30,000 Years Beneath A Eulogy

Reflections:

For Clara, working to save the world is a greater good, justifying living her life separate from her daughter. How do you define 'the greater good'?

'Eulogy' comes from Greek roots, meaning "good words". What good words would be said about you? Your virtues, your character?

Practice: Warm-Ups

Warm-up the body with this quick sequence to wake up the spine and start energy flowing.

Activity: Hand-Stitched Paper Journal

Journaling is a grounding activity for me. It gives me a set time to check in with myself and how I am feeling. I can slow down, collect my thoughts, and then put them down on paper and out of my head.

The invitation today is to create your own journal, which can be used for reflections on this novel, or to store your own thoughts in any capacity.

Materials:

• 5-10 sheets of printer paper,

• 1 piece of scrapbook or cardstock paper

• a pin or needle

• thick thread (normal thread also works, but was trickier)

  OR

• stapler

Steps:

1. fold all the printer paper in half

2. fold the cardstock paper in half, making sure it is a bit bigger than the printer paper

3. staple the pages inside, OR

4. use a pin to push 3 evenly spaced holes through all the paper

5. taking the thread, sew the binding in place, starting and ending on the inside.

   
   

Fact vs. Fiction

FACT: The Batagaika Crater (mentioned page 1) is a real place that exists just as Nagamatsu described it. It is the largest permafrost crater in the world (and growing) and has led to many Ice Age discoveries and important climate data as the ice has melted.

FACT: Pleistocene Park (pg. 4) is a reserve area in Siberia dedicated to recreating the environment that would have been in that area during the Pleistocene era, more commonly known as the last Ice Age. Grazing ecosystems have a cooling effect, so bison, goats, moose, and musk ox have all been reintroduced to the area to that end.

FACT: In 2018, the Bellinghausen Station (pg. 14) was the site of the first attempted murder in the Antarctic when an electrical engineer stabbed a welder. Allegedly, the stabbing took place because the welder kept spoiling the endings of books the engineer was reading.

FICTION: As of 2026, no Neanderthal human remains have been found within the Batagaika Crater.

Music from this chapter

• The Eurythmics

• Planets suite by Gustav Holst

• 'Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds' by The Beatles