September 7, 2024

by Dr. Plastic Picker

I feel better. I feel better just titling the blog post “It’s hot. I’m tired.” I just sent the Public Health Advisory Council San Diego email group and a included a few other doctors and medical students a plea for someone to show up on September 17 at the Vista Unified School District at 6pm to help present with one of the staff. All this work is volunteer, but the volunteers are very busy physicians like myself. I just wanted to remind them that there is some work that is important, and since we are laser focused on decarbonization – electrifying this school district is very important.

It felt very good to send the following email snippet

“One last plea for anyone who might be available to speak at Sept 17 at 6pm with Climate Actions Campaign to help Serena with the work up in Vista to help electrify.  We asked PHAC members first, but I’m including some of my AAP peds colleagues and some of our medical students who might know someone.  As long as it’s a med student, pediatrician or other physician – we can catch you up easy.

I’m asking because if no one volunteers, I will go. But I will be honest, I’m completely exhausted.  I have a PHAC OC press conference that morning (because we are doing a press release for the CAP report there which is hugely important) but the VISTA work is important too. No one in OC can physically be there yet, as I’m trying to build up the council.  And I have realized I need to figure out how to fit in a bunch of dental stuff for myself and my daughter because her wisdom teeth are coming in.  So asking for help, if anyone can do it. If not I will do it, and it will be fine. But it helps me to ask knowing that I reached out.  I’m not as good as Bruce as keeping connected with everyone, but would like to start making sure I ask because I know everyone wants to help with impactful stuff – and helping VISTA get to district electrification is fundamental decarbonbization and important.”  

I was on KPBS yesterday and the interview went well. It actually got published as an article “San Diego Unified students sweat it out in class as air conditioners malfunction” Let me update my doximity resume. Here is the link if you want to watch it. https://www.kpbs.org/news/health/2024/09/06/san-diego-unified-students-sweat-it-out-in-class-as-air-conditioners-malfunction

I’m glad I can just type stuff on this blog. I posted on Instagram and it’s true, whenever it’s time to retreat and delete the social media – I’ll be okay. I’ll always keep the blog and my personal emails. But the social media Instagram stuff, I’m not sure how much of it is real? You know? I’m tired because I have real stuff I need to catch up on. My daughter has real teeth that we already went through braces, and her wisdom teeth are starting to move. I also need to see the dentists myself. I also need to do my real taxes. I totally forgot we could paid yesterday. But I need to pay the government their substantial portion so I need to file our taxes. I started real folding and organizing our closet, and I need to move our teens ceramics from the extra dining room table we have to the upstairs game room that has a perfectly good display case already. Lots of real things that need to be done today.

Decarbonization is real work as well. So I hope one of my other PHAC and doctor friends shows up in REAL life to help do a presentation. If not, I’ll do it. But I’m hot and I’m tired because there is a heat wave. But at least I was on KPBS for it! That was COOL!

August 30, 2024

by Dr. Plastic Picker

Honestly, this one was fun. It was super fun. Here is the online version https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/2024/08/29/opinion-fireworks-near-mission-bay-are-harming-animals/

I wrote to a climate colleague the following, “Adam was so happy today. I really only did a paragraph. It was mostly Adam and Andrew. But I think what I’ll remember most about this one, was laughing with Adam over the word pyro-metallo-mania. He said pyromania and I added the metallo part.” And honestly that’s what I will remember most about this article. It was important to write, to say our piece as community leaders. I posted a lot about this on Instagram.

But here on this blog, I’m just me and I wanted to remember and share that moment. My professor friend, Adam, just laughing and being joyous when we were trying to save the world together.

I have to remember that I’m a person. I’m going to turn it off completely this weekend. I need to do two presentations on air pollution, and I need to start getting my heart rate up to make sure my physical body is strong. Mentally I’m doing wonderful and I’m grateful for this climate and health journey that I am on. But I am nearing 50, and I need to remember to do cardio enough that my heart rate gets up above 140 at times. So just a quick post to say hi, and give the op-ed a read if you have time. I’m almost done with my matcha (still with just a splash of soy milk and 2 teaspoons of sugar) and will go jogging for 30 minutes.

August 19, 2024

by Dr. Plastic Picker

The house is a disaster. There is a gift bag filled with vegetables I need to drop off at Dr. Luis Castellanos’ house. I believe he has peaches for me, which I will come get hopefully Tuesday. They are probably overripe. The last of the cherry tomatoes are on the vines, and the summer is coming to a close for our family. We have the house to ourselves and somewhat our lives back after successfully finishing H3SD 2024 at UC San Diego School of Medicine. It’s hard to describe how successful the gathering was. Just some phrases I posted on my personal facebook page.

“H3SD 2024. It was an absolutely inspiring evening. Day #1 was all about the students. Opening and poster presentation.”

“It’s hard to sum up how wonderful it went. H3SD 2024 , the collective we (organizations and individuals) knocked it out of the park. So it gets an Instagram reel share on Facebook.”

Instagram posts as well with reels and commentaries. But we will write the summit proceedings up, as it needs to be shared as soon as possible. We made important connections during that meeting, and built up regional leadership to address global heating in our region. One of the most important connections we made as an organizing committee, is looping in San Diego State School of Public Health – as they are doing work at our most at-risk community which is the Imperial Valley. Our AAP CA3 chapter actually is San Diego and Imperial Counties so that is our catchment area as well. It’s humbling to know that as one of the chapter committee chairs, I don’t know enough about the children in the Imperial Counties.

But today is just a feeling of exhaustion. I’m sure our hard working coordinators are feeling the same. This year was so different than the first. I think this one belonged to everyone, and overall objectively improved and impactful. But I’m thinking back to last year, and it’s with an overwhelming sense of love. H3SD 2023, was my shooting my shot at global heating. I was shooting my shot at building relationships and connections across institutions. I was shooting my shot at perhaps chance meetings that would lead to some drama. And it led to something entirely different, and something more enduring.

As the person who helped start H3SD, the first one will always be the most loved. It’s like your first child. You don’t know what you are doing, but you know that you absolutely love him/her/they. And that love and fear and anticipation, can never be recreated. But the 2nd child, you are more experienced and it goes more smoothly. And H3SD 2024 was that. This was the 2nd child, well planned and executed. It was other people 1st child, but for me it was the 2nd. I started H3SD with friends as an idea on the wetlands, and it was powered by so much joy and hope. And I am so happy that it’s taken a life of it’s own. It no longer belongs to me, it belongs to the shared community that made H3SD 2024 a hopeful coming together of the house of medicine – raising it’s voice for the planet.

But I am indeed so tired. I need to do our taxes. The entire thing probably costs our family $10K or so? We received some funding for other sources and UC San Diego School of Medicine came through. But we applied for some grants and awards, and I know that this next year – it will be no longer just us but shared. Just letting things soak in and enjoying the exhaustion.

But my daughter reminded me that she’s a junior this year, and she needs my support. I’m going to limit myself this year. I only have her at home for another two years, and these are two crucial years. She’s my climate why, and I have to be mindful that I have to be there for her. I’m trying to save the earth for her, and my future grandchildren – whoever they might be.

I was going to show you a picture for her, but it’s her pictures and she has her own social media now. So I’m going to respect her privacy. I’m learning for sure, and growing and learning not to be so superficial.

August 11, 2024

My good friend and collaborator Dr. Luis Castellanos is at his house this morning, and he is living his life with his family. Being a husband and father. Mr. Plastic Picker and I are in our house, and my radiologist husband had to run out unexpectedly and will work all day at the HMO covering the hospital because of a sick call. He’s going to be “paid back” supposedly, but I never believe that. He’ll make extra money, but it’s money that we don’t need because we are FISE – Financially Independent to Save the Earth (it’s a phrase I tried to make a thing a few years ago). And another friend is nearby in another coastal city, and they have left the practice of medicine essentially. And here I am, Dr. Plastic Picker often collaborating with my friend Dr. Luis Castellanos on trying to save the earth. We have our upcoming H3SD 2024 San Diego’s Heat and Human Health Summit in less than a week at UC San Diego School of Medicine. What amazes me, that at some point we were all first year medical students together, in patient doctor 1 and just learning how to examine a patient. And now we are trying to resuscitate the planet.

But here I wanted to share with the readership the nomination we sent on behalf of my good friend Dr. Luis Castellanos for the Prebys Foundation Leadership Award. It’s a big prize and funds that he will put to good use to help address global heating and health, and address health disparities in San Diego County. Even if we don’t get it, the combined forces of our medical community will keep on trying to resuscitate the planet. And still be normal clinical doctors in pediatrics, cardiology and radiology.

Please send us good thoughts and we hope he is honored in November.

It’s 5:24AM and a Monday morning, and I’m typing on this blog. I’ve started three versions of this blogpost, and deleted them. But it’s been fun, because it’s thoughts I needed to write down which enabled me to return to my email and actually finish a climate project.

I’ve been working on and off with Prof. Adam Aron from UCSD Green New Deal and Andrew Meyer from San Diego Audubon Society on an op-ed we would like to submit to the San Diego Union Tribune. If you know me in real life, you likely haven’t heard me stop talking about the Sea World July 4th fireworks that were out of control, and lead to many shorebirds including elegant terns washing dead ashore. The fireworks are bad for human health as well, which is why I got involved. You’ll hopefully see the op-ed this week and it’s really cool to co-author something with my two climate friends! Prof. Adam Aron and Andrew Meyer are like some of my favorite people in the world!

If you were in San Diego on July 4th, you probably remember where you were and who you were with. You likely remember the fireworks displays. I was with my daughter on our roof deck and watching the fireworks, and thinking a bit “they are a bit out of control” and sure enough the next day, all these elegant terns were documented on social media washed up dead on West Ski Island. That event, led us to investigate further into the hazards of fireworks which includes air pollution, noise pollution and actually heavy metals raining down on Mission Bay. I was fascinated to learn there is something called Firework Dust (FD) and Legacy Dust (LD) that continues to pollute the environment.

Personally, I’ve never taken my children near the fireworks because they don’t like the noise close up. My son when he was a toddler in Boston, had an uncontrollable crying episode over watching the fireworks while sitting on a stroller near the Charles River. I wasn’t there because we had the new preemie baby at home. It makes sense that small children would be adverse to fireworks up close. He probably helped ensure his own good neurodevelopment, because his father brought him straight home and he wasn’t exposed to the noise pollution, heavy metal pollution and particulate matter. Since then, we kind of avoid the entire thing.

So I was standing on the roofdeck with my daughter, and honestly we don’t really enjoy the fireworks that much. Maybe that tells us that those that enjoy the fireworks and the spectacle of it, we are too different. But the community will need to decide what’s best for the children.

For my child during the summer of sixteen, she was with me physically and safe. She was away from the lead, cadmium, barium and copper raining down on Mission Bay. She was away from the possibilities of fingers being blown off. I remember acutely as a resident physician, the orthopedic hand surgeons had to reattach fingers from mostly teenagers living in New Hampshire that were playing with fireworks. It seems kind of silly to let your children do that, or allow them to hang out with friends who would do that. But in the end, everyone raises your own children. I only get involved when it affects all children, and of course the elegant terns and biodiversity.

This summer has been so unexpectedly wonderful for our daughter. It wasn’t the summer she expected. There was no boy, no summer romance (thank goodness!). But there was so much art and learning. The one month California State Summer School for the Arts CSSSA was an intensive 6-day program that was pretty much from 8:30am to 9pm every day. She studied mostly ceramics and had a lot of studio time, but also studied figure drawing, photographer, print-making, arts and culture. She got to go to the Getty and Disneyland with her friends! We saw her just twice for brief snippets the entire month, and we saw lots of selfies. She would send me her “fit-checks” (yes it is a teen thing). She was on artistic fire, honestly. She produced two large ceramics pieces that will be included in her portfolio. I loved seeing them in the pictures she sent us, but honestly they are physically very impressive when you see them in real life! She’s really an amazing 16-year-old.

Then she went to a Vietnamese youth leadership advocacy camp, that is too complicated to explain, but I was able to accompany her on Saturday. She finally met her team that she’s worked with over the year. She’s being mentored by amazing Vietnamese-American women, and meaningfully contributing to human rights work. For a Harvard educated mother, I am floored at times what she has accomplished. I just follow along with her, and try to gently guide her. We had so much fun this last weekend with new friends and connections we made. This is her community as it was mine, and it’s changing and blending and we are there to be a part of it. Plus the food was amazing. And it was cool when she hugged her new friends and we said “maybe we’ll come to Paris next year for the European camps?” And honestly, that is definitely possible.

But she’s tucked back in her room and sleeping soundly this morning. I have to leave for clinic in two hours, and back to clinical work. But I am so grateful to have spent this hour with you writing down my thoughts.

July 23, 2024

by Dr. Plastic Picker

Yes, I am on social media. I’ve learned a lot from social media, and I admit I need to be off it a bit more. But it’s a thing and it’s here to stay. The most important part is that it is fundamentally connecting a lot of us that need to be connected to address the climate crisis. I know I may be living in my own echoing chamber, but honestly I don’t think I am. Social media is like going to the mall or grocery store, you see people and meet people. But you can tell a lot about them by the images they share, their captions and the general “vibe” of their account.

It’s a scary and dangerous thing as well, because there is a lot of darkness out there. There is glorification and self objectification. It’s taught me to be wary of some people, and some paths I thought were possible. But it’s also shown me some beautiful hearts and minds. Yes, we can all be manipulated but we can be manipulated in real life as well.

I think for me social media is helpful when it is the accounts of actual people I know and I will be working with in our region. I have no need to have more followers /friends than I have now. There are tricks to the social media game, when people “buy followers.” Yes, it is a thing. This occurs when that account or person is trying to usually make money off you, or trying to exert influence that they don’t have. I’m just a pediatrician who is trying to help stop the climate crisis. I’m a real person.

And my daughter is real too, and I saw this on my ceramic teacher’s instagram story. It’s fine and appropriate, but at least I know what is going on because I am where the youth are – on social media.

Isn’t her ceramics cool????!!!! I’m so proud of her. She’s actually not on social media that much. She’s very much in the real world making amazing things with her own hands and skills. It’s been a busy and quieter summer than she expected. She’s 16 and pretty, and rather than growing in her social relationships – she’s actually unexpectedly grown in her art quite a bit. I don’t think she’ll fully realize how important this summer will be to her development artistically and professionally until years down the line. I am so grateful to social media because I learned about many of these opportunities for her because I was looking around and curious about the world in general.

Today I have to continue to move the climate work forward mostly through being connecting with folks. I need to talk to my mentor Bruce Bekkar about something, I’m not sure. I need to talk to Dr. Christine James about 3 projects. I need to talk to Dr. Mel Fiorella about a different project. I need to talk to Angela Kim from UC Berkeley about PHAC OC/LA. I need to talk to Aneesah Grayson also about PHAC OC/LA. I need to talk to several people about H3SD Summit. I basically need to talk to a lot of people. And I’m hoping to have some time to talk to my daughter when she has time for me. She’s really busy creating art.

She’s really pretty! But she’s older now and has her own social media and controlling her own image. But every time I see her, I only have one thought. She’s pretty. That’s pretty much it. I’m kind of superficial in that way.

Hope you are all well! My charts are actually miraculously almost all closed and I’m starting this morning fresh and energized for clinic! Being happy makes a huge difference with doctoring.

July 19, 2024

by Dr. Plastic Picker

It’s 6:09am and I have a full day of clinic ahead of me. I’m at peace with the world. What I’m most proud of these days is that three days ago, I came home after morning clinic and there were about 50 flies milling around the beautiful glass doors that look into our backyard garden. The reason the flies are there are probably many, but some of them is that it’s the summer and there are always flies in Pacific Beach and I think indeed the world. But a lot of it, is that my parents-in-law are out of town and I think my father-in-law was not around to do his daily fly-swatting duty and the flies likely just multiplied. Where, I don’t even want to know. But we are having a house-cleaner coming soon (which is actually rare for us to outsource this task) to come to do a deep clean. But I was so proud of myself, because one by one – I killed all the flies. And this morning, after the next few days just making sure to swat at them as I existed in my own home – the fly infestation is done. I texted my children, “there was a fly massacre and I was the evil villain!” The kids thought it was funny on the family text stream. Indeed, Mr. Plastic Picker the radiologist and I are a great fly swatting team. Our children were both gone living their wonderful lives, and husband and I finished off the flies. Then we went out to eat sushi and had a great time.

Mr. Plastic Picker and I are a great team. He’s still Assistant Chief of his department and it’s stressful these days. We were walking along the beach last night, meandering and chatting as millennials were spending money they didn’t have – and I commiserated with him about the absolute ridiculous nature of middle management. I had been in middle management two years ago for a total of 5 years, but actually even before that was head of our clinic for some reasons. Honestly, it seems so long ago. Just like a different life. But it’s helpful to have done it. I better understand what my husband is going through and often offer words of comfort.

Are you in the same department as me? Did you go to the last meeting? It was so interesting. I think most people were so upset and revved up because it had to do with money. For me, I don’t really think about money much these days other than trying to be effective in how I spend the money I donate towards the earth. For me that meeting, was like an out of body experience. Folks were upset (and rightly so), but I was just observing and thinking this entire meeting was so interesting. That the upper management person who was called out for a mistake was also the one that is is my fossil fuel “enemy” (in my make believe world) in my internal fight for fossil fuel divestment, did not upset me. I thought to myself, wow – that upper management person made a big mistake. It’s karma coming back at him, because he was mean to me about trying to get our pension divested from fossil fuels during a committee meeting. I just show at up the meeting. I believe in karma 100%!

Our kids are doing great. Our 16 year old is super adorable and learning so much at her arts camp. I can’t share all the wonderful work she is creating. She’ll post on her ceramics instagram account soon. And our son rode a bike all around Mission Bay yesterday, and had the best day the day before with his friends at an e-sports tournament. I told my daughter in our nightly chat that while she is gone, I’m working with San Diego Audubon and going to talk to one of my eccentric UCSD professor friends about trying to pressure Sea World to switch to drone shows. I showed up at city council yesterday after the massacre of elegant terns from the July 4th fireworks display in Mission Bay. A lot of endangered shore birds died due to Sea World going overboard on the fireworks. It makes sense, they imprison orcas and dolphins. I don’t think they care about a native endangered shore bird species. But they have to care about the local law and ordinances, so I’m going to make a lot of noise with my UCSD professor friend. It’s really going to rile a lot of people up!

Okay. I have to write a letter of recommendation right now for someone special! And come to the H3SD San Diego’s Heat and Human Health Summit if you can! It’s going to be a lot of fun! Plus I think I’m paying for most of it. Literally. That’s a strange story too, but I’m a partner at our physician group and it’s my job to try to avert the worse effects of heat and human health and I have some money from working extra shifts these days. Plus we didn’t given Elon Musk any of our money. There are a lot of pediatricians driving Teslas? Just observing. I’m still driving my CMAX but our Prius 2012 needs to be upgraded soon so we are thinking about electric cars as well. But not a Tesla for various political reasons.

July 4, 2024

by Dr. Plastic Picker

I swear I’m getting better! I’m not posting pictures of our daughter as much on social media and she reprimanded me recently. My excuse is that I worked a lot when she was younger and now I’m enjoying so many of the “firsts” that I want to remember each moment. I wasn’t there when she rolled for the first time, or when walked. And even if I was there, she was a sickly enough kid and I was a stressed out young pediatrician mother that the joy was overshadowed by worry and stress.

But it’s great being a bit past 45, and not yet in menopause and having a daughter that has such an interesting life. She is so sassy and sweet, but it’s her life and I’m taking the backseat on her narrative. It’s her likeness and her image, and social media is different for the teens. They have to be careful what they post and who likes it, because there is a whole social milieu that does not involve parents. So today, just pictures of her crocheted basket and blueberries!

Happy July 4th everyone! I can write about it here because not many folks read my blog anyone. THANK GOODNESS! It’s a particularly special July 4th because my brother-in-law is finally home after a 9 month deployment from the Navy. The state of the world is complicated, the War in gaza, climate crisis, and upcoming election. I actually don’t try to think about much other than the climate crisis and environmental pollution (and oh my day job of actually clinically taking care of children), but I know that it’s related so much of it. I couldn’t post on Instagram because I was getting hateful comments about the military since I’m mostly in the climate world on Instagram. But here, I can say it. My brother-in-law is a hero and he’s home. He kept the Houthi’s out of the conflict and saw more combat that anyone since world war 2. We still need our military. There is Russia, North Korea and China. If you don’t think you need the military, look around your house and think to yourself – you don’t think someone wants it? Our lives are pretty nice in the United States of America (yes for very complicated exploitive and colonial reasons) but we aren’t solving things overnight and we still need our military to protect us. Because other countries also have a military. So he’s a hero and he’s been awarded a bronze star, and he’s home and safe and I’m so so grateful.

And today I’m going to try to go for a jog and keep my heart rate up for at least 30 minutes. Had some big climate wins yesterday and a lot of legislative movements, but today I really just wanted to remember the crocheted blueberries and the basket she made me. And that my brother-in-law is home with his two children and his wife (my sister). And that I went for a jog, and spent the day with my children.

Sometimes life is that simple. She is my climatewhy, so thank you for listening about her. I really want grandchildren which is why it bothers me so much that there is global heating and an existential threat to humanity. I hope you have a relatively low carbon holiday. And all of us (including you) should really fly less. It’s really unfair. We’ve definitely reducing our travel.

June 22, 2024

by Dr. Plastic Picker

We are back home and our oldest will be back tomorrow from Japan. So we’ll be rejoined as a family for a glorious two weeks before our youngest goes off for a month long camp in the LA area. We are so proud of her. She worked inordinately hard to be admitted to the honors summers arts camp, and she’ll get to live out her dream of “nerding out on ceramics” for a month. She’s an artists at heart, and I love that so much about her. But we’ll miss her for that month. Life does not seem as lively when she’s away. I never thought I’d enjoy having teenagers so much, and this last year of having them both 19 and now 16 – I am going to completely revel in it. I want to make every day count.

But enough about my kids! I wanted to think through this idea of reconnecting systems. I find so many metaphors in nature. But this is where I was thinking of reconnecting segments of our community, and realized that combating global heating is actually literally reconnecting systems. And it is in the most unusual place.

We bought a large tree farm in Oregon and the property is huge. The house is beautiful and has a kitchen nicer than my kitchen in San Diego. There is a large creek that is the Upper Cow Creek that is part of the Cow Creek Watershed (I think). I spent 3 hours with a very smart conservationist from the Oregon Fish and Wildlife Service and we hiked around parts of our property and chatted for 3 hours. It was one of those meandering conversations but focused on our property qualifying again for the Riparian Habitat tax relief program. Essentially if you do things to preserve Riparian habitat, you don’t have to pay property tax on some acreage. The money is not that much for us, since we are FISE (Financially Independent to Save the Earth). But what I learned was invaluable.

I learned that the most important part of our property for Riparian habitat was not where I expected. I guess the main creek is in pretty good shape. We have to plant some more shade trees to shade the river, and willow and cottonwood are good. But probably some of the native pine species would be better. My new friend mentioned the Ponderosa Pine in particular. Like from that old western show Ponderosa!!!

We want to replant several species and not have a monoculture. Most people tend to just plant a lot of willow since it grows so fast. There are already a family of beavers on the creek more upstream which I forgot to tell my new friend the biologists.

Okay! Just sent the email “It was so great to talk to you Amy and I’m still processing everything we talked about and what you taught me. Just before I forget, I talked to my brother Daiuy who is up on the property now.  I forgot that further upstream of Upper Cow Creek they had seen a beaver dam and beavers. So there are some already on the main creek. On French Creek south of the area we were looking at closer to the road, there is sometimes a pond that forms there. So it’s definitely wet a good amount of the way. I had forgotten but during the fall and winter it’s usually there.”

I learned about floodplains and that it’s sometimes important to create manmade channels to reconnect floodplains that have been disrupted by agriculture for decades. We already have logs on the property that might be perfect material to reconnect the floodplain. I hiked with this wonderful new friend and she pointed out the native species that I had no idea about.

Oregon grape is my new friend. Here it is!

So many plants I need to learn how to identify. But more importantly I know now the big plan of what we need to do. It’s going to take time and patience. But essentially the main Upper Cow Creek runs too hot most of the year, and reconnecting the creek with the floodplains on our property and the French Creek which likely has colder water during the winter and fall – will be important to try to bring up the number of juvenile coho salmon.

I’m so grateful for this interesting life that I’ve stumbled upon. I just finished talking to my good friend Dr. Elizabeth Friedman and our conversation was jam packed with climate work and updates, but also meandering about the people we love and worry about and our dreams for ourselves, and our communities. And interwoven between us are so many people and stories, especially students that we mentor. I am forever grateful for making that connection with her, and in some ways I think I was always meant to meet her. Like I’m grateful I met you dear reader. I hope you seek to reconnect to someone today. I truly believe that reconnecting is a metaphor but also physically reconnecting. I’m hoping to head out to Missouri soon to see Dr. Friedman and I’m going to bring Dr. Dear Friend as well! I want to see what’s up with this biosludge stuff.

June 20, 2024

by Dr. Plastic Picker

It’s our last full day on our Oregon farm, and we head back to our life in Southern California tomorrow. Today I’m meeting with the Oregon Fish and Wildlife OFW office, and one of their fish biologists. We have a Riparian plan that we need to finalize with the state of Oregon in order to continue some tax breaks we get for not developing an area of the property that has vital riparian habitat.

This climate activists life has led me here, to Oregon. There is no way to hide from climate change, our entire way of life will change. But we can all do what we can, in this chaotic reorganizing of society. This isn’t a climate bunker because the forest that surrounds us is likely to burn from wildfires at some point. But it was a way for me to deal with my climate anxiety. If I can just save these 200 acres, than I would have done some of our part. I remember when we flew out here during the COVID pandemic when travel finally opened up a bit, and we were up in this place during May. The ground was so healthy, and there were large birds of prey flying overhead. Knowing how degraded much of our earth is now, I realized how precious this place was. We “own” it but how does one own anything? You can’t “own” anything because our time on this earth is limited. I’m not afraid of death, because truly that is in the end where we are own destined to end up. We will be returned to the earth, and then I believe reborn again.

But for this time that I am here, I’ve decided one of my roles is to safeguard at least these acres. We’ve had movie companies approach us to film movies, that would have brought too much foot traffic to sensitive habit. We’ve had odd offers to grow wasabi from very wealthy people because the water is so clear in the creek. We’ve had multiple offers from some sketchy people to grow what we think is marijuana. Who wants a random acreage in the middle of a forest to lease? You must be doing something sketchy. So our family has decided to leave it for the fish and the salamanders and the earth.

Life is so busy that as a part-“owner” – we’ve only been able to come up no more than once a year. But it’s a blessed time that allows me to re-center. Every time I return, I am reminded how important the work that I am doing in San Diego is. And what we do in southern california, will help preserve places like this. And forests like the one that surrounds me, is doing it’s part by preserving the life that our species has decimated. There are baby deer frolicking around the property, a family of squirrels living in the old stone outdoor stove – every morning so busy. I love that squirrel family. If they had an Instagram account, they’d 100% go viral. But we’ll leave them to live their lives. The badgers, the mountain lions, the bears, the bald eagles, and the deer – we need to leave them some space. The concept of Rewilding is so powerful. But we can only rewild places, if we make our urban lives wonderful and filled with community and love and green spaces – so that the ridiculous suggestion from one of my patients to build a town in this secluded plot doesn’t come to fruition. The last thing we need is another town, where rich citizens flock and pretend to be eco-conscious.

We are just normal doctors that managed our money right. We still work and I have to return to our lives back in southern california soon. We can only keep this property if I continue working. I was so close to quitting years ago in the midst of my burn out, but I am so glad that I did not. Because I did not quit and got better, I have gotten to live this interesting second part of my life trying to fight for our community and climate. My daughter got to pick wildflowers on a farm that our family owns, and sat quietly on our porch and made a crown of daisies. Just like I try to protect her, I believe if we all work in our own ways to better society and address decarbonization – we will pull together as a community and weather the worst of this.

I still have so much fear and anxiety, and those of us in the trenches know that. We know about the catastrophic heat waves coming. We know about the heart disease and kidney damage and premature birth that is caused by global heating, environmental pollution and air pollution in particular. But being here calms my fear. I can still enjoy today. I can still enjoy a crown of daisies that my daughter made, because I know most days I have done so much to help move legislative work in California to address environmental pollution and climate change.

Just thoughts as we end our last few days in Oregon. Thank you for letting me share my journey. And I hope this blogposts finds you well.