August 27, 2023

by Dr. Plastic Picker

This has been a topic I’ve been thinking of for the last year. It’s natural for me since we got our son off to college at UC Berkeley successfully and we are still navigating with our 15-year-old daughter the joys and pangs of being a teenage girl in our modern society. I’m also a pediatrician for now almost 20 years, and I’ve given “the talk” to more teens than I can imagine that come in and out of my clinic exam rooms. But when your own children are around the same age and going through the same, it hits differently. And honestly I counsel my children and my patients completely differently than when I was a younger pediatrician with just infants in my own house. Sex, consent, intimate partner violence, gender issues – all of it isn’t as pressing when you are changing diapers at your own home. But when you have two awesome teenagers yourself and a pretty 15-year-old girl at home – sex very much is in the back of our minds as parents.

For the first time ever, I had a teenager just having entered high school ask me after hemming and hawing for a bit “When do you think I should have sex? Beginning of high school? End of high school?” I was very proud of this said teenager for having asked me this question. We connected because this teenager had begun watching Kdramas and we just chatted about popular titles. Kdramas are so popular now beyond the Asian-American community, and I think a good thing mostly for representation of a more diverse cast of heroes and heroines. So with that connection, this teenager was brave to ask me this question and I am not the primary pediatrician. This was a chance visit with a doctor that said teenager will never see again.

I usually ask the teens what they know from school and reading themselves. I ask them if they know about birth control and different forms, so I don’t have to repeat myself. I ask them if they know how common chlamydia. I go over the numbers and how it’s easier to test now, just urine and blood for all the STDs. We used to do cervical swabs and urethral swabs, and I assure them it’s so much easier now whenever they need us to test them. I talk about planned parenthood, and confidentiality and that I’m here to not judge and be a resource for them. I give them all the information and I’m so comfortable doing it. I use funny stories from my own life, to make it more relatable to them. I’m honest with my own patients about my own life and decisions, to hope to be an example to keep them safe in loving relationships. I tell them I met my boyfriend when I was a freshman in college, and we were friends and dated after a year of being friends. So between 19 and 24 (when we were married during medical school), we had lived in the same dorm buildings and at some point “things happened.” I told them I got on birth control for acne initially and to regulate my period because I was so stressed as a Harvard freshman that I didn’t have my period, but at some point the birth control was there for birth control because I wanted to have children at the time I decided. I emphasize that as young teens for the girls that they are very fertile, and I joke around that “a boy will walk by you and you’ll become pregnant!” which is not true. But that I do have several cases where I’m not sure if there was actual vaginal penetration and I think I may have had 2 cases in my career, where the young boy ejaculated somewhere very close to the girl and the young teen girl got pregnant. In both cases, the two young teens actually did love each other and the families decided to keep the babies. Those children are healthy, but I tell them – gosh that was really hard for those kids and one was an AP Chemistry student too. So be careful, it can happen to you!

But what I told this patient and what I’ve told my own children and all the children that are thinking about sex or may have sex or are hanging out in the teenage social media mileau that have oversexualized everything is this:

You deserve to be loved. Whether that be after you are married or before, you 100% deserve to be loved. That you want to be close with someone you care for sexually is very natural. And whenever you make that decision, I am here for you as a pediatrician not to judge but to make sure you are safe. But sex is not just sex, it’s such a beautiful thing that should be shared with someone who cares for you. It’s like anything you do for the first time, if you kind of do it “right” initially – like brushing your teeth or flossing – you do it better forever after and there won’t be as many issues later on. It’s such a private thing, that try to have some privacy and comfort. My own children I hope they will wait, but I told my son who is in college, use a credit card and get a hotel room or call your uncle for advice if you are embarrassed to talk to us. And that’s it. You deserve to be loved in every way, and isn’t love such a beautiful thing?

For my own daughter, I’ve told her the same. Her own pediatrician actually gave her a very different talk in the privacy of a confidential visit. But my daughter is very open with me, and told me afterwards the broad strokes of that talk. I so appreciate the different pediatric perspective but that talk was very different.

But for my own daughter and the patients I’ve had since they were young, I add a wistful little ending. The beauty is in the waiting. The perfect boy, he becomes your husband (Mr. Plastic Picker) and a wonderful partner. But enjoy today however old you are. 14, 15, 16, 17, and maybe even 18. 19. The beauty is in the anticipation, the waiting, the yearning.

And again for my own daughter, I told her honestly you are so busy right now. You have to continue develop your sense of self – emotionally, professionally and physically. And having a boy (or girl or whatever gender of the person that you love) there with his opinions , no matter how wonderful he is, complicates things. It’s about you now. And girl, you got so much awesome stuff going on!

But the summer she goes off to college and I’m not there to keep an eagle eye on things? 100% she’s getting a nexplanon placed (long term implantable birth control). I’m a romantic, but I’m not stupid. LOL. And that’s my story and I’m sticking with it! Have a wonderful rest of your weekend from your local litter picking pediatrician. I’m going to the beach to pick up trash this morning, and I’ll be with my teenager this afternoon getting curtain bangs so she can look cute for herself. She’s super excited about the curtain bangs!

August 23, 2023

by Dr. Plastic Picker

One of my friends once told me, after I told him some of my grandiose plans, that he said “my grand plans are to clean the house and do something in the garden.” That really was cool. And because I respect this friend, I’ve been often thinking to myself “My grand plans are to . . . ” And today my grand plans are to do my taxes.

Our son has COVID for the first documented time ever. The entire pandemic none of us were known to have had it (excepting my mother-in-law) but I’m sure at some point we had it? We are fully vaccinated including the bivalent boosters. My son hopefully is having a mild case, but he is missing the first 5 days of college due to being quarantined. Orientation was mixing thousands of students, so it makes sense that he got COVID. I mean, he lives in a triple! We are monitoring the situation and I texted some of my doctor friends for advice. They were so great to reply.

And then my grand plans today are still to meet with all the different entities and loving souls that made H3SD possible. I sent emails off to friends at UC San Diego. Mr. Plastic Picker and I will meet with my friend Dr. Luis Castellanos. That is always a highlight to chat and have brunch. I have changed my schedule to be able to meet with County of San Diego, and I’ve invited the Kaiser entities that might be interested. I hopefully will meet with the ground level people that all made this happen, like the wonderful volunteer project manager Sed. There were so many personalities and loving people involved, but I was honest with my friends and home institution. We have to have a project manager for the next iteration and it has to be a team. It was half parts insanity and this unexplained joy and curiosity that enabled me to help make this major thing happen. I can’t be replicated, but the model is sound.

My activism has always been about what many of us in climate work talk about, the intersection of

And what brings me joy is a lot of fun and different new projects that are in the back of my mind. It’s usually working with people I find interesting. But I also need to do the work that needs doing, and the work that needs doing that also brings me joy is – doing my taxes. We’ve paid up our quarterly, but just need to gather everything together.

I’m also going on a kind of date with Mr. Plastic Picker tonight! We are going to walk around UTC Westfield as our daughter has a leadership meeting she has to be at. So when she’s at this meeting, I’ll get to walk with him around the mall. And honestly, for me? That’s super exciting just to get to hold his hand. I’m a romantic at heart. And that was ultimately what half enabled me to get the summit across the finish line, because I believe in happy endings in every aspect of our lives.

August 20, 2023

by Dr. Plastic Picker

We knew the hurricane was coming, so we made some memories. We had two cousins still here from New York helping with the summit, beautiful girls that I’m their aunt. They are at a beautiful age in life, young and their futures in front of them. They took some of their summer to visit their family which is their cousins and grandparents and uncle (and me), and to help with the summit. But because Hurricane Hilary was coming, we had to have their parents change their flights and we got them out before the Hurricane. They are from New York City, and they had many of their family memories destroyed during Hurricane Sandy. Climate fueled disasters are real, and they are aware of them as are we. Can we take a moment and acknowledge something? There is a Hurricane coming to Southern California! This is 100% climate change.

But my heart is at ease because I’ve known the disaster movie was starting. And at some point, you have to decide for yourself what character are you going to play in the movie. Are you on the side of chaos? Or are you on the side of justice? I picked my side four years ago. So we’ve filled our reusable water bottles and we have enough water. We didn’t really need to get more food, because honestly I think everyone has enough food in their house. Mr. Plastic Picker filled up the PRIUS with gas in case we need to evacuate. It will be horrendous trying to get out of Pacific Beach honestly but we have many places east we can drive to. We’ll weather the storm fine. But this scenario is going to be more common now. Hurricanes in Southern California. Extreme Heat Events. Climate migrations.

My heart is at ease because I’m continuing to organize. The H3SD Summit was 100% the right thing to do, because so many like-minded climate doctors met that day. Many new projects have emerged. Many new collaborations have started. We did something amazing last weekend, we really did. A group have started email discussion of a San Diego based on-line scientific journal based on racial and health inequities. I have mentoring meetings with several climate and health doctors who want advice about how to advance to the next stage of their careers. I’m surprised I’m at this stage, but I’m happy to give advice and to mentor those who want to be mentored. We have many papers we need to start getting out as a result of the summit. I gave an interview already to a youth journalist on the h3sd summit. I have made plans already to travel up to UC Berkeley to do a talk with some premedical students and my son on climate anxiety, and also have gathered a group of 5 climate and health physicians to network with the UC Berkeley students. This intergenerational collaboration is very powerful. Plus I can go spy on my son (with his full knowledge of course!) during this freshman year.

But as the winds are gathering strength and I’m looking out the window at the rain, I’m grateful we took some time to live life yesterday. Our tomorrows are never guaranteed. And yesterday I loved. I loved my daughter. I loved my nieces. I loved my mother and father in law by getting the girls all dressed up in the traditional Korean dresses we already had. Each hanbok my mother-in-law had special made for a particular wedding, and mine was sewn in Korea in celebration of Mr. Plastic Picker and my wedding over 21 years ago. My mother-in-law was recounting when each of the dresses were sewn, and she choked up a bit with some rare tears. Yesterday her pretty granddaughters aged 20, 17 and 15 dressed up. She got to dress up with them. She told them to take off their bras (you don’t wear bras underneath I guess), and tied the restrictive hanboks that flatten your breasts. She lovingly showed them how to tie the skirts and put on the multiple top layers. She put on her own hanbok and we took pictures in the garden and had the girls fan their skirts out while they sat on the grass. It was a beautiful and simple moment, and we have beautiful pictures.

I went for a walk with my one niece, who I did not know that well and now I know better. She’s a beautiful child and I got to tell her some stories that I’ve been wanting to tell her since she was little. We picked up trash on the beach, and heard the waves and had adventures yesterday morning.

You can never get these years back, and indeed we will never get yesterday back – so we lived yesterday to the fullest knowing the hurricane was coming today. They girls are tucked away safe back in New York now. We are safe in our house, and we are prepped as well as anyone can be for this hurricane. But my heart is at ease, because I’m living each day taking action regarding climate change and climate resiliency. I’m trying everything I can to influence the world toward the arc of sustainability and justice. But I’m also allowing myself to be a mother and be an aunt. I give my college boyfriend big hugs, and he’s so happy with how I love his family and his nieces.

I miss our son terribly, and he is worried about us. But I told him we’ll be fine. Someone in the family had a dream about my death. It was an anxiety dream. And I honestly told them, mommy has no regrets. I’ve lived such a wonderful life, especially the last four years. I haven’t held back the love I have for the world, but tried to pour it forth. I’ve sent innocent emails to my friends still dreaming of my daughter and her future. But I told my family honestly, I don’t think I’m going to die soon? I have too much work to do. The earth needs to me to do all the projects that I have planned. I’ll be here to see the ending of the disaster movie. And I hope that it will be beautiful filled with love and healing, and big smiles from all the climate families that I’ve gotten to know. Thank you for following along with me on my emotional journey in this emotional work.

August 18, 2023

by Dr. Plastic Picker

Has it been almost a week? I’m sitting at our kitchen table and it’s 8:40am. I slept so deeply last night. I could have put myself back in to work in clinic today but it’s been such an emotional roller coaster sending our oldest to college that I kept my vacation day to be a mom. Our baby (who is a moody but very pretty 15-year-old) has her first JV Volleyball game this season. So I’m going to watch her game and listen to her 15-yo ramblings. She’s a really accomplished and intelligent and creative 15 -year-old, but sometimes she says nonsense. And as we get deeper into 15 and I’m firmly at 45, the nonsense is more pronounced. Boyfriend? No! Instagram? No! Curtain bangs? Maybe. Earrings? We did that! Boyfriend? No! I’m joking of course, she’s not asking for a boyfriend. But for any normal pretty 15-year-old who is a she and likes hes, they are in the background always. Especially when your oldest brother goes off to UC Berkeley and 50% of the freshamn class are Asian, and you are put smack in the middle of a lot of good-looking tall Asian boys. There was a point in the hotel lobby we were in the elevator and there were two very tall good looking Korean freshman, who smiled at her. I swear the girl was going to have a seizure! LOL. They were too tall though at that height it gets ridiculous because the girl is only 5’4″. It was probably too much for her. But you should have seen her dancing around the hotel room afterwards posing in front of the mirror. When you get noticed by some tall boys, it really does something to you (or her). It was all fun to watch.

But we are back now in San Diego and in her safe little world, where the 15-year-old boys are a bit less overwhelming and distinctly annoying to her because she knows them. I like this world. I like being mother to a sassy 15-year-old girl, who think actual boys kind of smell at this point. I’ve done a 180 and trying to dissuade her from going to any dances. I can’t take the drama anymore, and the real heartache.

But what I really loved was knowing the H3SD San Diego’s Heat and Human Health inaugural summit was made into reality. It was a beautiful day. I hope to those that went or were involved, that you felt it too? It was such an overwhelming sense of love and caring. I know it fundamentally affected all of the members of our family who attended and helped, including our nieces from New York. We talked about important issues in a beautiful setting at UC San Diego Medical School with good food, and most importantly with the most beautiful hearts I can imagine. It had to be volunteer. It had to be through these personal connections and not one organization leading the way. It was a coalition, but really a coalition of families and friends and doctors and academics. The authenticity was palpable.

I’ve mostly been on Instagram making reels of our oldest son’s journey to UC Berkeley, which was an 8 hour drive. The move-in was relatively simple. Boys are easier that way. He had four big IKEA blue rectangular bags and that was it. We helped him make his bed with the ubiquitous mattress topper that everyone has, and tucked in the extra-long twin sheets that Mr. Plastic Picker ordered on amazon. He had his cat anime plushie and the green cylinder pillow he has flipped around since he was little, almost in a nervous habit. It’s amazing to watch him do it. You can tell his emotions depending on the complexity of the trajectory of this pillow. You can only find them at the Korean market. He has three and brought two up to Berkeley. The extra one is safely tucked at home in his bedroom.

But I think he is probably doing okay. I didn’t expect the emotional cycling during his leaving home and arriving at Berkeley. Sadness and parting. Tears and goodbyes. A little bit of anxiety and excitement. Amazement and joy. And now a sense of stability and settling into this new reality for our entire family. I’m sitting across from his seat at the kitchen table and it feels empty. I’m like every mother and I break out into tears once in a while. I don’t let him know, because he’s being a good boy and up at school and grateful for the opportunities he will have at Berkeley. My older brother said we raised a good boy, and I know he is. I had him talk to each of his uncles before he left, to get some words of advice. My younger brother will stop by to see him in a few weeks. I’ll be up at Berkeley too, to check in on him. We won’t hover, but we’ll be there to remind him that he is part of a loving and caring community.

And he was there too at H3SD Summit. I emailed my friends this paragraph which I believe in my heart.

“We were saying goodbye to our son, and realizing that the time he spent tabling at the summit and the interactions he had (especially getting to meet Adam Aron and now working with him a bit even though he’s up at berkeley) fundamentally affected him.  I have lots of funny stories about getting getting a freshman off to college from a parents standpoint. He’s in a triple. The three boys (thank goodness) all don’t smoke/drink nor vape. I’m relieved. But then made ground riules about how to signal each other if they bring girls over and they’ll vacate the premises quickly (LOL my son was intrigued but is just starting to think about dating now, it just never happpened in high school I think too small of a student body).  But as I have the normal worries of a mom (he forgot to brush his teeth the first night LOL), I know that the work we did envelopes all of our children in this blanket of security that loving and caring adults are doing the right thing. As I was cautioning him about Raves and drugs, I know he listens to me a bit more because of the wonderful adults that have surrounding him doing climate work.“

I usually end my emails with “Green hugs and thank you for being my friends!” And yes thank you for also being my virtual and real friends! Thank you for letting me share my journey. H3SD was filled with an overwhelming sense of love, and it was fun! It was exhausting but fun and most importantly impactful. We will definitely do it again next year. What will it look like? I don’t know. It’s really the collective we who will figure it out. I just know it will be likely mid to late August at UC San Diego School of Medicine, and I’ll get to hang out with all my San Diego climate friends especially Dr. Luis Castellanos again. And I hope all my other friends come back if they are free. And we bring along new friends who are good-looking and want to help save the earth. And the secret is when you are happy and you have a good heart and do good, the joy and beauty just shines through you. It’s true. When you see that beauty, you can’t unsee it. I see you. And gosh darn it, I’ll never forget all those real genuine smiles during the summit.

August 5, 2023

by Dr. Plastic Picker

To my daughter. I love you dearly. I made this reel of you and it’s mostly so I can watch it again and again. I love it because you are my daughter. I didn’t let you know but I know you have an Instagram account that you can look at other accounts, so if you see this and tell me to take it down than I will. I don’t think I’m that important that there are that many people reading. The most important thing is that I love you and I think you are smart and pretty and fundamentally good. The judgements of others, you know our family doesn’t really care. For some reason sharing our journey I know is helping the earth. Our family is lucky and showing others the beauty of family, and goodness and that a family like ours cares for others and for climate – I think is part of our responsibility. We have been so blessed and to those that much is given, much is expected.

With that, WOW! You are definitely 15 and not 14 anymore. I love that and expected that, but I’ll miss my sweet fourteen year old that agreed to go to homecoming with a boy from a nice family. I know the 15-year-old you now won’t take any of my mommy-nonsense. I’m looking forward to watching the 15-year-old you from the sidelines. Please be kind to me though, and remember sometimes I’m going to make missteps. But I love you and you have big emotions at this age, and sometimes you still need hugs from me. Keep on eye-rolling as much as you want, and I don’t mind you slamming things once in a while. But I am going to remind you once in a while to tone it down a bit.

You and your father are so similar. And I’m glad we all got over summer chem together. All that drama, and you ended up with still fantastic marks. Your father also had a mini-meltdown over summer chemistry. As did many other parents and students this summer. It was definitely not the summer that we expected, but I think neither was 14 the year we expected. But it was a beautiful year and the summer, although it seems like it was so “lame” now, we’ll remember with fondness years later.

I am so lucky to be here with you for this year of being 15-years-of-age. To live every day to the fullest and to be present, is the most we can ask. Keep on dreaming and keep on expecting more of the world and others. That you expect a lot of me is okay too. I expect a lot of myself as well. I love you so much, my #bossgirl and all the funny hashtags I use about you. It’s just my perception of how I understand your childhood. And really I hope you don’t see this because you are 100% not supposed to be on Instagram. And you are 100% not allowed to have a boyfriend. But we did let you get your ears pierced. You got to go rollerblading this summer. We went shopping a bunch of times. And last night you got to look cute at the movie theatre and I 100% saw you smile and happy when a group of cute boys noticed you. But yes, you are allowed to look and smile but no talking to them in real life or on social media. I got your number, and I’m keeping you on the straight and narrow! Your mommy is a pediatrician.

July 30, 2023

by Dr. Plastic Picker

It’s the last day of July and I’m growing nostalgic. It’s the last few weeks before we take our son up to college, and the last few weeks both of our teenagers will be with each other in the way that children are together. And during this summer that should be bittersweet and nostalgic, I have been blessedly distracted by planning the H3SD San Diego’s Heat and Human Health Summit.

I’ve been more on Instagram making reels like the rest of the world, really just to listen to them myself. It’s like the quick ability to make your own music video. I think all of us are enjoying it quite a bit. The reels are mostly of the kids and childhood photos that have popped up the way they pop up now because all of our memories and photos are in the iCloud.

What I am most grateful for today, is the absolute sense of love that I have for those that I’ve met through this journey of climate and health work. As the world becomes more plagued with chaos due to extreme heat events, for me I’m in a place of complete quiet and absolute self-awareness. The breeze is blowing through our neighbor’s palm tree in the back. It’s overcast this morning whereas yesterday morning we had a sunny summer shower, just above our backyard. It was so beautiful and I shared it with my mother-in-law because we were the only ones awake. Last night, we waited for 2 hours to have my daughter’s ears pierced and birds flew overhead in the outside waiting area. I felt like the birds were commiserating with my husband and my daughter at their impatience – but I was honestly happy to sit there on a summer evening in Encinitas waiting with two people I love so absolutely. I didn’t necessarily want my daughter to get her ears pierced but it’s something she wanted and she is fifteen.

I see love everywhere these days. I saw it in North Park where I wandered to meet in person a passionate climate advocate, and I traveled there with my son. I could feel the passion and the goodness and the hilarity of the personalities that collected in North Park that night. I have seen evil also, if that makes sense. I had someone stare at me so intently in clinic, someone I had known for years but I felt like someone crawled over my grave it was so eerie the stare that they gave me. I was not scared but I absolutely believe in a spiritual world and I prayed that the spirits of my ancestors were looking out for me that day. That person left, and I continued with my work. The interaction was quiet and intense, and it was just a look that was exchanged.

And I walked my baby brother’s Corgi around the block this morning. We are dog/puppy sitting this weekend. She’s been a bit off lately but we wandered around the neighborhood and ended up at a corner where there is a church, and an older unhoused neighbor who often sleeps at that corner. I’ve seen him but have never talked to him. And he petted our Corgi and fed her sandwich meat and gave her so much love. I saw grace when I looked at his eyes, at someone who sleeps on that corner I think to become closer to God.

I was texting back and forth with one of my college friends who is also a pediatrician and we are both climate people. We know the ocean temperatures in Florida are warmer than there have ever been. Greece is literally in flames. And we continue to have extreme heat events in our region. But we both are Vietnamese and we believe in the afterlife and reincarnation, and that our families will be reunited again in the next life. That understanding brings us both comfort.

There is so much love in the world. So much goodness in the souls that I have gotten to know through climate work. The faces in the slide above and indeed the hundreds of fellow people I’ve worked with, I am so grateful for you and that you are here with me on this blog at this exact moment.

I am often baffled why I end up where I end up, at any particular time of the day. I go to work and finish the job that pays, and otherwise I parent my children and try to keep the house fairly clean. And in the rest of my time, I try to help save this beautiful planet of ours. I was telling some of my new climate friends that I am flowing with the universe, and have absolute trust that if I continue to live up to the morals and values my parents and ancestors have instilled in me – that I will end up where I am meant to end up. And flowing with the universe has led me to so many of you.

July 6, 2023

by Dr. Plastic Picker

I’m not sure why but I find these carrots very inspiring. I’m not sure why they grew the way they grew, but they are so interesting. They are 100% organic and taste better than any store bought carrot I’ve ever eaten. Each new carrot that comes out of the garden, is really a marvel. My mother-in-law planted them in containers and we have many more to go.

Our son turned 18 and it’s the summer before he is off to college at UC Berkeley. He’s really proud of himself for how he did on the one AP test that he really cared about. He showed me his reaction video when he got his score back, and it’s in the field of study that he is considering. His good friend called him from the Serengetti to let him know the scores were in. Who knows what time it was in Africa? But back here in San Diego in the downstairs room that has been filled with his childhood memories, he celebrated by taking a reaction video for himself. I was so proud of him, just like his first words and his first steps or the first time he made a friend at school. He’s learning how to drive albeit later than the rest of his friends. He made straight As his last trimester, and we realized that without the stress of actually worrying about getting into college – he performed better and was more joyful. We know he is well prepared for college, and more importantly he has stumbled here academically and recovered. So he’s already learned those lessons, that I did not learn until well into my training.

And there are other children that have turned 18 as well. Their 18 has been very different, and they are some of my patients. Someone who only the medical team knows and her mother knows, she turned 18 as well. Hers was a very different childhood. She never walked nor talked. She came in a few times a year, and more commonly in the winter for aspiration pneumonias. She had specialists and not friends. She had G tubes and tracheostomy sites and not AP test. But she also had a mother that watched over her as carefully and diligently as I watched over my son. Her mother protected her. Her mother made sure she was always well dressed. Her mother advocated for her.

So many 18 year olds in clinic these days, or maybe I’m just noticing them more because my son turned 18. I was happy to see an 18 year old in clinic whose parents have worked so incredibly hard to give her the same opportunities that my son has. When children are born, it’s not an equal playing field. Some are born with more opportunities as others. That my son earned his spot fairly in the system and is attending the same prestigious UC system as many of my patients, is a point of pride for me. None of these children are perfect, but they are each really amazing and loving. Society works better when the children of all classes mix, an that there is mobility within the social structure.

But mostly I’m grateful that I raised a caring young man who has empathy and compassion. Many of the other 18 year olds going to college have that same empathy. There are the other 18 years old that have such a different future, where their parents have to file conservatorship paperwork because they are special needs children. But they are all 18 year olds. Jumbled in my mind. Diverse, none perfect, and all very organic and real. None were store-bought. That is what the diversity of life is supposed to be like. I’ll never enjoy a perfect store bought carrot as much as the ones that come from our garden.

Thanks for listening to my ramblings.

June 27, 2023

by Dr. Plastic Picker

We are back dear readers from our 5 day and 4 night vacation. It was a time to partially disconnect and reconnect. I partially disconnected from work and our lives in San Diego, and reconnected with our family and with climate friends that joined us. I like to think of it as really rewiring things. Breaking those old thought patterns that are no longer helpful, and reforming new connections and patterns. It was a transformational time away for our family. You could fundamentally feel the difference during the vacation and when we got home.

Mr. Plastic Picker and I slept so deeply. I’m not sure when, but I am generally healthier but had been getting up at night more at least once. But for three nights in a row I slept the longest stretch I’ve slept in years. My matcha green tea soy latte habit is somewhat disrupted in a good way. It didn’t taste the same anymore, and this morning is the first time I’m drinking just a bit of black tea. I told Mr. Plastic Picker that I may not even need matcha green tea soy latte anymore, it tastes too sweet and too matcha for me now – does that make sense? I didn’t even start drinking caffeine until I was 30 so after 15 years of it, I’m down to just some tea. I think that is generally healthy? I did have a matcha green tea soy latte last night to get through my late shift, but even that didn’t taste as good as it used too. I think that is a sign of healing. Everyone around me seemed to be talking too fast, I think the whole world is a bit overcaffeinated.

And it’s the first time we’ve ever gone on vacation with friends, and it was with true friends who are also climate friends. We cooked dinner together and our daughter made her famous foccacia bread. I think this is partially why Mr. Plastic Picker seemed fundamentally healed. It was experiences and conversations that we’ve never had before. Kind of awkward adult friendships that we need and are good for us, but really new. We are really good at being good family members, and I realize that I’m learning now in my mid 40s how to be a friend. My co-worker Lea is teaching me that. I never had a friend like her before and I’m learning how to be a friend, at least the kind of friend I want to be.

Our daughter is also learning about friendships. About what kind of friendships she needs, amongst boys and girls. We’ve been talking about boys so much that I realize that she really needs just to learn how to be friends with boys and not boyfriends. I need to shift that conversation with her. It’s awkward still being 15. She’s so beautiful and creative and loving. The love that emanates from that child is really difficult to explain, but she aims in directly at me. I’m the lucky recipient for now and I’ll take it, but she needs to learn how to share it with others. But it’s hard being 15.

I just wanted to let the readership know that we are back from an wonderful disconnecting and reconnecting vacation, and that it’s still been so much fun organizing H3SD San Diego’s Heat and Human Health Summit. It will be hard to see the entire process end. I have already plans for the next round of fun climate projects, and I’ll let the earth lead me to the next and just flow with the climate work.

You don’t have to go far to disconnect and reconnect. These beautiful places are everywhere really.

June 18, 2023

by Dr. Plastic Picker

I’m still in the whirlwind of climate work, and trying to still do this massive thing which is get H3SD San Diego’s Heat and Human Health Summit to happen. It’s definitely going to happen, and I’ve learned to listen to other climate advocates/activists, myself, and the earth to let this thing happen. I am more mindful of myself these days, as the last month was an absolute whirlwind of going to DC for the Kaiser Permanente and World Economic Forum Launch of “Connecting Climate Change and Health.” I still haven’t processed it all, and I’m not sure if I ever truly will. It was a moment that I realized I needed to be there. Traveling to DC for such a short trip and the massive emotional output and carbon output that trip entails was worth it, because it was part of the larger national conversation on climate change and health.

I was emailing someone at UCSD that I think of us as an ecosystem of climate activists, and each of us playing a different yet vital role. We are all interconnected to address this existential crisis. But as with all organisms, my own organism which is my body needs to rest. I’m not doing the furious emailing as much as many moving pieces are already in motion. We have about 2 months until the H3SD summit and an op-ed should drop soon this week regarding heat waves and human health. My name is not on the op-ed, but I had a big part in putting the writers together and they took it and ran with it. Another two op-eds are in the works that will hopefully drop in the LA Times, one on fossil fuel divestment and the other on lead pollution in k-12 drinking water. My name is on one, and the other is a team I helped put together. And then the breakout sessions for the H3SD San Diego Heat and Human Health Summit are mostly teams now linked together at least by email. They’ll figure it out, the hour they have to get things done. I’ve initiated the CME/CEU credit process already through our own HMO, and that has been a huge benefit and promise to those that are taking time out of their busy schedules to help make this happen. We should at least get some CME /CEU for it at the same time. If this summit doesn’t have educational content, than I don’t know what does?

I’ve been pushed to rethink about how we address fossil fuels, and Prof Adam Aron in an intense conversation advised that simply changing our personal banking over to Credit Unions has a huge impact https://aronclimatecrisis.net/. So I’ve started looking into switching some stock funds over and how to move things to ESG funds. I’m already trying to unravel our banking to move it away from the big funders of fossil fuels especially Bank of America and Wells Fargo. Step by step. We’ll get there. And at least my collective patients and children of the planet, and my own children know that I’ve been trying.

So I saw a big dead sealion on the beach and it was very shocking. I think I’m going to try to head over there to see if it’s still there. I need to pick up coffee grounds from my friend and drop off some lemons anyway. So I’m off my friends! Just wanted to let you know that I’m still fighting for us and our planet, but I need to be reminded of the why – which for me is when I go to the beach and get healed by the waves and the beautiful nature on this little stretch of the Pacific Ocean called Pacific Beach.

June 8 , 2021

by Dr. Plastic Picker

Good morning dear readers! I’m back from a epic less than 36 hour trip back and forth from San Diego to Washington DC. It was an epic and carbon spewing trip. Quebec/Canadian wildfires caused the Washington Monument to be clouded in smog. But I had to spew carbon to help address climate change. It’s the paradox of climate work. But I had to be there because of who I am and where I work, and the earth called me to be there.

I’m typing this and watching the recorded live-stream broadcast at the same time. It was epic. The room in DC was packed and it was live-streamed by over 115K viewers. Likely many of them were internal within my own health care system. I’m honored to have gone, but know I did something big yesterday by playing my role and talking about my climate work.

But honestly, what did I want to let you know? I literally sat next to the Vice President of Mars, and he isn’t a martian???????!!!!!!!! LOL. I thought I was more popular than the Vice President of Mars because I got to tell over a hundred thousand people that I was a plogger!!! That was so much fun! I also told them very briefly about my journey and about H3SD San Diego Heat and Human Health Summit.

I’m grateful to have been there and got to tell my friends via email all about my adventures. I have that on record in my emails. I also received my new favorite reusable water bottle. It’s really nice. You can see it on Instagram.

I think that might have been my peak. The Green Dragon has been awoken. I think I helped wake the Green Dragon that is our health care organization a bit earlier. I still have more projects to work on, but it was hard for me. It was absolutely hard for me to go there and be away from my family. It’s not easy for me to be vulnerable and put myself out there. It’s not easy to put oneself out to be judged. It’s not easy to try to balance telling everyone about my journey and never getting to say the word “fossil fuels.” It’s not easy to use precious vacation days to travel out there, literally probably over $5000 of my own time and funds to be there and pay my own way because my time is valuable when at times I feel nickle and dimed by some. But I have the big picture in mind, and I have so much love for the place I work in a global sense. It was not easy, but I know it was where I was meant to be. I absolutely was in the right place yesterday and helped set the tone of hope for the room.

I don’t think I’ll be back there. But I’ll continue to work on climate in a smaller way. I think Dr. Plastic Picker may have peaked and I’m glad. I really am tired and I need to take care of myself. It was absolutely fun but in a “I can do this” not “true joy” fun.

But what was really fun, was this interview I got to do about wellness and decompressing. I really like Joshua Fitch from Contemporary Pediatrics! He is so nice. The Vice President of Mars was nice. But Joshua, was awesome!