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Chelsea

@chelsincontext

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I’ve had Ender since I was 26 years old. I turn 36 in 11 days. Almost 10 years together, what a gift. He was 6 months old and all legs when I got him. He loved to dig as a puppy, and destroyed anything he could get his teeth on. Before I knew it he was 50 pounds then 70 and didn’t seem to know or care that he was crushing me, literally, with his love and affection. He loved to chase squirrels and rabbits, he loved to walk with me and was patient when we stopped to listen to birdsong together, he loved snuggling and having his “hand” held, he loved meeting new people and puppies. He came running to the kitchen anytime he heard us getting an ice cube…or peanut butter, bananas, apples, scrambled eggs, we always shared. He loved sitting on the patio with me and basking in the sun on warm days. He loved car rides and resting his head on the open window with his eyes closed. He loved me most of all, I think. My shadow and constant companion, he followed me from room to room, always under my feet, whining when i’m doing chores because he wants to snuggle, always had to be laying near me or against me, pawing me for attention and affection. It’s so quiet without him now.

His ER notes say things like “quiet, alert, and responsive; very sweet” and “we are very sorry for your loss.” I’ve looked at pictures of x-rays of dog lungs and compared them to his. I’ve googled “metastatic hemangiosarcoma” and “disseminated histiocytic sarcoma”. Read things like “grave” and “often undetected”. I know too much about canine cancer now and I feel sick with guilt all the time. Should I have known sooner? I thought he was just getting older, slowing down on the last few steps as he came up the stairs because he was almost 10. We just played at the park last week, had his yearly check up in April. He hid his pain so well, I never once suspected until it was too late. I’ve never had to make a decision like I made with Ender and I didn’t have time to prepare. The grief really is all consuming.

Ender, I love you. You are unlike any dog I’ve ever known and will ever know. I’ll miss you for longer than I’ve known you. How grateful I am to have loved you and been loved by you. by @chelsincontext

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17 days ago

when your hair matches the theme of the book ✨

featuring what most afternoons look like when i can get a few pages in (ender included). it takes so much longer to read a physical book when every other paragraph there’s something worth underlining or writing a note in the margin about. really, really enjoying this so far, which has been the case for all of the classics i’ve read this year actually! sitting at page 280! i anticipate finishing this week/weekend now that i’ve finished Den of Wolves and work is a little less ~crazy~

everyone’s favorite character is Cathy, right? right? by @chelsincontext

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2 months ago

okay, i’ll read it 🖤

next up! by @chelsincontext

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2 months ago

birding & reading 🫶🏻 by @chelsincontext

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3 months ago

my current obsession? oh yes, happy you asked. sweet red cherries and long youtube videos about greek tragedies/plays/poems.

can’t sleep? me neither, i tend to make lists on libby or look at weird places on google maps. lately though it’s been long, long videos breaking down the plots and themes of various greek stories, how to read ancient greek tragedies, etc. it’s been a fun way to not sleep (and also not scroll at night)

if you have any recommendations of videos to watch, i’m all ears. i’m dabbling with the idea of diving into and reading some of what i own but i’m also an incredibly fickle being so like maybe! maybe not! who cares! by @chelsincontext

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3 months ago

buddy read with my other half 🖤

something about spending a long time with one book really appeals to me right now and i’m very excited to finally start lonesome dove.

if you’ve read this please tell me why you love it!

#lonesomedove by @chelsincontext

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5 months ago

my weekend:

Long walks, gaming, reading, birding, lounging and thrifting (included the books I grabbed!)

I finished my replay of God of War: Ragnarok! I cried, it was SO good. Incredible mix of story, soundtrack and gameplay, probably my favorite combat style in any game I’ve played. And if you know me then you know this is one of my all time favorite video game scores UGH. Excited to see how the show is adapted.

I finished Atavists and absolutely loved it. It’s a series of interconnected short stories centered around climate anxiety, the ruminating thoughts you have about the end of the world, depression & mental health, the importance of community and perspective, how the Now is drowned out by the potential Future and the different ways we cope, whether successfully or unsuccessfully. It pokes fun at millennials and genz in a way that shows Lydia has her finger on the pulse of what it is to exist and communicate with one another while living in a post covid capitalistic hellscape. Books like these are my bread and butter, they always ease whatever anxieties I have about living (in general but also with climate anxiety) just by knowing that whatever existential feelings I have are felt by someone else. 10/10

This week I’ll be focusing on knocking out The Overstory and deciding on what buddy read to start with my partner. We’re thinking The Red Winter! Thoughts?

Hope you had a good weekend! by @chelsincontext

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5 months ago

(swipe to see a cool Heron moment!)

I recently finished Once There Were Wolves, my third read by Charlotte McConaghy, and once again found myself hugging my copy with a soaking wet face. I also immediately wanted to surround myself with trees and birdsong which is exactly what I did (after a good cry).

Climate fiction (cli-fi, cute) is a genre I come back to over and over again and I love all the ways that Charlotte explores grief over climate change. Her female protagonists are often chaotic and seemingly reckless which directly mirrors the chaotic and unbalanced nature of a dying world. All of her books explore the same thing: what are you willing to sacrifice to restore that balance?

They’re all 5 star reads to me, but if I had to rank them I’d say :
🕊️Migrations
🐺Once There Were Wolves
🌊Wild Dark Shore

I can’t wait to read what she writes next 🖤

#wilddarkshore #oncetherewerewolves by @chelsincontext

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6 months ago

! by @chelsincontext

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6 months ago

There’s Always This Year is the most profound book I’ll read all year and probably one of the best books I’ll read all year. I keep revisiting his words as they’ve been such a comfort the past few days, renewing my library hold so I can have it for just a little bit longer. I want to love anything as much as he loves his city, basketball, and music. I’ve shared some of the quotes that really stood out to me and that will hopefully convince you to read it!

If you saw my last post, no you didn’t, I’m just here to say to folks who look like me that having your perspective challenged is essential right now. If you can do nothing else, throw your sorrow and anger into knowledge, READ MORE BOOKS that are outside of your comfort zone. Yes, of course, read whatever you want, truly, but I’m telling you it is rewarding to read a book that you usually wouldn’t, to learn and share, to be able to say, “This book changed me.” There’s Always This Year changed me and it’s a book I will recommend to everyone forever.

Open to suggestions on any other nonfiction or memoirs that I should check out!

#hanifabdurraqib #theresalwaysthisyear by @chelsincontext

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8 months ago

What I’m going into the weekend with! I’m 40% into The Anthropologists and 70% into There’s Always This Year.

Including some birds, as always. Yesterday there were *seven* Bald Eagles circling around and perching in the green belt behind my house.
The fully grown ones sat in the trees watching while the juveniles were flying and beating away bullying crows. There were a couple sitting in the trees this morning, and I even managed to catch a red-tailed hawk screech and dive into the tree line while taking these pictures! American Robins tend to be fairly curious and not as skittish if I’m standing nearby watching. And Wood Ducks are just my favorite in terms of personality.

It’s going to be sunny and warm in Washington this weekend so we’re going to try and be outside, maybe take a ride, enjoy it while we can.
What are you reading or doing this weekend? Have a good one! #theresalwaysthisyear #hanifabdurraqib #theanthropologists by @chelsincontext

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8 months ago

My partner and I hiked the most magical trail in January of last year, Staircase Rapids Loop. It was my first time experiencing old-growth forests in the Olympic National Park and it was hard not to be emotional about the beauty of it all. Everything was so lush, green, and vibrant despite how cold and frosty it was, there’s nothing else like it. In March, I moved to Washington, just under an hour away from the trail. We kept saying we would go back but prioritized places we had never been. On July 6th, the Bear Gulch fire was sparked (suspected fireworks), which quickly spread and ultimately ended up being over 20,000 acres. Staircase Rapids Loop burned in that fire. The trail is still closed down.
I’d never had to contend with wildfires before and now a favorite trail was on fire and I was choking on its smoke some days.

When It All Burns is told from the perspective of a firefighting anthropologist. He weaves his personal experience as a Hotshot firefighter with the history, current industry, and future of megafires. There’s a focus on how the colonization and the suppression of Indigenous fires contributed to the escalation of megafires. How planned burns can be helpful tools in megafire prevention using Indigenous knowledge. He writes about corporate logging having a vested interest in fires burning and the negative impacts of clear cutting land. Federal bureaucracy is reliant on workers accepting less while the experienced people able to fight these fires are leaving the industry. Climate denialists vote for people who squash legislation that could help minimize megafires and then call Hotshots hero’s when they break their bodies to save lives and property. It’s bleak and I felt pretty bleak about it all at the end. Lately I’ve been pouring my sorrow into knowledge, hoping knowledge will ease my anxieties about *gestures wildly* and it does, it really does.

When It All Burns was informative, fascinating, and at moments read like an action book, I loved it, 5 ⭐️ If you’re interested about Staircase Rapids, NPS has information about the ‘Legacy of Fire’ on their online brochure.

#whenitallburns #nonfiction #staircaserapids #olympicnationalpark taken in Staircase Rapids Loop by @chelsincontext

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9 months ago