David Bole
boleigh.bsky.social
David Bole
@boleigh.bsky.social
Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Foresters. Civil Servant (UK). I like fountain pens and equity
Merry Christmas
December 25, 2025 at 1:14 AM
Reposted by David Bole
Tonight Kertasníkir (Candle Stealer), the last of Iceland's 13 Yule Lads, comes down from the mountains. He steals candles (that used to be made from animal fat) and eats them.

Children leave their shoes out in the window, he gives the good ones a small gift, the bad ones get a potato.
December 23, 2025 at 11:58 PM
An early Christmas present from (some of) the kids #inkvent :)
November 30, 2025 at 9:46 PM
Reposted by David Bole
"I DON'T NEED YOU TO FUCKING REWRITE WHAT I'VE JUST WRITTEN!"
October 28, 2025 at 10:46 AM
Reposted by David Bole
I wanted to get a video of this ghost crab but every time I got close to their hole they scuttled back in, so I tried getting clever with it. I made a little sandcastle and shoved my phone into it, hit record, and walked away. Crab was VERY suspicious of this addition to their environment.
September 19, 2025 at 12:30 PM
This is not autumn. This is drought stress. Lincolnshire, UK
August 25, 2025 at 9:28 AM
Reposted by David Bole
You can add up all the enjoyable pursuits of LLMs and the work productivity hacks and none of them, separately or together, will be more important than AI’s ecological costs or political disruption.

“We” is more important here.
August 23, 2025 at 7:02 PM
Reposted by David Bole
Not even 9am. So far on Radio 6, the news bulletins have featured a mother saying her daughters aren't safe because of asylum seekers, a Tory politician lambasting Labour for crossing numbers & Badenoch encouraging councils to lodge legal challenges against hotels. An endless stream of hateful bile.
August 21, 2025 at 7:35 AM
Reposted by David Bole
Rule 78: Put Street Trees Almost Everywhere

Street trees do it all, they...
Cut crashes by 45%
Raise home values 9%
Boost retail sales 12%
Clean air, cool streets, absorb stormwater, improve health, and make places more inviting

Walkable City Rules www.amazon.com/Walkable-Cit...
August 17, 2025 at 2:45 AM
And there’s thermally modified wood from our very own www.vastern.co.uk which does well against biodegradation in our climate and looks ace.
August 2, 2025 at 8:56 AM
Reposted by David Bole
Nietzsche abhors a vacuum

www.worldofmoose.com/products/nie...
August 1, 2025 at 10:03 AM
Reposted by David Bole
The increasing number of extreme climate events – floods, wildfires, hurricanes, etc – has NOT raised awareness of the threat posed by climate collapse. Instead, people change their idea of normal: the “boiling frog effect”.

But “before and after” data can help.
www.theguardian.com/news/2025/ju...
‘Boiling frog’ effect makes people oblivious to threat of climate crisis, shows study
Research shows people’s response to binary data could drive more effective ways of communicating gravity of crisis
www.theguardian.com
July 24, 2025 at 4:47 PM
Reposted by David Bole
The earth is big. Water is powerful. Fire too. Also viruses.

Exponential growth can take things from tiny warnings to unmanageable problems pretty darn quick.

The human is tiny and 100% dependent on the living planet.
July 9, 2025 at 2:51 PM
Reposted by David Bole
Part of the Palace of Westminster through trees.
July 9, 2025 at 3:54 PM
Reposted by David Bole
From my 3rd evening out on the ile-de-re watching a Long-eared Owl hunt I felt like I was learning its habits - it felt very special. In the distance I could hear it's young calling out for food. I am stood on the edge of a cycle path next to a vineyard. #Frenchbirds
July 3, 2025 at 9:59 AM
Travelling by #train in the UK is basically a bitch. Staff at Doncaster saw me running down the platform to make a connection from a delayed London train and still signalled the driver to close the doors, then shrugged as my Friday evening slipped away. #joy
May 23, 2025 at 5:52 PM
Reposted by David Bole
Excellent thread summarizing carbon colonialism and the mess that is carbon credits.
May 18, 2025 at 6:43 AM
Reposted by David Bole
Even accepting the premise that AI produces useful writing (which no one should), using AI in education is like using a forklift at the gym. The weights do not actually need to be moved from place to place. That is not the work. The work is what happens within you.
April 15, 2025 at 2:56 AM
@lner.co.uk thank you for holding the 18:02 from York so that I could get my connection. Very much appreciated
May 1, 2025 at 5:15 PM
Reposted by David Bole
I’m thrilled to announce that my book ‘Let Sleeping Cats Lie’, has been shortlisted for the CLiPPA, the UK’s leading award for published poetry for children.

It’s an honour to be on the shortlist with such brilliant poets.

The overall winner will be announced on 20 June at the National Theatre.
April 23, 2025 at 3:08 PM
Reposted by David Bole
It’s International Haiku Poetry Day today apparently so here are a few haiku with which to start the day.
April 17, 2025 at 8:49 AM
Reposted by David Bole
A reader (@paulobro.bsky.social‬) points out that crowds don't gather to watch a building being constructed, whose stages are slow and steady and undramatic.
But thousands might assemble to see its demolition.
It's a great way of understanding how Trump commands the world's attention.
April 14, 2025 at 6:20 PM
Reposted by David Bole
I do not want your app. I do not want to register. I do not want your newsletter. And, from the bottom of my heart, I do not want your notifications. Please just let me buy what I need without entering into a long-term relationship with you, you freaky fucks.
Everyone wants me to install their infernal apps! Ugh! Who will rid us of this plague of apps?!!!
April 14, 2025 at 8:38 AM