Henry Rollins is the intense, iconic frontman of the hardcore punk band Black Flag who built a multifaceted career as a spoken-word artist, author, actor, and cultural commentator. Here are three of his quotes:
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“My optimism wears heavy boots and is loud.”
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“The truth is an anti-war statement in itself.”
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“Why do you think the old stories tell of men who set out on great journeys to
impress the gods? Because trying to impress people just isn't worth the time
and effort.”
—Mitchell
Hegman
If metal is good for making trains, planes, and automobiles, why not try making an insect out of the stuff? Or at least make a bee that looks as though it were made from metal. Enter the metallic green sweat bee, a tiny native and super-efficient pollinator that looks like it was fashioned from emerald-colored steel.
Yesterday,
I captured a crisp photograph of a metallic green sweat bee putting in a shift
on a sunflower near my house. The image is clear enough to reveal its
pollen-covered legs. Those yellow clumps are the bee's cargo, gathered from the
sunflower's tiny disk florets.
Sweat
bees have adopted the single life, forgoing the crowded social arrangements of
a honeybee hive. Most live solitary lives in little underground nests, although
some species will make their homes in the soft, decaying wood of a punky log.
Each bee has her own nest and provisions her own young.
The
fascinating part is what happens to the pollen they collect. The bee carries it
back to its underground nest, mixes it with nectar, and stocks a little pantry
for its offspring. Those pollen-covered legs are carrying groceries for the
kids.
Metallic
Green Sweat Bee on a Sunflower
—Mitchell
Hegman
Today I am posting a photograph of my woodshop and a tabletop I am finishing. The shop is quite spacious. Air is constantly exchanged to keep it free of sawdust. Additionally, the floor is self-sweeping, and the lighting is perfectly even and bright throughout the entire space.
—Mitchell
Hegman
Over the weekend, Desiree and I made a trip to the cabin. Soon after arriving there, we gathered cards from our three game cameras, as is always our wont, to see what critters have been tip-toeing about in our absence.
We
captured the requisite number of deer and a standard-issue image of a fox at
night. But, most impressively, a mountain lion triggered images on the camera
facing the cabin and then sauntered in front of a second camera I recently set
just north of the cabin.
Even
though I have been living in the mountains of Montana for my entire life, I
have yet to see a mountain lion in person. They are simply too stealthy. This
is the second time I have captured one on a game camera. The first camera
offered up a fairly ghostly image. The second is pretty clear.
I am
also sharing the capture of a bull elk from a third camera in the meadow south
of the cabin.
All
good stuff.
—Mitchell
Hegman
I’ve got orthotic shoe inserts to placate my feet and crowns on my teeth to hold them together, but the middle of me is holding out pretty well, although it is expanding a bit.
—Mitchell HegmanProblem #1: Those damned ravens keep landing in a tree near my back door to “grunk” and “caw” at me.
Problem
#2: The
stuff they are saying to me is starting to make sense, and I agree. The mice
have been total ass-wipes this summer, and I need to leave more raven treats on
the top of my fence posts.
—Mitchell
Hegman
In our love we grow soft and quiet. Our cheeks silk. Our elbows soft and delicious as marshmallow. Our hands rose petals. Our voices have trickled down to clear rainwater and soaked back inside us.
It’s
not that words have failed us.
We
simply don’t need them.
—Mitchell
Hegman
