“Once There Were Wolves” By Charlotte McConaghy

Inti Flynn moves to Scotland to reintroduce wolves to the land. The town is entirely against it, scared for their livestock and lives. Devoted to rewilding the environment, she refuses to yield and a war of sorts begins. Escalated by the shooting of a wolf, the murder of a man, and discovery of animal carcasses. Inti tries to figure out if it’s the wolves or someone framing them, in order to prevent the packs slaughter. Life at home is equally hectic. She’s the caretaker of identical twin Aggie Flynn, who is silenced by the brutality of her husband and father. Men have failed them, demurring Inti from entering a relationship with chief of police Duncan MacTavish. Head over heels in love, she discovers he too, has a dark past tainted by violence.

Worth the read. The book started off a little slow for me, but picks up quickly. Delighted I kept going. It’s easily become one of my favorites. The parallels between wolves and people leaves the reader questioning the quantifiers of humanity. Told in two different timelines, this story has depth. The complex characters finding a nook in my heart. Themes of domestic violence, trauma, gender, man vs nature, love, duty and family, the plot is multi-dimensional. The characters are endearing, as they grapple with their past selves affecting the present. Bittersweet and beautifully told. Via: MacMillan Publishers

River Phoenix & Leonardo DiCaprio Destiny Swap Vibes

Stop placing unattractive photos of River Phoenix next to Leonardo DiCaprio for comparison. Especially when River’s heroin use damaged his skin. The latter had to get rid of the former for a reason (read Leonardo DiCaprio Gets Rid Of River Phoenix). The vibes are type destiny swap (read Kim Kardashian Did Witchcraft On Paris Hilton, Kanye West & More). Suddenly Leo D is an environmentalist like his idol. Are you really though, if you only fly private? He’s full of it.

River Phoenix is a man who stood on business, and Leonardo DiCaprio is a boy known for being for objectifying women. FYI James Cameron started putting the foundations of mega hit “Titanic” down in 1992. The timeline times. Via: Reddit & V Magazine

Suzanne Jongmans Latest

Contemporary Dutch Renaissance, using non-recyclable materials. Perfectly executed. Suzanne Jongmans photo’s are apt, with climate change at the forefront of discussion. One man’s trash is another man’s treasure. The most important message being the everything is recyclable.

Garment Collecting

What to do, what to do with the clothes you can’t donate? The tattered, armpit stained, dingy old things that can’t be bought back to life. I use to throw what I couldn’t give away, or pass down to my siblings in the garbage. Then I learned the fashion industry is the second most wasteful regarding the environment.

An environmentalist, I kept my recent old clothing in a Trader Joe’s tote, until I could figure out what to do with them.

Then I found out that H&M will take all the contorted bras, the stretched out leggings, the shirts filled with holes…Just drop it off in the collection box at a store nearest you, then redeem you 15% off coupon. Photo: H&M