A ramble

2 May 2013

Cherry blossom, Spilimbergo

If someone was to ask me what I have been doing with my time I might be hard pressed to explain. It is not as though I have a job that I go to everyday. I have a job that flies in at me from out of the blue, sometimes unexpectedly or else expected for a long time.

I work hard for a few days and then the job is over. Sometimes I am blessed with a supervisor who will answer all my questions within a reasonable time and will pay me as the job is handed in, or soon after. Once in a long while I have a supervisor that does not answer my questions about the particular document and does not acknowledge they have received the job. I am perplexed about the second type of supervisor. I am glad to say that this does not happen very often.

Squeaking about having to pay rent or buy food is useless. Experience has taught me that folks become huffy and angry, as though the needy person maybe telling lies about living on the edge of a precipice, or out of a paper bag.

Once I told someone in charge of payments that I needed urgent funds for a scuba-diving vacation. It just happened to be true, but it was not a vacation, it was an overnight in a hotel so that I could take my first diving exam with about 20 other people. I was amazed to see this person go through the stack of papers on her desk and pull out my payment form, which was at the bottom. Payment was effected immediately. I still wonder about this. If you need money to eat, people will look the other way, but if you need to do something frivolous, people will go out of their way to help you out. What does this say about us as a species? I am still trying to work this one out.

So, lately I have decided to add other strings to my bow; hence the bees. So we have gone to our classes and bought two hives. Our bee man told us to be prepared, to fill our honey store boxes with frames. I see that the wax sheets are already pressed with hexagonal patterns so the bees only have to build out from the template. This saves them time and energy. While we were engaged in attaching the waxy sheets to the frames we were accompanied by three wild bees that came to watch. Unfortunately I forgot to check the direction they flew when they hurried away as the sun set.

When the bee man is ready for us we will pick up the two brood boxes with the new bees, we will bring them home and set them up in a field on a ledge created with rocks and found objects. The hives will be set against a cut stone wall, falling down at one end. Tall pine trees stand behind the wall, which will protect the hives from the fierce north wind. The entrance to the hives will face the sun's path across the sky.

I worry that our bees won't have much to eat, which is why I have been going around photographing anything that looks like a flower in bloom to make sure it is bee friendly. Our bees will make honey from hundreds of different varieties of flowers. I was surprised to find how tasty dandelion honey is, although it may smell like dead socks to some people. This reminds me of Jackfruit and how it can stink like a pig sty until you have tasted it and then all you can smell and taste is wonder and magic.

Perhaps life is like this.

You think you are living a difficult moment, and then something happens to lift the veil, change your perspective; the dark clouds become bright sunny skies, the rain a rainbow and a frown a smile.

Suddenly we are surrounded by friends, magic, love, miracles and bees.