'm tracking over 110 species I've either transplanted or nurtured. How am I tracking that? Well, I'm also into #SoftwareEngineering

For that project, I just built a simple, local CRUD webapp with some mapping functionality for logging where I plant things, how they're doing and some basic info about them. Outside of work I work on a lot of small projects like the one above, but they've all felt so much more interesting than the work I get paid to do. That's how life goes, I suppose. Anyway, brief list of what I've built: DIY 6 Zone Automated Sprinkler system with ball valves (!) controlled by an ESP32 running ESPHome, A local webapp that (among other things) uses diceware to create unique passwords, A Slack bot for friends that admins a game of Cards Against Humanity, I built a web scraper service for a local nonprofit to better collect municipality permit data, I've gone through 3 iterations of installing 5v LED strips on a bike of mine to stay visible, I've probably written countless automations in #HomeAssistant. One thing remains true for most of my projects: I always end up overengineering the solution lol. It's a double-edged sword, but I'm trying to either embrace it or learn when to avoid it, depending on my mood for that day.

Last, let's talk about reading. I love #SciFi, but primarily #HardSciFi. Anything where there's more focus on the technology being used. Isaac Asimov, Arthur C. Clarke, Greg Egan, Kim Stanley Robinson's Mars Trilogy. Always eager to take some book recommendations.

Anyway, I think that's enough of an intro to satisfy the Mastodon.

`Press any key to continue...`

🦋 A Tiger Swallowtail has recently emerged at a time when there are few preferred #wildflowers for it to feed on. Luckily, a #NativePlants gardener planted Carolina Jessamine years ago and it already has cascades of yellow flowers.

🌻 So the gardener gets to enjoy the flowers and the #butterfly.

The neighbors, however, must treat traditional lawns with chemicals to kill weeds.

As usual for when the Moon is in Scorpio, or magnificently void of course, (tonight: both!!) I've been craving noodles/noodle soups.

And lacking either the core ingredients needed or the money to get takeout (or even the wish for takeout, really: the stuff I want I've just got to make at home, and that's at once a tiring and exciting thought), I just ran through my (few) memories of food I'd had before moving out that I'd enjoyed, which included this incredible soupy garlic chicken noodles I'd had at the Coffee House near College St., Kolkata, and browsed through a number of recipes on Chinese food blogs.

And then went on and had my dinner of leftover roti and my first, very nice attempt at a favourite potato and green papaya vegetable (first fed to me by my BFF#2) -- that I'd spoiled while reheating by adding too much salt 🥲

Anyway, my beloved neem tree flowered today for the first time ever. And for a second first-time-ever, I saw neem flowers live. Have I mentioned that, growing up, I've always adored neem trees and wanted to live so close to one that I'd be able to touch it from my window, and now, by some miracle, I actually live exactly that close to one of those beauties?! I'm declaring March 17 a personal holiday 📆

#RetreatPosting 🌘 #VoidMoonVibes
#BloomScrolling #Spring2025 #NativePlants