One with Nature
Our screen printing shop backs onto a bird sanctuary and a preserved wetland area. It isn’t unusual for us to get wildlife in the shop. Once, a mother duck proudly walked in the back roll up door like she owned the place. She was leading her four chicks with her head held high. She wandered around the shop, under the presses, and then wandered back out. She came back regularly, sometimes to the front, sometimes to the back, and if the door was closed, she would pace around and peer in the windows like a customer waiting to pick up an order. We named her Karen, the fowl customer. That same year, a cricket moved in under one of our presses. Without fail at 8 p.m. while the night shift was printing it would start to sing… and so loud! I think the frame of the press acted like a sound box and would amplify his tones, which is maybe why he liked it there. To add to the intrigue, he would sing in time with the rotation of the machine. The machine would raise, then lower, then chirp chirp. Raise, then lower, then chirp chirp… all night long. We named him Jiminy and he lived under the press for nearly two months until one day he disappeared. We speculate that perhaps he was eaten by Karen the duck. Watch the video above of Karen the duck and one of her chicks trying the front door one morning. — Matthew Pierrot, GetBOLD – T-shirt Printing and Embroidery