Nefertiti Fenison

I am back in the United States! I still need to adjust my biological clock (my sleep schedule is chaotic because of jet lag), but I hope to continue writing in April.

I will be traveling around late January to late March, so it is very likely there will be no updates for Dreams Upon A Silver Pine Branch during that period. Depending on my internet access, I might still be able to read and reply to comments but sporadically. Thanks for your understanding.

Christmas Eve insomnia hit me and so I was up churning out a new chapter. Enjoy. Also, a side note: I am not making up the stuff about butterflies. Insects can and do engage in mating behavior that doesn't lead to reproduction. The more you know, eh? A gay butterfly exists somewhere.
          
          While I'm on the topic of gay animals: when I was a kid, I had two male rabbits. Yep, they tried to mate xD Obviously no bunnies were born but yeay for gay rabbit couple, you do you, rabbits.
          
          https://www.wattpad.com/1408215468-dreams-upon-a-silver-pine-branch-chapter-32b-who

In this chapter, we're going to see Johan being forced to make a lose-lose decision. I hate doing that to him but it's what the plot demands. This is the first part of the 32nd chapter and the second part should be ready after Christmas, closer to New Year's Eve. Enjoy your holidays.
          
          https://www.wattpad.com/1407375419-dreams-upon-a-silver-pine-branch-chapter-32-a

@Blueskyfinn I am glad you like my poem.

Enjoy this "deleted draft" of sort.
          
          I wrote this poem back in June and decided not to put this in the actual book because it is out of character for Akira to readily admit to Kenta that, due to how her mother has emotionally neglected her, she's scared of growing up and messing up. Meanwhile, Kenta knows Akira needs him but it is also out of character for him to just be confrontational about his cousin not being honest about feeling abandoned. 
          
          If both of them had been brave enough to open up to each other, though, this is their poem (it starts with Akira’s point of view in the first stanza, then Kenta’s, and then they alternate until the end).
          
          I don't want to die young 
          But I admit I am scared of tomorrow
          And the possibility that I've got nothing right
          As I tremble before a faceless void 
          
          You and I were just children
          Jolted awake from our dreams
          With no way to go back to sleep
          And I wish our lives were a fairy tale
          In which a kindly stranger promises
          to lead us to paradise
          But maybe we're waiting for no one
          And we should build our own paradise 
          Imperfect as it will be
          
          We used to pretend that silver pines have no needles
          And said that those silver branches could one day turn golden
          But just like how roses have thorns and alchemy is shrouded in uncertainty 
          We find ourselves hurt
          We find ourselves lost 
          
          Would you follow me as I climb up those silver pine branches to get a better view of the sky? 
          Would you follow me up there and promise that we will never stop looking for hope? 
          And when the branches break from the weight of all our dreams
          Would you believe me if I say they can grow back?
          
          I want to return to yesterday
          I don't always have it in me to fight tirelessly
          But please take my hand
          Even when we've been unkind to each other
          Because if you let go of my hand
          No one would catch me
          When I crash down
          From the highest branch
          On a silver pine

This TED-ED video below is a good introduction to the Wampis Nation of Peruvia and their way of life, which emphasizes the importance of honoring water, soil, air, and the ecosystem at large. Unfortunately, their land has been threatened by gold mines and oil companies. Sounds familiar? 
          
          https://youtu.be/tm6VSkm_ko8?si=jxuTmgllkh3wXba9

In this chapter, we are diving deeper into Kenta's parents' past. 
          
          https://www.wattpad.com/1401253071-dreams-upon-a-silver-pine-branch-chapter-31-family

Thanks for posting this website, they are doing great work. 
          I have read about the importance of coastal mangroves for providing a natural wilderness habitat and carbon sink.

If you want to learn about carbon emissions, carbon offsetting, and blue carbon ecosystem and climate change/climate crisis then this website here is a good place to start: 
          
          https://www.carbonethics.org/carbon-voice-curriculum