things i think about while powerwashing 54

yohohoho
Thought you wouldn't see my today, huh? NOPE. I've decided that I will probably write/post a little more from now on and I'll always do a Saturday newsletter in addition to whatever specials we have during the week. So thank you to all the people who reached out concerned about today's edition - it'll always be here.

I recently bought a firepit, and it's come into handy a few times. Even when it starts to get cold outside (in the 50s at worst), it's nice to be able to sit outside and chunk a few logs into the fire and roast some marshmallows with some friends. As my sister (and esteemed subscriber) would say, nature is healing (while looking forlornly into the fire, shadows of the flame flickering over her face).

It's also been a valuable experience in responsibility and learning by iteration. Some of y'all may remember (by being present) that my first foray into controlled fire spilled out a little and caught a wood beam on fire. The next time, I positioned the fire pit over just pure concrete and that solved things, but also found a watering can to put the fire out with. This time, I learned that we really don't need that many logs.

That's just how life is! We learn and we fall. We realize only later that we should have been more grateful for something in the past, or we kick ourselves for scorning those giving us good advice. Or we realize we should have texted someone back sooner. As the year wraps up, and we're wrapping up as we go outside, let's be a little kinder to ourselves but also honest. What didn't go right? What do we want to do better next year? I'll be doing an end of the year post closer to the end of December so stay tuned for that -- but I'd love to hear from you all what you want to do better next year!

anonymous subscriber news

Ok enough of that introspective shit let's see what flames have been fanned in my inbox today. We've been keeping up some good momentum with about like 7-10 posts per week. Let's keep it up into the end of the year! Send in your anonymous news at this link here:

• anonymous subscriber is rooting for the anons in love! and also stupidly thinking about a phd
• anonymous subscriber is found speakers at work and they’re semi-life-changing
• anonymous subscriber thinks ryan should make a cover of stick season with them
• anonymous subscriber is getting my nose pierced and dyeing my hair bc they're going thru a. phase rn
• anonymous subscriber has been trying to solve a merge conflict all week. It's not fun.
• anonymous subscriber is gonna try not to shit their pants during the Turkey trot
• anonymous subscriber ran their first 10k race on thanksgiving and they feel great
• anonymous subscriber's friends who broke up two weeks ago are back together after throwing group into turmoil for the duration of the breakup

trail report: montalvo villa

This one is less of a trail and more of a stroll around the area. Esteemed subscriber Kristi Nguyen told me there's apparently a villa in Saratoga that is free to park in and do stuff.  So we went out there and checked it out.

There's a nice big courtyard with people taking wedding photos, a grand lawn leading up to a mansion looking over the hill. Directly across the lawn sits the Italian Garden, with a temple of love, some strange-looking statues, and many many many cacti.

There's also a nice little hiking trail that goes up to a lookout point. Either way, seems like a nice place to get married.

pet of the week

Emi is back with the trail camera pictures and today we see to bobcats chilling out with eachother. Makes me think about getting Simba a friend to hang out with but I think one cat is enough to handle right now.  It's interesting seeing animal families interact in the wild, since first I'm always shocked that they stick together, then I'm surprised because the mom isn't always with the kids. Guess I'm just projecting human stuff onto cats.

As always, send your pet pictures to ryanjchen2@gmail.com or your pics will get lost! See you all later!