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Peternelle van Arsdale

@peternellevanarsdale

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writer | editor | author of THE BEAST IS AN ANIMAL and THE COLD IS IN HER BONES

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It’s a rash thing to write about a novel you love so much right as you’ve finished reading it, but love just won’t wait. I am so grateful to @heatherkabel for having written a novel that somehow speaks to everything that fascinates and compels me: mothers, daughters, female friends, romantic longing at certain critical moments in life, competition, jealousy, the desire to write and the lack of time/energy/space to do so, mental illness, the healthcare system, climate disaster, botany (yes, botany!), and the tiniest creature that terrifies us and that I shall not name. There’s so much more here as well, and yet—and yet!—it all knits, it all flows, and I simply could not stop reading until I’d finished. Which I’m now sad about because it was over too quickly (and this is not a short novel). It’s a novel I’ll read again, and one that I will urge on everyone. I thought of comparisons as I read and they were all by my very favorite novelists of recent memory—Lydia Millet, Jonathan Franzen, Emily St John Mandel, Jen Beagin. THE EMILYS is brilliant, it’s beautiful, it’s suspenseful, it’s on topics green and evergreen. I’m not going to tell you the plot because you don’t need me to do that, but trust: it’s gripping. Now stop reading this and get it from your library or order it from your nearest independent. by @peternellevanarsdale

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2 months ago

Venice—>Dolomites—>Munich 😮 by @peternellevanarsdale

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4 months ago

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4 months ago

Thanks to @ecbendy looking out of the window at just the right moment, we got to witness this wood turtle digging a hole for her eggs. Mesmerizing! Also thanks to @ecbendy, when she got done with her work long after dark, we improvised a shelter for the eggs (to protect them from predation—many eggs are lost this way) from the cover of the fire pit and then I laid a new cover in the light of day. And in about three months with some luck we will have a new generation of wood turtles. 🤞 Amazing: they don’t reach sexual maturity until 14-20 years old, so this turtle has survived a lot already and I hope she lives to lay many more eggs. They’re very endangered as a species and often walking across roads this time of year looking for nesting sites, so keep an eye out! 🐢💚#woodturtle #protectwildlife #leavetheleaves #nativegarden taken in New Paltz, New York by @peternellevanarsdale

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5 months ago

Managed to squeeze in a hike (mostly) before the rain, and it was spectacular! (Head tilt to accommodate waterfall.) 💚💚💚 taken in Kaaterskill Falls by @peternellevanarsdale

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5 months ago

Best day ever in the history of ever 😻 taken in Brooklyn Botanic Garden by @peternellevanarsdale

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6 months ago

Just back from Costa Rica, saw so much awe-inspiring nature and wildlife, but because I’m a terrible photographer and #sloths are the best, I will not post all my photos and instead place this here because we can all use more of this, always. Three-toed sloth (mama and baby!) video taken by the wonderful guide Elena from @haciendabaru 🇨🇷💚🦥 taken in Costa Rica by @peternellevanarsdale

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8 months ago

❤️🌊❤️ taken in Wellfleet, Massachusetts by @peternellevanarsdale

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a year ago

Native gardening can be discouraging (I’m looking at you, stiltgrass and jumping worms and ratcha fratching deer that eat my Carolina roses), but doesn’t this make it all worthwhile 💚 #monarchwatch #monarchcaterpillar #yay taken in New Paltz, New York by @peternellevanarsdale

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a year ago

Keep swiping 🐈‍⬛🤷🏼‍♀️ by @peternellevanarsdale

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a year ago

Made it just in time to #mothweek2025! Pleased to witness milkweed tussock moth caterpillars munching away on our common milkweed. Also saw a monarch flitting about but wasn’t fast enough to catch her/him/they 💚
#mothweek #nationalmothweek #mothweek2025 #moth #milkweedtussockmoth @inaturalistorg taken in Wellfleet, Massachusetts by @peternellevanarsdale

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a year ago

Nori has been waiting a long time for tomato season. by @peternellevanarsdale

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a year ago