# Pulling Earth #20: Cold, flies and bomber jackets

By [Pulling Earth](https://paragraph.com/@pulling-earth) · 2022-02-17

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![Fly. Jan 12, 2022 (the sketch has the wrong year ;) ).](https://storage.googleapis.com/papyrus_images/ad491e54d10844b9886bcac5c72b80d1d8fd85c1ab8aab0c170f823d9916b127.jpg)

Fly. Jan 12, 2022 (the sketch has the wrong year ;) ).

_Previously posted on_ [_pullingearth.substack.com_](http://pullingearth.substack.com)_. Jan 12, 2022._

It’s cold outside and in the house. I’m in the basement working with my winter jacket on. I check the windows to make sure they’re completely closed. That’s when I spot the fly in the window frame. Yes! It’s big and very dead. I need to sketch it—as part of my journey to emulate [Robert Hooke](https://www.thoughtco.com/robert-hooke-discovered-cells-1991327). I bring the insect over to my pad and pencils. I fiddle with it and it falls over on my page, upside down and at precarious angles. Finally, I get it where I want it. It has only one wing and fewer legs from my adjusting, but it’s still drawable. Delicate things—these flies.

I start sketching and immediately it becomes clear that I can’t breathe or the fly will pulse with my breath. No problem, I’ve practiced for this with my foray into yoga. Nothing a little [Wim Hof breathing can’t solve](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tybOi4hjZFQ). As I draw, the difference between the precision of the wing—its crisp lines—and the shaggy hairs of the head and body, are stark. The long hairs stop at the abdomen, almost as if it were wearing a furry bomber jacket. See, we both need our winter coats.

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*Originally published on [Pulling Earth](https://paragraph.com/@pulling-earth/pulling-earth-20-cold-flies-and-bomber-jackets)*