iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Kevin Mueller @kevin-e-mueller.bsky.social · 13/10/2026

I understand why so many spiders have decided to live inside my stemflow gauges 🧪🌱🌐 #ecology

it's often good to take a view from another perspective, isn't it? (this time, a tree canopy from the ground, up)

another upward, bug-like perspective of a tree... this time, of a sugar maple (acer saccharum) that has shed maybe half its leaves

Kevin Mueller @kevin-e-mueller.bsky.social · 15/09/2026

ecology is slow, and I am slower... a year and a few months later, we still don't know what we'll learn from this data, but it's always a relief when you see a few things that tell you your data isn't crap #rootecology

thick roots have more length per unit mass (whew)

040

Kevin Mueller @kevin-e-mueller.bsky.social · 09/09/2026

that's a cute fruit, Koelreuteria paniculata 🌱

leaves, fruits in the foreground, rain gauges in the background

010

Kevin Mueller @kevin-e-mueller.bsky.social · 14/08/2026

some days, being a scientist means leak testing stemflow collars all damn day. other days, to be a scientist is to caulk stemflow collars all damn day. 🙂🧪

is that a tipping bucket rain gauge in the background? one of 200 in this field? yes, it is.

120

Kevin Mueller @kevin-e-mueller.bsky.social · 21/07/2026

you do not have a better paint cloth than me

Star Wars sheets for a twin bed, from the 80s of course, now repurposed

000

Kevin Mueller @kevin-e-mueller.bsky.social · 18/07/2026

would I rather be painting? yes. did I think I was almost ready for painting? yes. but, 100 year old plaster has other ideas.

hmmmm. this plaster feels a little loose. (poke, poke, cut). oh boy!

100

Kevin Mueller @kevin-e-mueller.bsky.social · 17/07/2026

if you only look at the new windows (not around them or at the crumbling walls), then my next project looks ok ps. I dislike drywall and plaster more than most things pps. why don't we cover walls with modular and removable panels? why don't we have Lego-houses? seriously!

a couple of nice new windows, surrounded by not nice things that still require work.

woe is me... even after I cover this with trim, what lurks beneath (and what doesn't, like insulation) will trouble me

how many layers of plaster are in this room? my layers will be the most poorly applied

100

Kevin Mueller @kevin-e-mueller.bsky.social · 31/05/2026

if I was a 'good' gardener, this little guy or girl (or both) would not be where my vegetables are supposed to be growing (and my vegetables would be more photogenic)... but, I like wild things and I don't like thinking about my garden, or fussing over it

000

Kevin Mueller @kevin-e-mueller.bsky.social · 30/05/2026

as soon as these strawberries are close to ripe, someone (or something) other than me will eat them

000

Kevin Mueller @kevin-e-mueller.bsky.social · 22/05/2026

happy friday, from my favorite flower of the east (U.S.)

110

Kevin Mueller @kevin-e-mueller.bsky.social · 18/05/2026

there's a whole world up there, in this one oak tree

120

Kevin Mueller @kevin-e-mueller.bsky.social · 11/05/2026

see a buckeye flower on a walk through your world, and try not to smile

000

Kevin Mueller @kevin-e-mueller.bsky.social · 08/05/2026

how many trees have to die in the same spot before you accept that the spot is cursed? this seemingly looming death will be number four, each a different species. I've probably planted 20 trees in my life, and only these 4 have not survived. 🤔

not happy leaves on a not happy tree. frost?

sad, droopy leaves that never got to grow up.

100

Kevin Mueller @kevin-e-mueller.bsky.social · 03/05/2026

painters and owners of old homes (lucky us): please don't do this. no one wants this.

a once cute brass doorknob, slathered in shitty paint

150

Kevin Mueller @kevin-e-mueller.bsky.social · 29/04/2026

bonus: because I bought all these rain gauges, I finally have a use for the metal pipes stashed in my lab (and the lonely band saw)

don't ask me how long these pipes have been in my lab, or what was their original purpose

someone else needs to tell the band saw that it will go back in the back of the closet soon. not me.

000

Kevin Mueller @kevin-e-mueller.bsky.social · 29/04/2026

how many rain gauges is too many? does it matter if you are not a climatologist? or even a hydrologist? does it help if someone else is doing most of the work? or if the small ones are really cute? #ecohydrology 🧪🍁💦🌐

rain gauges, new and old, with pretty gold hats

boxes of rain gauges... should I make an unboxing video?

241

Kevin Mueller @kevin-e-mueller.bsky.social · 16/04/2026

maybe pawpaw (asimina triloba?), because I'd never seen their flowers until today, and I had to wait ~10 y before my baby trees got old enough to think about reproducing

same flowers, neighboring tree... still wack

a green one, maybe jealous of the purple one, not knowing it's about to be a purple one

150

Kevin Mueller @kevin-e-mueller.bsky.social · 01/02/2026

I hope the animal that did this is gone.

insulation that has been shredded into bits is worse than not shredded insulation

000

Kevin Mueller @kevin-e-mueller.bsky.social · 01/02/2026

I do not like fiberglass insulation. almost as much as I do not like plaster or drywall. maybe that explains why I 'paused' this job for almost 10 years, content with no insulation over most of my ceilings.

pink insulation in between 100 year old ceiling rafters.

100

Kevin Mueller @kevin-e-mueller.bsky.social · 17/01/2026

how do I tell my family that it is not ok to carelessly mix wide mouth and narrow mouth jars?

sadness and irritation embodied in glass of slightly different shapes, imperfectly arranged

000

Kevin Mueller @kevin-e-mueller.bsky.social · 25/12/2025

I can see the light at the end of the tunnel

wood and tin on walls, instead of cracks and gaps and broken plaster

how long can I ignore the ceiling and the last quarter-ish of wall?

000

Kevin Mueller @kevin-e-mueller.bsky.social · 17/12/2025

best thing I've seen at #AGU? no offense to the humans or the science

some typical city color and grit, in the form of graffiti, weeds, etc

000

Kevin Mueller @kevin-e-mueller.bsky.social · 04/12/2025

unfortunately, the real bad guys dont respond to data

010

Kevin Mueller @kevin-e-mueller.bsky.social · 22/11/2025

dinner when my partner is not home

000

Kevin Mueller @kevin-e-mueller.bsky.social · 21/09/2025

things often get worse before they get better

000

Kevin Mueller @kevin-e-mueller.bsky.social · 19/09/2025

I am glad that there is poetry in the world and that I am fortunate enough to have the luxury of reading poetry, even 'now' (you know). I can't figure out if I really like these poems or precisely what they mean, but they are intriguing. maybe that's the point. ; )

a poem by Mary Oliver, about nature, or about some guy, or about her, or about poetry. I'm not sure.

230

Kevin Mueller @kevin-e-mueller.bsky.social · 14/09/2025

not a good gardener

a beautiful cucumber plant, if cucumber plants were brown

the fullest canopy of vegetable foliage, this is not

I do like a yellow tomato (fruit), but the leaves should be green

$yes, this represents a large fraction of my summer-long bounty$

110

Kevin Mueller @kevin-e-mueller.bsky.social · 03/09/2025

no, I do not like the look of this

010

Kevin Mueller @kevin-e-mueller.bsky.social · 03/09/2025

I can say with confidence that I didn't want that wall there. it was easy enough to remove, as expected. but, I didn't plan to remove the door or rehang it. 🤔 phase two planning is always harder. thankfully, I have one more board to remove & a week or two before the hard questions come faster.

some wires that will be dealt with later, like most things

220

Kevin Mueller @kevin-e-mueller.bsky.social · 17/08/2025

”Among (recent) college graduates... computer science & computer engineering majors are facing some of the highest unemployment rates, 6.1% and 7.5% respectively, according to a report from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York." NYTs maybe uni's should not chase the fickle winds of capitalism?

000

Kevin Mueller @kevin-e-mueller.bsky.social · 14/08/2025

if you still believe in American Exceptionalism, you believe in a myth

other nations are shown to generate more 'high quality' patents than the U.S. in a NYT graphic

000

Kevin Mueller @kevin-e-mueller.bsky.social · 12/08/2025

if you aren't already here for #ESA2025 and haven't been here, put Baltimore on your list. many gems to be discovered there.

010

Kevin Mueller @kevin-e-mueller.bsky.social · 06/08/2025

pawpaw leaves up close. how can you not love plants if you actually look at them? 🍁🌿🌱

010

Kevin Mueller @kevin-e-mueller.bsky.social · 02/08/2025

from this rare angle, my scrappy little piece of earth (i.e.,my backyard) looks pretty dang good

060

Kevin Mueller @kevin-e-mueller.bsky.social · 01/08/2025

the selfish assholes saying things like this about coal (i.e., lying about coal) should all be made to work in a coal mine, 1950s style, every day for the rest of their lives

010

Kevin Mueller @kevin-e-mueller.bsky.social · 25/07/2025

heat waves are not my favorite time to bike, but they are a useful personal test #bikecommute

010

Kevin Mueller @kevin-e-mueller.bsky.social · 23/07/2025

sometimes I understand why people get excited about fungi (also, West Virginia is indeed wild and wonderful)

050