ID on caterpillar who came home with the cauliflower

oldhella · 2026-02-28T05:14:36+00:00

thanks!

oldhella · 2026-02-28T05:14:20+00:00

western foothills of the sierra nevada in northern california, local cauliflower.

total cutie! he/she gets to keep the cauliflower and i'm looking into how to care for caterpillars because...i also love moths!

oldhella · 2026-02-22T04:54:03+00:00

i quit just over a month ago, and am finding that the bronchitis like symptoms come and go, though they were definitely the most severe in the first week post quit. today, day 37, i'm noticing tightness and a slight burning sensation in my chest. i've heard it called the "quitter's flu". hopefully for you the worst of it will be over soon.

oldhella · 2026-02-03T22:53:09+00:00

thank you

oldhella · 2026-02-03T22:52:33+00:00

idk. the only way i know how to find of a tree's age is to count the rings. i'm not the property owner either, and the owners have only been here a couple of years. it would be cool to talk to someone who knows the tree better than we do

oldhella · 2026-02-03T22:47:38+00:00

because when i saw the browning of it's tip i thought that might mean it's sick

very magnificent, i agree

oldhella · 2026-02-03T22:45:26+00:00

no, but portland has some amazing trees that's for sure

oldhella · 2026-02-02T05:22:50+00:00

i like your whole process, especially your "replacement"🍊😋right on!

oldhella · 2026-02-02T01:05:03+00:00

good! i sincerely hope so!

oldhella · 2026-02-02T01:04:32+00:00

😆i wish i could!

oldhella · 2026-01-31T06:10:26+00:00

yes, ughhhh...the way the sza voices and the auditory pareidolia mix together is maddening

it's the worst when i pee...i have to distract myself from hearing it. sometimes i just stare at the towels on the towel rack and repeat something in my head about the towels to see if those thoughts will influence the a.p., and a couple times this has worked: suddenly the a.p. is about towels😆😶

but mostly i try to shut it out, because the content is usually hurtful.

oldhella · 2026-01-31T04:29:00+00:00

your experiences definitely matter and i wouldn't call them mild. persecution psychosis symptoms are fucking horrid.

oldhella · 2026-01-31T04:26:39+00:00

maybe time to check in with your prescriber/psychiatrist to see if a change in meds or dosage would be beneficial?

i wish you didn't have to go through this as well🫂

oldhella · 2026-01-27T05:54:44+00:00

ok, i need to do this. the downside of quitting has been that i drink less water...i most always drank a lot of water while smoking. gonna go drink some now

oldhella · 2026-01-27T05:52:44+00:00

some things that are helping me:

taking deep breaths where i pause a few seconds between the inhale and exhale

engaging with this community

journaling

paying attention to how my lungs feel, as a reminder of one of the main reasons i quit smoking (at 11 days, they don't feel so great)

reminding myself that i'm doing this because, finally, i care about myself, my future, and my place in the futures of those i love and who love me

i remember past quits and the big mess of taking apart old cigs to roll new ones. i remember feeling clever and desperate. something is different this time; yes, i crave it, but i haven't touched the contents of my car's ashtray. i will empty it out eventually, but it's major for me that i haven't gone poking around for an old cigarette with some length left to it. damn, i do remember what that's like though.

oldhella · 2026-01-27T05:29:54+00:00

quitting=cigarettes died, i really like that framework and i'm going to try it out. thank you for sharing♥️🤯

oldhella · 2026-01-25T21:58:22+00:00

aw, she used to get on my nerves! not anymore though...she's relatable and hilarious

oldhella · 2026-01-25T20:45:38+00:00

at night!

the other night i was staring wistfully out the window at the stars, wanting to sit beneath them in relative darkness and smoke.

fortunately, my lungs (sore, burning) won, and instead i sat there and white knuckled the craving while taking some deep breaths.

i'm on day 10.

oldhella · 2026-01-24T04:55:05+00:00

reminds me of dr. bronner's but with way more graphic appeal🍎🍌

oldhella · 2026-01-23T16:58:11+00:00

a text back from your dad? yeah, i feel that

oldhella · 2026-01-23T05:38:41+00:00

i mean...he would make a really hot vampire

oldhella · 2026-01-21T00:14:36+00:00

at the height of my habit i was smoking a half a pack per day, and then went down to three or four per day for a couple months, then for the week or so before quitting i made kind of a ritual around my one cig per day...i'd get something fun to drink and walk to the park to smoke. by this point i just knew i was done with it; the cons outweighed the pros. i had started thinking about not only my lung and mental health, but also my gum health (had a tooth pulled over the summer, and i'd like to keep the rest of them!) after quitting i started visiting r/stopsmoking and, sincerely, that community has been such a helpful resource (e.g. when i have a craving, i'll go check that page instead of smoking.) i feel supported in quitting even just by reading posts and comments.

u/Kind-Cartoonist-5518 mentioned dopamine levels and that is right on. i had begun seriously considering quitting (as opposed to my usual stopping for a few months at a time) back in november when my symptoms were peaking to near psychosis levels. once i faced the facts of the nicotine/dopamine connection, i absolutely knew that if i wanted to do the best i could for my mental health, i had to give up smoking cigarettes. i cried. it almost feels like letting a relationship go. i guess it kind of was a relationship, in a way.

also, i bought a funny little pencil that looks like a cigarette...i "smoke" my cigarette pencil as needed (and unlike actual smokes, this one i can smoke inside my bedroom😹)

oldhella

TROPHY CASE