Flat Tires

Not surprisingly, the tire shop didn’t have a Cold Smoke beer… and I really needed one.

Allow me to explain.

The rear, passenger-side tire on our car developed an air leak. As soon as I noticed this, I pumped it full of air and raced off to the tire shop. While a technician worked to find and repair the problem, I poked around the shop a bit. I immediately found a small collection of objects technicians had removed from tires over the years: long screws, nails, a small wrench, and various lengths of metal. Next to this collection, I found three sections cut from tires with large objects impaling them.

This is where I needed the Cold Smoke beer. I wanted to place a beer beside the sections of tire for a better sense of size. Instead, I resorted to placing a Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup in the foreground before taking the photograph I’m sharing today. I’m astounded by the damage to the tires featured here. What sort of road dynamics can account for this?

After repairing my tire, the technician presented me with the rather tiny rock responsible for my slow leak. Not impressive at all, actually. I’m surprised this little guy managed to work all the way through the tread. I’ve posted a proper photograph of this rock next to a Cold Smoke beer.

Tire Shop Examples

Cold Smoke and Rock

—Mitchell Hegman

Something Voltaire Said

Long before the age of electric guitars and rock stars giving themselves single names such as Sting or Slash, a French writer named François-Marie Arouet did the same. He reinvented himself as Voltaire. Under that single banner, he wrote bold treatises challenging the norms and authorities du jour.

Following are three biting quotes from Voltaire:

—"It is forbidden to kill; therefore all murderers are punished unless they kill in large numbers and to the sound of trumpets.”

—"It is dangerous to be right in matters on which the established authorities are wrong.”

—"To succeed in the world it is not enough to be stupid, you must also be well-mannered.”

—Mitchell Hegman

The “Happy” Pillow

I sleep with two pillows. One is somewhat firm; the kind you rest your head on as you’re drawn into your dreams. The other is soft and squishy. I call this my “hugging” pillow, and I rather abuse it nightly. I punch and squash it into shape before finally hugging it or sprawling over the top of it.

And then there’s the “happy” pillow. Technically, I share this one with Desiree. It doesn’t serve any practical purpose. I don’t sleep with it. It’s more of a “show” pillow. It just sits there and tells us to be happy. And somehow, looking at it makes me happy.

The Happy Pillow

—Mitchell Hegman

The Good Apprentice

Yesterday, I taught a class filled with a dozen apprentice electricians in their fourth year of training. These are the finest young men and women you can imagine. They proved both intelligent and attentive as we waded through some technical material related to the use of digital multimeters.

I enjoy teaching the willing.

At present, there exists great demand for electricians. And we will need many more as we surge into our electrified future. I found myself particularly impressed when I engaged in side conversations with the students. These are highly motivated people, and all of them revealed how much they enjoy their craft.

It warmed me to hear that. We need these young people on our side. And here we have them.

—Mitchell Hegman

Self-Assessment

Clearly, my thinking is too small to fill even the tiniest crack in the face of a mountain. The slowest-growing pine will reach higher than me. Though both silent and fleeting, the shadow of a passing cloud has a broader impact. But I can out-frenzy the best of them. And if need be, I can raise enough dust to baffle everyone.

—Mitchell Hegman

The Cattle Drive

Montana is known for perpetually supporting a larger population of cattle than people. Though the cow-to-person ratio has narrowed a bit in recent years, data from the U.S. Department of Agriculture in early 2024 reveal 2.12 million cattle roaming the state alongside 1.14 million people.

As we might say in my hometown of East Helena, Montana, that’s a plethora of cows. Just kidding. We would never say that. First, we call them cattle around these parts. Second, saying “plethora” might earn you a disciplinary punch in the shoulder.

The other afternoon, as Desiree and I were driving home, we fell in behind—of all things—an old-fashioned cattle drive just as we reached the causeway.

Droving cattle from place to place is no small task. Pushing them in the desired direction can be about as effective as shoveling dirt with a pitchfork. In this instance, two sheriff’s officers and about a dozen cowboys and cowgirls—some on horseback, others in trucks or bouncing along on ATVs—strove to move the herd and keep them together at the same time.

The causeway confounded the cattle. They didn’t appreciate crossing that narrow strip of pavement with water jostling on both sides. The drovers frenzied around the knot of restless animals to keep the herd from blowing up or turning back. In the end, the process of urging them on cost us about a half hour, but Desiree and I enjoyed the event all the same.

Vehicles and Cattle on the Causeway and Strung Along Lake Helena Drive

Cattle Milling on an Open Hillside

A Cowgirl Watching Over the Herd

—Mitchell Hegman

An Alchemist’s Dream

In simpler times, alchemists spent endless hours trying to turn base metals into gold. Their attempts failed, of course. But yesterday, Desiree and I drove a country road and discovered a place where autumn had turned the trees into tall stands of fluttering gold.

A Golden Country Lane

Desiree Under a Shroud of Gold

—Mitchell Hegman