I hadn’t been on Facebook in a long time but rejoined during civil unrest in my city so I could keep tabs on what people in my larger neighborhood were seeing. I joined a specific group just for a several-block radius. That, plus a text group on my immediate block, plus Twitter (where I had a list of local friends from pre-unrest and trusted local media) were really essential to keeping up during a chaotic situation. I haven’t friended anyone outside that single FB group and don’t intend to. It was the most unreliable of the three, because I had no control over who is in the group and lots of people were panicking over every little thing.

That is super cool! And your solar oven–what design did you use?

In the last month: penpals. I’ve started writing paper letters and postcards in a surprisingly large chunk of my leisure time. I am not especially extroverted but going so long without much in the way of even casual human contact outside my immediate family is really wearing. Writing about everyday things in a way that is hopefully interesting to read has been a little bit of a creative outlet, and I’ve bought more stamps in the last 4 weeks than I have in the last 4 years, so I guess I’m finally pulling my weight to try to fund USPS, too. Some of the mail has been sent to family or friends who live far away and who I haven’t seen (and won’t see) for quite some time. Some has been sent to totally random people. I first signed up for the penpal exchange Rachel Syme is running on Twitter using the Elfster site, and then I enjoyed it so much I asked her to give me a couple more “bonus” names. Those are mostly people in the US (by my request, because postage is cheaper). Those are fun because you wind up exchanging more than one letter with people and develop a little bit of a relationship. Then a friend suggested Postcrossing.com, where it’s more like a one-time thing, not ongoing correspondence, and mostly postcards rather than letters. My matches through that site have been mostly international, and even when the pictures or messages on the postcards aren’t all that fascinating (there’s only so much you can write on the back of a postcard!) it’s fun to look at the globe with my kids and see all the places our letters are going to and from. I’ve also asked our church and a local nursing home if they know of people who would especially like to connect with a penpal, so we will see if I get any takers there.

Wool, especially short and long-sleeve t-shirts. The layer well under cardigans or blazers, you can get solid colors and dress them up with necklaces and scarves. My favorite long-sleeve shirts are Smart Wool 250 base layers, which are warm and come in lots of colors. I think I have 3 at this point, but would buy a couple more. If there’s nothing else I want at one of the REI member sales, I use the coupon to buy another one. Short sleeve, I haven’t found one I’m as happy with because the ligher weight knits can be a bit see through depending on the bra you wear under it–IME you have to wear one that matches your flesh tone. And the short sleeve Smart Wool tees are not as durable as the heavier knit of the 250s. Icebreakers are better. I wear them in very button down work environments and also to ski, hike, whatever. I prefer dresses and skirts to pants generally, but for pants I like a very slim fit almost legging-like trouser which has a ton of stretch. You can sprint for a bus, squat heavy file boxes, and meet a potential client. Some have patch pockets in back, but since they are essentially leggings you can plausibly pretend are not leggings, most don’t have pockets at all (which is fine with me, for my needs). When last I wore normal pants, I relied on Banana Republic pants in the Sloan fit. They run a ton of solid sales, so unless I was in a pinch for time I wouldn’t pay more than 60% of the tag price. For dresses and skirts, which I know you said you’re not as interested in, I agree it can be hard to find good, useful stuff. But since there’s less decision fatigue (1 dress v. 1 pants + 1 shirt, ughhhhh exhausting!) I do my best. My habit is to look through all the options on REI’s site, once for spring/summer and once for fall/winter, and out of 100 dresses there’s maybe only 1 or 2 I could wear to the office, but once I get them I wear them into the ground. Yes, with pockets. My motto generally is to be picky. For flats, I’m much pickier about finding non-ugly zero-drop shoes than necessarily requiring materials that can handle extraordinary wear and tear, but I have two pairs of Massimo Matteo loafers that I can happily walk for miles and miles in. They are mostly either suede or soft leather so they won’t survive the apocolypse, if that’s what you’re looking for. I also have found several boots with 2/2.5 inch heels that I think are great from a comfort/utility/style perspective, but if it’s not what you want, it’s not what you want, I get it.

My introduction to composting was Worms Eat My Garbage by Joanne Olszewski and Mary Arlene Appelhof. I learned enough there to be confident building and maintaining a worm bin under my sink in the kitchen corner of my two-room apartment. I haven’t kept it up now that I have a yard, so it’s been years since I read it, but it was a big step in my learning as a gardener!

All New Square Foot Gardening by Mel Bartholomew is also one I’ve been leaning on for a couple years. Much of this content can be found online but I do think this book is handy to have the info in a single place, especially info about plant spacing. The soil composition is something I’ve used, too, but it can be expensive as an upfront cost, and the garden design piece is both independently worthwhile and requires no additional expense.

Gosh, I have old information! Yeah, I last had an infant juuuust before this started to change, when you could still find both kinds and there were apparently lots of problems with inadvertent overdosing. Good that this was addressed! Of course, in my experience, the less concentrated doses for toddlers+ is a LOT of volume for an infant’s stomach, and mine never tolerated it well the couple times we needed to do it. Better than accidentally ODing your baby for sure, though. I’m going to edit my post so there’s not confusing, outdated info in the thread.

Extra water!!! Even beyond the standard per person/per day recommendation, as much as you can reasonably find space for. If baby’s on formula, you’ll need a reliable source for mixing (if you’re using powdered) and extra bottle washing, plus all the cleaning/diapering/laundry. When my kids were babies, I considered breastfeeding its own form of prep (very portable! nothing extra to wash! very nutritious!) but keeping up milk supply means drinking more water than normal, too. I’d also make sure you’ve got at least one pack (or set, if cloth) of diapers that can accommodate the at least the next size up from where your baby is. They literally grow overnight, and you don’t want to be caught without. Same with clothes–I’d keep at least some basic PJs on hand in the next couple sizes up for a similar reason. And OTC infant meds in case of fever.  +1 on the baby carrier. Truthfully, this is all advice I’d give (only if asked 🙂 ) to any new or expecting parent, because it makes life much easier to have these things on hand, and that newborn phase can sometimes feel like disaster management even when everything else is totally normal!

I haven’t taken any structured online courses, but I have learned a lot from Four Season Foraging and joined her Patreon (first time ever) which has additional content for supporters. Not sure if that’s the kind of content you’re looking for. She has blog articles and posts how-to videos on Youtube, in addition to doing live class in Twin Cities, MN area. https://www.fourseasonforaging.com/blog

+1 on seasonal supplies. For my family that means making sure we have enough powdered sugar, cake flour, etc for birthday cakes in the fall. 

I’m in Minneapolis, which Kelsey, a contributor here, wrote a bit about at the height of our protests. The experience here varied considerably, even by block, and I expect that’s the same in other places, too. We’ve had some continuing demonstrations but not at all on the scale of Portland or other cities. So I could speak somewhat to my experience here but it’s not really “current events” anymore, if that’s what you’re looking for.

Two of the shelf-stable meals in my long-term food storage piles are kitchari (which is mainly about having enough of the mung dal and spice mix, everything else is pretty basic) and chana masala/chickpea curry (again, mostly about having the spices on hand, not super adventurous). I should probably add mercimek corbası (Turkish red lentil soup) to the long-term storage list, since everyone in my house enjoys it and would happily eat it under non-crisis circumstances, but when I last did my math for purchasing quantities I felt like I had too many soups already.

A hormonal IUD! No periods, and no pregnancies. Previously had good experiences with my Diva Cup.

I have raised beds that are hugelkultur-esque: 2 feet tall, but with the bottom 1.5′ filled with logs, downed branches, and mulch. It’s worked really well, and makes planting, weeding, etc. easier to have everything up so high. It also retains water really well, all that decomposing wood down below hanging onto rainfall like a sponge. I have a “lasagna garden” (composting in place) in other parts of the yard around berry bushes and other fruit, but haven’t done it in the veggie garden beds yet. I also suggest at least a loose square foot gardening design, even if you don’t do that specific soil mix. I find it easier to design, maintain, and harvest than a traditional row design. And mentally, it was easier for me to commit to trying something new with one square foot than a whole row (even if it’s the same amount of space!).

I don’t necessarily recommend it, but living in a city currently experiencing widespread, violent civil unrest has really opened these conversations among my Minnesota neighbors.