I am grateful for having seen all three of my brothers this week in their primary habitats, which is a rarity. It started with seeing my oldest brother in Los Angeles when I took an impromptu visit out there two Thursdays ago, maybe Wednesday. My parents had to cancel at the last second, so kind of on a whim, I decided to step in. Found some tickets, they cost me some money, as they oftentimes do. And I went and I spent an extended weekend with my bro, out in, technically, Long Beach, California. And it went pretty well. And I'm, I'm grateful for having had that opportunity. I hadn't seen his new house out there, so that was exciting But it was also only possible, or only affordable, if my youngest brother helped me out in really short notice. So I was able to drive to Chicago, and I saw my youngest brother and then he was willing to drive me to the airport in my car, which, I don't know, from where he lives it's a little bit less than an hour to get out to O'Hare. And it was kind of a short visit, but it was amazing to see my younger bro, both to and from the airport on the way out to Long Beach. And he's moving into a new place in a month, and that's pretty exciting and it was just wonderful. And then a few days ago I went up to Lansing to see my second youngest brother. I've got three brothers, so that was the third one I was able to visit. He's been wanting me to come up and go biking with him on the Lansing River Trail, which, um, I haven't ridden that trail in probably 15 years. So that was pretty great. It was warm, it was humid. It was in the mid to upper 80s, I feel like, on the day that we went. He lives in Lansing itself at the moment, not East Lansing, so we started in Lansing. We went down toward the capitol, which is not the trail, I know, but we started down by the capitol. We saw this new baseball field called like, John Smoltz Baseball something something, um, that was actually really cool. It's like this enclosed, but not enclosed -- it's open to the elements but it's basically like a constructed…

Speaking of like other religious things is like, something that, like, I kind of got intuitively that I was kind of surprised that many people didn't get was also like the idea of specifically, like, submission to a higher power. You know, and that's more because of my age. Like I spent the la- -- you know, I spent like 18 years, like, where everyone j- -- like even now, like everyone just tells -- you know, everyone tells me to do and then I do the thing. And they're like, "Thanks." You know, like, even, even at work. That's like, where I'm most comfortable. I'm like, I'm like, “Just tell me what to do,” and I do it. I don't like -- I get nervous about trying to have to come up with things myself. And so it's like, I'm like used t- -- I'm, you know, as a child, as a young person I was used to kind of like being like someone's minion. Like, literally, my mom would call me and my other siblings “minions.” I mean, it was like an affectionate term. But it’s still just like, I'm so used to that like mindset of like, you tell me what the thing to do and I do the thing and then that's what I do, that like, so many times, like, pastors have talked about like, "Oh, you gotta, you gotta take your hands off of the wheel,” and, “You gotta let -- you know, you gotta let Jesus drive, you gotta --" You know, I'm like, I'm like, "I was driving?" I'm sitting there like, someone like, someone else has been like chauffeuring me around my whole life. I don't think I -- like at least this guy knows where we're going. Like, I've been constantly told what to do by very flawed people who often don't truly know what is the best course of action. Like I had rather -- you know, I'm already getting used, I'm already used to getting told what to do. Like I would rather be told what to do by someone who actually knows how to do it and what I should do to work out. I mean, in practice it can still be a bit -- and I'm definitely not the best at it. But, like, just like the idea thing of like, I'm like, "Yeah. Like, yeah,…

I was just, like, flopping around the house and, like, being lazy. I had the day off from work. It was a bank holiday, but my fiancé still had to work. And then after that, I went to ALDI, and I went to Target, and like, as soon as I – It was weird because, like, there was a thunderstorm warning, and walking into Target, like, I kind of looked to my right. So, like, in the parking lot of the former Sam's Club, and I said, like, “It looks like it's raining over there.”  And then all of a sudden, like, I started getting wet, so I, like, ran the next few steps in because the clouds, like, came over Target, like at that moment. And, um, a bunch of us were just standing, watching out the window because there were, like, sheets of rain coming down, and it was windy, and it was, like, crazy. Um, so eventually I was trying to shop, but it took me a long time to find what I was looking for. Like the main thing I came there for. And then I found it, and then over the intercom, the -- there was an announcement that said there was a tornado warning and we could either go to the emergency shelter, or we could leave the store, but we couldn't, like, walk around the store. And like, I wanted to check out, and I wasn't about to just, like, steal what I found, and I didn't want to walk out to my car in the sheets of rain either. So, I ended up going to the emergency shelter, and there was nowhere to sit down, and it was, like, really hot because there were so many people back there. And it was just not fun. So we were back there for about a half hour, and then we finally got to go back and, like, finish our shopping trips. So, I went home and I was really glad to be back home.

Note: There is language that is excluded in the transcript but not excluded in the audio. So my son was born two months premature through no fault of my own -- was total fluke. There was no rhyme or reason why my water broke so early, and so he was born two months early. And obviously that was very traumatic for me. I had just been pregnant and feeling great, and then my water broke, and then I ended up going on hospital bed rest for 12 days until I finally ended up having to deliver ‘cause infection started to set in, which is very common when you don't have as m- -- enough amniotic fluid. It's very easy for bacteria to get in, um, for whatever reason. So, so I had to do an emergency C-section and deliver my baby. And I was not ready for this. I was not ready to deliver yet. I was so sure I was gonna make it to 34 weeks, which was my goal, but he was born at 31 weeks and two days, and I was not had -- I had not had any birth classes. I didn't know anything about it yet ‘cause I -- the, the week that I was supposed to start taking my birth classes to learn what to do to give birth was when my water broke. Oh, and by the way, I had to put down a 30 or 50 dollar deposit for that class and they wouldn't give it back to me. Yeah. That place went out of business not too long after that, so f*** those people. [Laugh] Yeah, f*** you making money off of my misfortune. That made me-- that's one of the things that really made me mad.  But anyways -- “You know, we had to reserve this spot for somebody, and you're not showing up, so we're gonna keep your money.” I'm like, “Yeah, but I'm in the hospital.” Like ugh, that's so mean! That's so mean that you're gonna make money off of my misfortune! It's not that I'm just, like, not showing up. It’s ‘cause I'm in the hospital. Anyways -- which reminds me of another story, but I'm not gonna tell it because I'm still telling my first story. Ugh, okay, so I wasn't ready to have my baby yet, so I was devastated that he had just…

The low-country boil, as I said, has corn and potatoes and shrimp and, um, some other meat, too. I wanna say pork, maybe. It has a lot of different things in it. It's like a stew. It's like a seafood-type stew with corn and potatoes and things. Anyway, it has packets of spices that you buy at the store for it, and my husband had gotten them specifically for this particular instance, and the whole thing gets put in a very large boiling pot. And it is put on -- at this point in time he has it on the grill outside, and he's cooking it out there, and it's been going for a few hours before the people come. And when they come, they are given, you know, big bowls and told to come up. In the process -- so, my husband had put in one of the spice packets, and then he had looked at the amount of things and the number of people we had coming, and decided to add a second spice packet. That was where the mistake lied. So anyway, [cough] everyone comes and everyone is excited because we're having this, and, of course, it's fall, so other people have brought salads and rolls and desserts and things like that. We're just providing the main course. So everyone is all prepared, and they are looking forward 'cause it smells fabulous. It just smells wonderful. So people are coming over and they're lining up by the, by the grill to get their, um, low-country boil, and my husband dishes it all up and everybody starts heading to the various tables and seats to start eating. And all of a sudden, people are taking bites of the shrimp and their eyes are opening wide, and somebody says, "Boy, this is kind of spicy," and it just goes on from there. My husband has put in two spice packs, and we are twice as spicy as we need to be for this. So there are, like, I don't know, 20-some people who are kind of trying to brush off the spices on their shrimp and their potatoes and corn. The potatoes are the best of the things to eat. People are eating the potatoes big time 'cause they taste pretty good. The corn is okay, but the shrimp has really absorbed the, the spices, and that's the part…

“Would I rather have sugar on my eggs or eat salty cereal?” And, given that I don't mind kind of the more fiber based cereals that are on the market, or granola, I'm kind of surprised to think that I'd rather deal with sugary eggs. But that was after thinking about it and knowing that I don't mind a little salsa, a little hot sauce on eggs. I’m familiar with the idea of ketchup on eggs. Ketchup, being more sugary than say, salsa itself, makes it seem a little more palatable. Also thinking in the grand scheme of things like, sugar would probably do less to alter the taste of the eggs than the salt would to the cereal if I'm eating a bowl of cereal every morning with the salty flavor and then trying to wash that down with a cup of coffee, I don't think I would have a very enjoyable breakfast. So I would definitely choose the sugar on the eggs, over the salt and cereal.

So, the question about estuaries and how saltwater and freshwater mix, and that those plants and animals can adapt to both conditions. And I feel what helps me adapt, because I do adapt to different environments a lot, I have like a very big range of people that I am connected with. Some people that are highly educated and other people who are not, people who have money, people who have no money. I went through -- I think I've gone through a lot of changes in my own life where -- had a pretty decent amount of money as a younger person, then I went through a long period of time where I had very little and worked and worked to make ends meet. And now, I'm more at a balanced stage in my life.  But I feel like everybody wants to be listened to. And everybody deserves that dignity -- that you that you would extend to anyone. And, I think listening and caring, and really listening, that's probably the superpower that I have. Is, is to ask people questions and sometimes a question might make somebody go, “Huh. I don't I don't know if I haven’t been asked that before.” But I -- I feel like that helps me navigate no matter who I’m with.  People universally want to be listened to. They want to know that you're with them, that you're following them, that you don't have to be like them, but they want to be understood, and I think that that is something that -- I may not understand anybody right away -- someone right away but if I try and continue to try, I feel like that opens doors in a big, big way.

So, [my niece] had gone in a couple weeks ago. Because she -- her water broke, but she was only three centimeters so they sent her home. And meanwhile we've been on baby watch. He was born yesterday morning just after 4 a.m., but he wasn't due for another four days so he came out early. The funny look on [his] face is that -- he has this big pout. They sent us a video - - My brother, sent a video of [the newborn’s name] and he has this huge pout on his face like he's pretty mad that he had to be born. He's protesting, he's so tiny, and then he cried cause he's mad that he's being born. And the video has my niece saying, "it's okay, honey." Cause you know when they’re newborns they’re just all wrapped up, tightly in the in the blanket with the little head cover. So, just so cute, protesting being born.