iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Michael Heggen ❌👑 @michaelheggen.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

We topped out today on our new barn!! #SmallFarmLife Deets in alt-text

Me standing on the peak of the roof of our barn with a blue sky and wispy clouds in the background. There is barn framing below me. At the right is my crew leader James in the basket of the aerial work platform. Behind him is the traditional freshly cut evergreen bough that he just attached to the end of the beam of the hay hood to celebrate topping out.

Michael Heggen ❌👑 @michaelheggen.bsky.social · 28/08/2026

It’s a good evening for lunacy. Just me, the moon in eclipse, the stars, about a million crickets, some owls, a grumpy deer, and a coyote or two.

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Michael Heggen ❌👑 @michaelheggen.bsky.social · 23/08/2026

Name a place you miss from your childhood: Numerous trees and shrubs around our house where (when I was small) I could burrow through branches to an empty space within to peek out, seeing without being seen, lost in my imagination.

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Michael Heggen ❌👑 @michaelheggen.bsky.social · 12/08/2026

Meteors streaking across the sky, crickets singing, great horned owls hooting, and good people to share it all with. #LifeIsGood #SmallFarmLife

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Michael Heggen ❌👑 @michaelheggen.bsky.social · 09/08/2026

Finally caught a barred owl on film today! We spent several minutes staring at each other. #SmallFarmLife

A barred owl looking at the camera from a branch in a big-leaf maple, with a Douglas-fir trunk behind it.

A barred owl looking over its shoulder at the camera from a branch in a big-leaf maple, with a Douglas-fir trunk behind it.

A barred owl looking over its shoulder from a branch in a big-leaf maple, with a Douglas-fir trunk behind it.

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Michael Heggen ❌👑 @michaelheggen.bsky.social · 08/08/2026

32 of 37 rafter pairs installed on our new barn! It was a hot and smoky week here in western Oregon (no fires near us, thankfully), which forced us to work half-days for much of the week. Even so, we finished framing the west gable end wall yesterday! Details in alt-text. #SmallFarmLife

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Michael Heggen ❌👑 @michaelheggen.bsky.social · 24/07/2026

This lyric was in my head when I woke up this morning: Lookin’ for a leather jacket And a girl who wrote her name forever

youtu.be

Rickie Lee Jones - We Belong Together (Official Audio)

YouTube video by Rickie Lee Jones

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Reposted by Michael Heggen ❌👑

Allison Gill @muellershewrote.com · 12/07/2026

Heading to extra time! 1-1. Go, Norway! 🇳🇴🇳🇴🇳🇴🇳🇴🇳🇴🇳🇴🇳🇴🇳🇴🇳🇴🇳🇴🇳🇴

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Reposted by Michael Heggen ❌👑

Claes de Vreese @claesdevreese.bsky.social · 11/07/2026

Lykke til, Norge Good luck, Norway #NORENG #WorldCup ⚽️

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Michael Heggen ❌👑 @michaelheggen.bsky.social · 11/06/2026

We installed rafter set #12 on our new barn yesterday! That’s a third of them done. Every four sets, we weave in diagonal and lateral bracing, making quite the spiderweb. I’m writing this from where I took the third photo. Birdsong, little breeze… #PrettyGoodDay More in alt-text. #SmallFarmLife

View looking northwest of gambrel-roofed barn under construction, showing a third of the rafters installed.

There is a big-leaf maple tree in full leaf on the right edge of the photo. In the background is a deep blue sky with some puffy clouds. The sun is shining brightly.

View from the hay mow floor looking east. The large opening in the gable end wall is the door for loading hay into the mow. The tree trunk in the doorway is the temporary spar we set up to install the beam (just right of the spar) for the hay hoist.

There is a web of lumber framing above. The top of the big-leaf maple tree is visible through the wall framing. Beyond the maple, there is a hillside forested with young Douglas-fir trees.

View from the hay mow floor looking west with a wide-angle lens. A temporary brace for the gable end wall angles down to the floor. The roof framing is a complex web of rafters and braces.

There is scaffolding set up under the last rafter set. There are several ladders of varying sizes set up. There is a pile of coiled ropes in the foreground. The roof framing casts complex shadows on the floor in the late morning sun.

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Reposted by Michael Heggen ❌👑

Rachel Deering @racheldeering.bsky.social · 06/06/2026

‘Mediocrities can tolerate being surrounded only by flatterers who conceal their mediocrity.’ ~ Maurice Druon, The Strangled Queen. #BookWormSat

Miniature depiction of Louis X from the Life of Saint Louis, c. 1330–1340 ~ shown in blue, red and gold robes, sat on throne decorated with lions, holding a green book that is being handed to him.

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Michael Heggen ❌👑 @michaelheggen.bsky.social · 03/06/2026

We’re grooving’ along on the barn roof now. The first five sets of rafters were fussy because of the beam for the hay hoist. The next two sets were fussy because of a stairwell. Now it’s smooth sailing until we get to the other end. Rafter set #8 (of 37) goes up tomorrow. #SmallFarmLife

A hazy sky (with a partial sun dog!) in the background with our barn-under-construction in the foreground.

The beam for the hay hoist is set, as are the first seven sets of rafters.

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Michael Heggen ❌👑 @michaelheggen.bsky.social · 29/05/2026

What a lineup! If you’re in the DC area, check this out!!!

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Michael Heggen ❌👑 @michaelheggen.bsky.social · 24/05/2026

Just finished cleaning stalls. Sitting in the barn aisle enjoying the view and listening to the birds sing. #PrettyGoodDay #SmallFarmLife

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Michael Heggen ❌👑 @michaelheggen.bsky.social · 16/05/2026

We spent this week fabricating a jig to produce the rafters for the barn, building our first set of rafters, and then setting them. It’s great to see the number of guy lines diminishing as the roof framing slowly becomes more self supporting. #SmallFarmLife

The first completed set of gambrel rafters for the barn, flat on the floor of the hay mow getting. Blocking that is screwed to the floor and clamps will enable us to produce identical copies of this set of rafters.

The first five pairs of rafters are attached to the beam at the east end of the barn (see previous post for photos of the beam, as it is hard to see from this angle).

This photo shows the first half-rafter installed.

And here the second half-rafter is installed, making the first full set of rafters.

This set of rafters is at the western end of the beam. This locks the beam in place.

The most challenging portion of the roof framing is now complete, as we now have a base to work from that is just going to get progressively more sturdy.

Next week we will work on the four pairs of rafters that fill in the gap between the first set and the wall.

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Michael Heggen ❌👑 @michaelheggen.bsky.social · 09/05/2026

We got the beam set today for the east end hay hoist. 16’ full-size 4x12 beam hoisted using the spar, a 4-to-1 tackle, and a 2:1 pulley. Two people on the ground doing the lifting, me up top, and a fourth person as a floater. Next week we’ll start setting rafters. #SmallFarmLife See alt-text

Today’s progress on our barn construction. The east gable end wall is framed, displaying a classic gambrel roof line. Behind the framing is scaffolding. On the face of the wall is the 45’ spar we set up Wednesday, which projects about six feet above the peak of the wall.

Newly visible today is the 16’ long beam at the peak of the wall. It projects five feet out from the wall. It sits in a pocket at the peak of the wall. The remaining ten feet of beam are being supported by a temporary pulley system at the top of the spar.

Next week we will start constructing the rafters that will support the interior ten-foot length of the beam, at which point the wall and roof framing will be self-supporting.

A slightly different angle that more clearly shows the new beam, spar, and rigging. The combination looks much like a modern tower crane that you would see on a high-rise construction site.

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Michael Heggen ❌👑 @michaelheggen.bsky.social · 07/05/2026

🧵 Today we erected a 45-foot long spar without no heavy equipment. It was a Douglas-fir tree on our place on Friday. Now it’s a spar that’s 11” at the base, 5” at the top, and about 900 lbs. It took us all day today, but we did it safely. Details in alt-text 1/2 #SmallFarmLife

Our barn that we are building. This is how it looked at the end of the work day on Tuesday. Note the 45-foot log on the ground in the right foreground.

The photo shows a two-story wooden barn under construction. The lower story is framed and sheathed. The upper story only has the end wall framed, defining a classic barn gambrel roof. There is scaffolding behind the end wall framing.

Our barn that we are building. This is how it looked at the end of the work day today (Wednesday). Note that the 45-foot log that was on the ground yesterday is now vertical against the barn.

Other than that and the sky being different, the barn looks the same.

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Michael Heggen ❌👑 @michaelheggen.bsky.social · 01/05/2026

Wil Wheaton made a new thing, an he’s excited about it. He is good people, so that makes me excited, too. If you like narrated speculative fiction (or know someone who does), give this a listen!

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Michael Heggen ❌👑 @michaelheggen.bsky.social · 24/04/2026

I think this is one of the best things that former Rep. Adam Kinzinger has written. #NoFascism #Resist

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Michael Heggen ❌👑 @michaelheggen.bsky.social · 11/04/2026

A friend took this photo on our farm yesterday. The sunset was stunning here yesterday (clearly), with rain showers, a radiant yellow sky, and even a rainbow all in the same breath. I hope this photo and alt-text can convey some of the wonder. #SmallFarmLife Photo courtesy of Claire Harper.

The view from the mow of our barn, looking west across one of our verdant hayfields. A soft yellow light washes everything, like the brief rain shower that preceded this photo.

Shasta’s Howe is visible in the field. Trees and the Coast Range are in the background.

The sky has layers of whitish-grey clouds with occasional openings. Near the horizon, the clouds are lit with yellows, oranges, and some pinks.

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Michael Heggen ❌👑 @michaelheggen.bsky.social · 08/04/2026

“Green and long grew the grass on Snowmane’s Howe…” —JRRT Shasta’s grave, in our hayfield in between a couple of tiny oak seedlings that we planted as acorns. When my wife and I and Shasta are gone and forgotten, the oaks will shade her and the grass will ripple in the breeze. #SmallFarmLife

Mound of earth with tubes of grass on it on the middle of a hayfield, with hills and forest in the background.

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Michael Heggen ❌👑 @michaelheggen.bsky.social · 06/04/2026

We had to put our beloved Clydesdale mare Shasta down today. She had been declining this past year, but crashed pretty abruptly this afternoon. It was an easy decision to make, and she didn’t suffer very long. We will miss her terribly. #SmallFarmLife

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Michael Heggen ❌👑 @michaelheggen.bsky.social · 03/04/2026

This is us. This photo contains all of humanity, except for the four human beings behind the camera. All of us alive and the remains of everyone whom has gone before are contained in this image.

A photo of Earth take by Reid Wiseman on the Artemis II mission as they head for the moon.

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Reposted by Michael Heggen ❌👑

Effin' Birds @effinbirds.com · 16/03/2026

A painting of a bird beside the text "i'm glad that we could solve this problem by yelling at each other on the fucking internet"

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Reposted by Michael Heggen ❌👑

SciCommic @scicommic.bsky.social · 13/03/2026

There was this one time at Biotech Camp, we grafted the allele from an owl into the genome of a female goat. It was a real hootenanny. #science

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Michael Heggen ❌👑 @michaelheggen.bsky.social · 11/03/2026

This was fun in a maddening sort of way :-) Happy that my color distinction is good. Cut my score in half the second time (below) by taking my glasses off and unfocusing my eyes a little. www.keithcirkel.co.uk/whats-my-jnd...

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Michael Heggen ❌👑 @michaelheggen.bsky.social · 11/03/2026

So, if AI is being used for target selection with minimal or no human oversight, how is that different from allowing lethal autonomy for AI? At that point, the human pilots, drone operators, missile techs, etc. are simply acting as waldos for the AI decision-maker. A slippery slope, indeed.

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Michael Heggen ❌👑 @michaelheggen.bsky.social · 07/03/2026

This thread. Do check for misogyny, but yeah.

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Michael Heggen ❌👑 @michaelheggen.bsky.social · 05/03/2026

TIL that scorpions fluoresce. How, I wonder, did the Red Queen determine that this was an evolutionary advantage??

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Michael Heggen ❌👑 @michaelheggen.bsky.social · 02/03/2026

“A great deal for the world.” —Trump, referring to loss of American lives in his attack on Iran What a piece of shit of a human being. #Resist #NoFascism

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Michael Heggen ❌👑 @michaelheggen.bsky.social · 28/02/2026

1. This is a war of choice. 2. This is a *preventive* strike, not a pre-emptive strike. Israel is framing it as pre-emptive; Trump isn’t even bothering. Mr. Sanger explains why both of these things matter. #Resist #NoFascism Gift article

nytimes.com

For Trump, the Iran Attack Is the Ultimate War of Choice

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Michael Heggen ❌👑 @michaelheggen.bsky.social · 28/02/2026

I’d like to see the Iranian regime gone, too, but this is an aggressive war of choice initiated by one man who says he doesn’t give a shit about international law. #Resist #NoFascism #NoKings

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Michael Heggen ❌👑 @michaelheggen.bsky.social · 27/02/2026

My hearts bleeds for Kansas today. Dangerous discrimination against trans people went into effect this week in Kansas that invalidates trans driver licenses and criminalizes trans bathroom use. #TransRightsAreHumanRights #Resist #NoFascism

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Michael Heggen ❌👑 @michaelheggen.bsky.social · 26/02/2026

ICE agents going into a dorm at Columbia U. without a judicial warrant and lying to gain access is unacceptable. #Resist #NoFascism

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Michael Heggen ❌👑 @michaelheggen.bsky.social · 25/02/2026

At the author’s suggestion, I’m reposting this thread. Thoughtful takes appreciated.

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Michael Heggen ❌👑 @michaelheggen.bsky.social · 25/02/2026

Perhaps the Democratic Party would consider running on… oh, I don’t know… maybe the threat that Trump and his minions pose to American democracy? Maybe work on putting out the damned fire that’s engulfed several rooms already instead of arguing about the curtains? #Resist #NoFascism

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Michael Heggen ❌👑 @michaelheggen.bsky.social · 21/02/2026

This is my day today! Like-minded people doing good things. #SmallFarmLife

Photo of agenda cover for 2026 Oregon Small Farms Conference.

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Michael Heggen ❌👑 @michaelheggen.bsky.social · 19/02/2026

We learned about CO2 being a greenhouse gas when I was in elementary school in the 70s. I went to a private, right-leaning, evangelical Christian school, and even there I learned this. These shitbags are willfully committing crimes against humanity. They cannot plead ignorance.

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Michael Heggen ❌👑 @michaelheggen.bsky.social · 19/02/2026

Remember that thou art dust, and to dust thou shalt return.

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