Rosana Francescato
@theeflowerchild.bsky.social
I write about #cleanenergy by day, everything else on evenings & weekends. Semicolon lover; will fight for the Oxford comma. A real Flower Child, my name for the generation some call Jones. More at flowerchild.substack.com.
NO CRYPTO OR RANDOM DMs.
NO CRYPTO OR RANDOM DMs.
Pinned
The Real Generation X: The Flower Children
My hidden generation
flowerchild.substack.com
Why a Flower Child? No, I am not a Boomer. Mine is the hidden generation between Boomers and X — the generation that absorbed the zeitgeist of the '60s at an early age, during a powerful time of social change when enlightenment and hope were in the air. Well, I can dream, can't I?
Life is easy and convenient in the U.S. compared to many other countries. Yet people are living with much greater unease.
As the ease keeps getting easier, the unease keeps getting uneasier.
More in this week's Flower Child: flowerchild.substack.com/p/ease-and-u...
As the ease keeps getting easier, the unease keeps getting uneasier.
More in this week's Flower Child: flowerchild.substack.com/p/ease-and-u...
Ease and Unease
The illusion of convenience
flowerchild.substack.com
November 25, 2025 at 9:01 PM
Life is easy and convenient in the U.S. compared to many other countries. Yet people are living with much greater unease.
As the ease keeps getting easier, the unease keeps getting uneasier.
More in this week's Flower Child: flowerchild.substack.com/p/ease-and-u...
As the ease keeps getting easier, the unease keeps getting uneasier.
More in this week's Flower Child: flowerchild.substack.com/p/ease-and-u...
Reposted by Rosana Francescato
“If you are a person of influence in this country, maybe it’s time to pick a fucking side.”
Thank you @chrismurphyct.bsky.social
This cannot stand.
IMPEACH this psycho NOW!
Thank you @chrismurphyct.bsky.social
This cannot stand.
IMPEACH this psycho NOW!
November 20, 2025 at 5:39 PM
“If you are a person of influence in this country, maybe it’s time to pick a fucking side.”
Thank you @chrismurphyct.bsky.social
This cannot stand.
IMPEACH this psycho NOW!
Thank you @chrismurphyct.bsky.social
This cannot stand.
IMPEACH this psycho NOW!
Fifty-five years ago (!), when I was nine, fourth grade was getting off to an amazing start.
My eyes were being opened and my brain was shaken up. It was the first time I remember having an awakening in my life.
More in this week's Flower Child: flowerchild.substack.com/p/when-i-was...
My eyes were being opened and my brain was shaken up. It was the first time I remember having an awakening in my life.
More in this week's Flower Child: flowerchild.substack.com/p/when-i-was...
When I Was Nine
It was a very good year.
flowerchild.substack.com
November 18, 2025 at 8:12 PM
Fifty-five years ago (!), when I was nine, fourth grade was getting off to an amazing start.
My eyes were being opened and my brain was shaken up. It was the first time I remember having an awakening in my life.
More in this week's Flower Child: flowerchild.substack.com/p/when-i-was...
My eyes were being opened and my brain was shaken up. It was the first time I remember having an awakening in my life.
More in this week's Flower Child: flowerchild.substack.com/p/when-i-was...
Nothing can make you feel old faster than not understanding kids today. Take six-seven. Or 6-7. Or 67 — but always pronounced six-seven, never sixty-seven.
No one knows what it means — even the kids
But does that matter? flowerchild.substack.com/p/six-seven-...
No one knows what it means — even the kids
But does that matter? flowerchild.substack.com/p/six-seven-...
Six-Seven Is not a Word
But does that really matter?
flowerchild.substack.com
November 11, 2025 at 5:56 PM
Nothing can make you feel old faster than not understanding kids today. Take six-seven. Or 6-7. Or 67 — but always pronounced six-seven, never sixty-seven.
No one knows what it means — even the kids
But does that matter? flowerchild.substack.com/p/six-seven-...
No one knows what it means — even the kids
But does that matter? flowerchild.substack.com/p/six-seven-...
On this Election Day, policy is on my mind.
It may not be the sexiest subject, but it deeply affects our lives at every level.
That's true, of course, for #cleanenergy, the area I work in.
More in this week's Flower Child:
flowerchild.substack.com/p/policy-is-...
It may not be the sexiest subject, but it deeply affects our lives at every level.
That's true, of course, for #cleanenergy, the area I work in.
More in this week's Flower Child:
flowerchild.substack.com/p/policy-is-...
Policy Is Everything
That's true for clean energy — and everything else.
flowerchild.substack.com
November 4, 2025 at 5:12 PM
On this Election Day, policy is on my mind.
It may not be the sexiest subject, but it deeply affects our lives at every level.
That's true, of course, for #cleanenergy, the area I work in.
More in this week's Flower Child:
flowerchild.substack.com/p/policy-is-...
It may not be the sexiest subject, but it deeply affects our lives at every level.
That's true, of course, for #cleanenergy, the area I work in.
More in this week's Flower Child:
flowerchild.substack.com/p/policy-is-...
Death transforms the way we see people, bringing a new poignancy to everything about them.
How can we learn to appreciate what we have with the same intensity that we value what’s lost?
More in this week's Flower Child:
flowerchild.substack.com/p/you-dont-k...
How can we learn to appreciate what we have with the same intensity that we value what’s lost?
More in this week's Flower Child:
flowerchild.substack.com/p/you-dont-k...
You Don't Know What You've Got Till It's Gone
Whether it's a parking lot, a period of life, or a person.
flowerchild.substack.com
November 1, 2025 at 3:10 PM
Death transforms the way we see people, bringing a new poignancy to everything about them.
How can we learn to appreciate what we have with the same intensity that we value what’s lost?
More in this week's Flower Child:
flowerchild.substack.com/p/you-dont-k...
How can we learn to appreciate what we have with the same intensity that we value what’s lost?
More in this week's Flower Child:
flowerchild.substack.com/p/you-dont-k...
Because I’m traveling, I’ve been taking a ton of photos, which has got me thinking about — you guessed it, photos!
Storing all those photos in the cloud uses up a lot of energy.
More in this week's Flower Child:
flowerchild.substack.com/p/taking-pho...
Storing all those photos in the cloud uses up a lot of energy.
More in this week's Flower Child:
flowerchild.substack.com/p/taking-pho...
Taking Photos
And discarding photos.
flowerchild.substack.com
October 23, 2025 at 4:06 PM
Because I’m traveling, I’ve been taking a ton of photos, which has got me thinking about — you guessed it, photos!
Storing all those photos in the cloud uses up a lot of energy.
More in this week's Flower Child:
flowerchild.substack.com/p/taking-pho...
Storing all those photos in the cloud uses up a lot of energy.
More in this week's Flower Child:
flowerchild.substack.com/p/taking-pho...
Rafael & I have been needing light entertainment. So we’ve been watching the old TV show Lovejoy, just what the TV doctor ordered. With so much to escape from these days, anything heavier feels like too much to take.
More in this week's Flower Child:
flowerchild.substack.com/p/a-longing-...
More in this week's Flower Child:
flowerchild.substack.com/p/a-longing-...
A Longing for More Carefree Times
At least, times that felt that way.
flowerchild.substack.com
October 15, 2025 at 5:39 PM
Rafael & I have been needing light entertainment. So we’ve been watching the old TV show Lovejoy, just what the TV doctor ordered. With so much to escape from these days, anything heavier feels like too much to take.
More in this week's Flower Child:
flowerchild.substack.com/p/a-longing-...
More in this week's Flower Child:
flowerchild.substack.com/p/a-longing-...
This week, I took my body from San Francisco to Paris. That got me thinking about bodies once more, so I thought I’d repost this piece from a while back.
I keep coming back to the feelings I expressed here.
I keep coming back to the feelings I expressed here.
Thinking About Bodies Again
Can't live with them, definitely can't live without them!
flowerchild.substack.com
October 7, 2025 at 3:25 PM
This week, I took my body from San Francisco to Paris. That got me thinking about bodies once more, so I thought I’d repost this piece from a while back.
I keep coming back to the feelings I expressed here.
I keep coming back to the feelings I expressed here.
Three years ago on September 27, I started writing Flower Child, which examines life’s persistent questions from the perspective of the hidden generation between the Boomers and Gen X: flowerchild.substack.com/p/happy-birt....
Will you join 487 others & subscribe? All my posts are free.
Will you join 487 others & subscribe? All my posts are free.
Happy Birthday to Flower Child!
My Substack turns three.
flowerchild.substack.com
September 30, 2025 at 3:59 PM
Three years ago on September 27, I started writing Flower Child, which examines life’s persistent questions from the perspective of the hidden generation between the Boomers and Gen X: flowerchild.substack.com/p/happy-birt....
Will you join 487 others & subscribe? All my posts are free.
Will you join 487 others & subscribe? All my posts are free.
When I was young, the age of 64 meant nothing to me — other than some vague idea about extreme old age from a Beatles song.
What can I expect as I continue aging? Who knows, who knows. But so far, so good. I hope we can shift our culture’s view of aging.
What can I expect as I continue aging? Who knows, who knows. But so far, so good. I hope we can shift our culture’s view of aging.
When I'm Sixty-Four
Wait, it's when?
flowerchild.substack.com
September 23, 2025 at 4:31 PM
When I was young, the age of 64 meant nothing to me — other than some vague idea about extreme old age from a Beatles song.
What can I expect as I continue aging? Who knows, who knows. But so far, so good. I hope we can shift our culture’s view of aging.
What can I expect as I continue aging? Who knows, who knows. But so far, so good. I hope we can shift our culture’s view of aging.
Learning to ask for what we want and need is a process. I’m still learning!
How can we learn to ask?
Spoiler: It’s the same way you get to Carnegie Hall.
More in this week’s Flower Child: flowerchild.substack.com/p/ask-is-a-v...
How can we learn to ask?
Spoiler: It’s the same way you get to Carnegie Hall.
More in this week’s Flower Child: flowerchild.substack.com/p/ask-is-a-v...
Ask Is a Verb
It's active; it's vulnerable; it's a thing we do. But some of us have to learn to do it.
flowerchild.substack.com
September 16, 2025 at 4:18 PM
Learning to ask for what we want and need is a process. I’m still learning!
How can we learn to ask?
Spoiler: It’s the same way you get to Carnegie Hall.
More in this week’s Flower Child: flowerchild.substack.com/p/ask-is-a-v...
How can we learn to ask?
Spoiler: It’s the same way you get to Carnegie Hall.
More in this week’s Flower Child: flowerchild.substack.com/p/ask-is-a-v...
It was 40 years ago today. It wasn't raining in the city by The Bay — because I moved there in September. San Francisco was really something in the 1980s — a place for misfits, affordable, exciting. It’s still wonderful, but it’s not the same. More here: flowerchild.substack.com/p/it-was-40-...
It Was 40 Years Ago Today
It wasn't raining in the city by The Bay. Because I moved there in September.
flowerchild.substack.com
September 9, 2025 at 4:40 PM
It was 40 years ago today. It wasn't raining in the city by The Bay — because I moved there in September. San Francisco was really something in the 1980s — a place for misfits, affordable, exciting. It’s still wonderful, but it’s not the same. More here: flowerchild.substack.com/p/it-was-40-...
Semicolon use is down; em dash use is up — but we're told not to use it so people won't think our writing was done by AI.
YOU'LL HAVE TO PRY THE SEMICOLON AND EM DASH OUT OF MY COLD, DEAD HANDS!
Thank you for your attention to this matter.
flowerchild.substack.com/p/the-semico...
YOU'LL HAVE TO PRY THE SEMICOLON AND EM DASH OUT OF MY COLD, DEAD HANDS!
Thank you for your attention to this matter.
flowerchild.substack.com/p/the-semico...
You Can't Take the Semicolon and the Em Dash Away from Me!
They're not dead yet!
flowerchild.substack.com
September 2, 2025 at 4:22 PM
Semicolon use is down; em dash use is up — but we're told not to use it so people won't think our writing was done by AI.
YOU'LL HAVE TO PRY THE SEMICOLON AND EM DASH OUT OF MY COLD, DEAD HANDS!
Thank you for your attention to this matter.
flowerchild.substack.com/p/the-semico...
YOU'LL HAVE TO PRY THE SEMICOLON AND EM DASH OUT OF MY COLD, DEAD HANDS!
Thank you for your attention to this matter.
flowerchild.substack.com/p/the-semico...
For a while now, I’ve been wondering what technology of the future will leave me in the dust when I’m older.
And I’m starting to realize that may already be happening, with AI. Is it all it's cracked up to be? I have concerns.
And I’m starting to realize that may already be happening, with AI. Is it all it's cracked up to be? I have concerns.
I'm So Over AI
But it's just getting started.
flowerchild.substack.com
August 26, 2025 at 4:19 PM
For a while now, I’ve been wondering what technology of the future will leave me in the dust when I’m older.
And I’m starting to realize that may already be happening, with AI. Is it all it's cracked up to be? I have concerns.
And I’m starting to realize that may already be happening, with AI. Is it all it's cracked up to be? I have concerns.
It was the best of shows ... it was the worst of shows. Whatever you thought of Sex and the City, it was a revolutionary show.
And Just Like That? No. But yes, I watched it all.
Learn what I discovered when I went back to where it all started:
And Just Like That? No. But yes, I watched it all.
Learn what I discovered when I went back to where it all started:
And Just Like That ...
I watched all three seasons.
flowerchild.substack.com
August 19, 2025 at 5:01 PM
It was the best of shows ... it was the worst of shows. Whatever you thought of Sex and the City, it was a revolutionary show.
And Just Like That? No. But yes, I watched it all.
Learn what I discovered when I went back to where it all started:
And Just Like That? No. But yes, I watched it all.
Learn what I discovered when I went back to where it all started:
It was such a crazy and odd week that I forgot to share my latest Flower Child piece. It's all about one of my loves: walking.
Check it out here:
Check it out here:
Walking Through Life
There's much more to it than counting steps.
flowerchild.substack.com
August 17, 2025 at 10:51 PM
It was such a crazy and odd week that I forgot to share my latest Flower Child piece. It's all about one of my loves: walking.
Check it out here:
Check it out here:
Why has it gotten so hard to just hang out with our friends in modern American life?
How can it change? Will it ever change? Do we have to wait for retirement?
For the lack of answers to these and other questions, check out this week's Flower Child.
flowerchild.substack.com/p/hanging-out
How can it change? Will it ever change? Do we have to wait for retirement?
For the lack of answers to these and other questions, check out this week's Flower Child.
flowerchild.substack.com/p/hanging-out
Hanging Out
The lost pleasure of being together without plans.
flowerchild.substack.com
August 5, 2025 at 9:11 PM
Why has it gotten so hard to just hang out with our friends in modern American life?
How can it change? Will it ever change? Do we have to wait for retirement?
For the lack of answers to these and other questions, check out this week's Flower Child.
flowerchild.substack.com/p/hanging-out
How can it change? Will it ever change? Do we have to wait for retirement?
For the lack of answers to these and other questions, check out this week's Flower Child.
flowerchild.substack.com/p/hanging-out
My friend Susan makes and sells amazing ceramics, some of which you can see here. She can also write! Today’s guest post by Susan reveals some beautiful and unexpected stories from her work with clay. Be sure to read to the end; you’ll be glad you did.
flowerchild.substack.com/p/the-secret...
flowerchild.substack.com/p/the-secret...
The Secret Life of Clay
An experienced potter goes back to basics in this guest post from my friend Susan.
flowerchild.substack.com
July 29, 2025 at 9:01 PM
My friend Susan makes and sells amazing ceramics, some of which you can see here. She can also write! Today’s guest post by Susan reveals some beautiful and unexpected stories from her work with clay. Be sure to read to the end; you’ll be glad you did.
flowerchild.substack.com/p/the-secret...
flowerchild.substack.com/p/the-secret...
Reposted by Rosana Francescato
Let that sink in for a sec.
July 22, 2025 at 6:39 PM
Let that sink in for a sec.
The pull of home is strong.
Only in recent years has the idea of leaving the U.S. started to appeal to me, as life here gets shittier and shittier. What might stop me is knowing how hard it would be.
More in this week's Flower Child: flowerchild.substack.com/p/the-power-...
Only in recent years has the idea of leaving the U.S. started to appeal to me, as life here gets shittier and shittier. What might stop me is knowing how hard it would be.
More in this week's Flower Child: flowerchild.substack.com/p/the-power-...
The Power of Place
There's no place like home.
flowerchild.substack.com
July 22, 2025 at 4:38 PM
The pull of home is strong.
Only in recent years has the idea of leaving the U.S. started to appeal to me, as life here gets shittier and shittier. What might stop me is knowing how hard it would be.
More in this week's Flower Child: flowerchild.substack.com/p/the-power-...
Only in recent years has the idea of leaving the U.S. started to appeal to me, as life here gets shittier and shittier. What might stop me is knowing how hard it would be.
More in this week's Flower Child: flowerchild.substack.com/p/the-power-...
Reposted by Rosana Francescato
Reposted by Rosana Francescato
REPORT: Most seizures of fentanyl occur at U.S. points of entry, not via migrants. In reality, U.S. citizens are the primary smugglers.
Fentanyl smuggling: Most seizures occur at ports of entry where U.S. citizens are the primary smugglers - American Immigration Council
Most fentanyl enters the U.S. through ports of entry, not via migrants. U.S. citizens are the primary smugglers, often recruited by criminal networks. Effective solutions focus on better screening at ...
www.americanimmigrationcouncil.org
July 15, 2025 at 9:07 PM
REPORT: Most seizures of fentanyl occur at U.S. points of entry, not via migrants. In reality, U.S. citizens are the primary smugglers.
I’m from a university town oasis in the middle of a vast patchwork of flat corn and soybean fields. I’m from a large city in South America. I’m from the city of misfits that is San Francisco. And now, from across the bay in Oakland.
Where are you from?
Where are you from?
Where I'm From
What place can I call mine? What place do you call yours?
flowerchild.substack.com
July 15, 2025 at 4:41 PM
I’m from a university town oasis in the middle of a vast patchwork of flat corn and soybean fields. I’m from a large city in South America. I’m from the city of misfits that is San Francisco. And now, from across the bay in Oakland.
Where are you from?
Where are you from?
Reposted by Rosana Francescato
One more quarter of negative growth is full recession. We will call it TRUMPCESSION!
July 9, 2025 at 5:29 PM
One more quarter of negative growth is full recession. We will call it TRUMPCESSION!