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There are these little bugs called tent caterpillars that basically spin their cocoons over entire trees and kill them. They are quite the pests, but the trees are neat to photograph. I took a TON of photos, during all different times of the day. I've got a bunch that I like, but I'll space them out for you. :)

The rest

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I said that men fear affection because it is stronger than power and one must only have brute force to wield power but must have strength deeper than flesh to wield affection. For with affection comes great sorrow, the sorrow of inevitable death, but also with affection comes joy and peace that power can never give.

- Kate Horsley, Confessions of a Pagan Nun

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And my mind would not be pulled back from the visions of his death at the hands of druids, who would, according to their rule, drown him, strangle him, and break his skull, all three; or at the hands of monks who, it was said, would tormet their captive with severe pain by means of cutting and burning until he converted and then was blessed and allowed to die; or by the hands of a chieftain, who would do the task forthrightly with sword or club. How horrible to wish for the chieftain's crude and honest method, whereas the other two pretend that their cruelty is for a noble and righteous purpose.

- Kate Horsley, Confessions of a Pagan Nun

(no subject)

There is a story of [Saint Patrick's] journey across the sea to Britain. He came upon a set of rough boatmen and asked them to take him in their boats to his destination. I do not know if at this time Patrick knew that he was a saint, though he had declared himself bishop and everyone in the land had heard of him and knew his appearance. The mischievous men told Patrick that they would take him in their boat only after they had suckled him, and they showed him their bare chests. Blasphemed, Patrick refused, claiming that as a Christian he could not perform such an act. The men laughed so hard that they bent to the ground and then slapped Patrick between the shoulders as though he were a cousin. The leader of the boatsmen called out that if he had known that Patrick was a Christian, he would have met his demands without hesitation. He said, "Indeed, there is no fee at all for taking a Christian out of Ireland." Though this story is wicked and its truth uncertain, it gave Giannon and other druids much pleasure. Patrick himself record this occurrence as a sample of the power of Christianity.

- Kate Horsley, Confessions of a Pagan Nun

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I wonder if Eve's seduction of Adam was the result not of evil moral frailty but of her restlessness. Perhaps Adam was more easily amused and satisfied than Eve, who wanted more than the life of a child in a pretty garden.

- Kate Horsley, Confessions of a Pagan Nun

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Life in Kiribati has a strong Darwinian cast to it, and men, except for one brief glorious moment, are pretty useless from an evolutionary perspective and can therefore be allowed to wither, whereas women are hardwired to survive. The "weaker sex" moniker may apply to the bench press, but Nature isn't a gym rat.

- J. Maarten Troost, The Sex Lives of Cannibals

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Elder Jeb and Elder Brian were tenty-year-old Mormon missionaries from Utah. They wanted my soul.

"Come in," I said. "Do you want a cup of tea?"
"No, thanks."
"How about a cigarette?"
"No, really."
"Beer?"
"No, we can't."

Exactly. Caffeine, nicotine and alcohol are three very good reasons why I will never become Mormon.

- J. Maarten Troost, The Sex Lives of Cannibals

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Generally, I no longer engage in adrenaline rush-type activities that carry with them a strong likelihood of lifestyle-altering injury. I have been to a war zone. I have seen a mortar explode in alarming proximity to my being. I have fallen over a cliff. I have driven my mother's car at speeds well in excess of 100 mph. In the rain. I have, on one night in particular, consumed prodigious amounts of alcohol, magic mushrooms, and marijuana, all more or less at the same time, just to see what it would feel like. I have engaged in .... um, reckless personal behavior. After enough incidents and experiences, there came a moment when I realized that mortality is nothing to be trifled with. I suppose this is called aging.

- J. Maarten Troost, The Sex Lives of Cannibals

(no subject)

I think prime numbers are like life. They are very logical but you could never work out the rules, even if you spent all your time thinking about them.

- Mark Haddon, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time