Happy Juneteenth!

There's something about this that just warms my heart. There are bacteria who are EATING RUST.

I love that. That's beautiful. There are so many things out there that I would never have thought could be food, but then it turns out that actually yes, there is someone who can eat that thing. It's so sweet to me, to live in a world where life is so adaptable -- where really, very little is poisoned forever. Because there is usually someone who can figure out how to eat it anyway.

The baobab is known as the thickest tree in the world, with its trunk reaching up to 9 meters in diameter, and the largest one recorded had a circumference of 54 meters. Its upper trunk smooths out into thick branches, forming a crown up to 40 meters in diameter.

– There are nine species of baobab in nature: six of which are found on Madagascar, two on the African continent, and one in Australia.

– The baobab can absorb and store a significant amount of water, with an average tree holding up to 4,500 liters. Elephants love this and eat the baobab’s bark during the dry season.

– Baobabs are incredibly long-lived, with some trees reaching up to 3,000 years old.

– Because the baobab’s trunk has very few growth rings, radiocarbon dating is needed to determine its exact age.

– The wood of the baobab is soft, spongy, and fibrous, used in the making of cloth and rope but unsuitable for traditional woodworking such as furniture making.

– The baobab plays a crucial role in local diets: its leaves taste like spinach, its fruit contains six times the vitamin C of an orange, and its seeds can be processed into oil

https://lifeontheplanetladakh.com/blog/baobab-tree-majestic-lifesaver-africa

[Image description: a wheelchair made from lumber, screws, front caster wheels, big rear wheelchair wheels, a thin firm-looking seat cushion, duct tape, and a few other hardware odds and ends. The chair appears handmade with a solid but DIY vibe, and many of the parts look like they could have come from a neighborhood hardware store.]

In case anyone finds it helpful because mobility aids are horrifically expensive and inaccessible…

And for those people who have access to mobility devices but might benefit from a second chair they can abuse without risking expensive damage…

Erik Kondo has made a website, Open Source Innovations, that details plans for DIY wheelchairs. These wheelchairs can be made from common materials like wood, plastic, and pvc. They are lightweight and can be custom fit to the user allowing from the same degree of movement you would get from a custom chair. And they are durable and easily repairable. (he has been stress testing his latest design by dropping it down stairs, dropping it out of a car, launching it across a driveway, and throwing it off a deck). Its 12lbs and I think he said its was in the $200 ish range for parts.

He also is working on cheap, open source, accessible designs for beach chairs, off road chairs, motorized attachments (think smart drive), and so on. Plus he skateboards in his wheelchair. Cool dude, helpful info, pass it on.

Komorebi, Duri Baek

This post is about transitioning and dancing and sex, but it's also about everyone whether or not you do those things. Please keep doing the next risky scary thing, the thing that makes you more alive and more in your body and moves you closer to what you love.

You have to keep transitioning until you discover that you actually do love dancing and sex. Please.

Alex Schaefer on instagram

Painter Alex Schaefer paints banks on fire using a “plein air” technique. Plein Air is the act of painting outdoors in the open air, and in Alex’s case, he paints directly across the banks.

This is why I say crows are people. Look at this person. Look at how person they are.

a couple years ago the eric carle museum of picture book art had an exhibit on diane & leo dillon who are responsible for so many iconic illustrations. i went back twice just to see the collection again. this is a sliver of their work— it’s hard to find high res images.

Даная\Danaë by Andrey Surnov

Main character very much baffled by the fact that, while she's actively doing drama, everybody else in the same show is doing comedy.