The Birds and the Bees

After three days of hunkering down inside I’m ready for warmth again. What a strange year this has been and I look to the birds, the bees and the flowers for an explanation. They silently go about their days not revealing a hint. Bees are funny that way.

I have always felt very spiritual around them. They require you to be calm, clean and quiet or one will give its life to send you on your way. Once stung, you should always leave as the dying bee gives off pheromones that smell like a ripe banana. The message to the other bees is, “Danger over here! Sting!!”  Removing yourself within a cloak of smoke usually helps them get back to the business at hand – the hive and whatever shape you just left it in. I was told never get on your horse with anger or attitude and it is even stricter with bees.

The return of the birds and the toads, on the other hand requires no such attention to detail. Though it is only in the 60s, Alice and I are ending our day on the back deck. The torrents over the past three days have filled the gullies and the toads are performing, something from The Trans-Siberian Orchestra I think. It is raucous and joyful though I wonder how they survived the recent chill. I must confess, this is the first time I have ever turned on the furnace in June. Luckily, many of my customers at the store admitted to doing the same, or firing up the pellet or wood stove.

I’m not sure where birds find comfort. I imagine the hummingbirds, after a long flight from Mexico, had a few ribald comments for the climate they found themselves in.  Tonight the assorted crowd is mostly pissed off and complaining about the sodden, empty feeders. “Hey don’t you guys eat berries and stuff this time of year?? Those things are just Bear treats!”

Like a bee, I have left the hive and am foraging around my yard, marveling at every new bloom and squashing through the soggy lawn. The good news is there are no annoying insects and I don’t have to water anything. The light is soft and yellow at this time of night; giving a golden cast to the hives. Time to return to my feathered nest for the night.

(AND YOU THOUGHT THIS WAS GOING TO BE ABOUT SEX, RIGHT???)