It was frozen in the snow on our very crunch-under-foot snowy road. I should have photographed it. I didn't. I did dig it out and hold in the palm of my hand while we walked home. I have always imagined that with a little warmth of the sun, these little dead things could be rejuvenated. Okay, I know that's utterly ridiculous, but I am the one given to flights of fancy in this marriage. It's a balance.
The bee didn't move on the walk home. But I held it gently and kept peeking at it to see if even my body warmth could stir it. And then suddenly, it moved. SERIOUSLY. One rear leg almost imperceptibly started to move just a bit. I thought at first it might have just been the wintry breeze when I opened my lightly closed fist to look at the bee in my palm. But no, it really moved again, and then again.
So I brought it in the house, put it on the lid of a plastic cream cheese container and then outside in the sun. The bee moved more and more. I added a few blades of something green to give it something to move toward. It responded with vigor. Then I gently put it on the ground. Soon it was gone.
The bee lives.Roger is half way toward the absolute end of chemotherapy. Only seven more days to go. We continue to celebrate in the utter beauty of the planet.
I bow down to you, Robin. How wonderful that is - and how wonderful that you took the time and energy to do it.
ReplyDeleteThat was beautiful
ReplyDeleteHope . . . in furry, flighty form.
ReplyDeleteYou make me think of Emily Dickinson, Robin!
ReplyDeleteThe Bee is not afraid of me.
I know the Butterfly.
The pretty people in the Woods
Receive me cordially --
Astonishing, the tiny graceful leg movements of the bee you and Roger found, coming back to life.
Celebration of beauty is good medicine, too.
Here in Alaska we had the Eagle Lady. Down there we now have the Bee Lady. :) Knock 'em dead Roger!!!
ReplyDeleteNeat story. Insects are amazing! So are you two.
ReplyDeleteI've read about a certain type of caterpillar that freezes solid over winter and then thaws in the spring and comes back to life.
ReplyDeleteNice pick me up story for any time of the year.
A sign of things to come! Prayers for Roger and encouragement from a bee!
ReplyDeleteThe insect world long ago saw the wisdom of KISS. Easier maintenance.
ReplyDeleteThat is very cool though. Like the flys who hang on the windows of my garage. Frozen hard at night, but as the sun hits each window as it moves east to west, they begin to twitch and shake and finally fly away to look for ways to annoy me.
Wow! Robin, the bee whisperer.
ReplyDeleteBee-yu-ti-ful story! It was generous to have taken the time to revive the little guy. You are building up some seriously good karma. :-)
ReplyDelete"It's alive!"
ReplyDeleteYou've shown that hope for a good outcome can lead to a good outcome.
ReplyDeleteWe hope for a good outcome for Roger. :)
I've been stung by stepping on a dead bee, so it's lucky you didn't get zotted, that would have killed it. Good that you saved its little life!
ReplyDeleteOk, miracle worker, when i have another bout of serious illness kj is sending for you! roger is lucky to have such a healer in his midst. that great love of life and willful determination worked - i am sooo impressed!
ReplyDeletegreat story! Who knows? Next time it might be a Wooly Mammoth
ReplyDeleteWonderful story!!!
ReplyDeleteNICE..........and so FEW people would take that effort for this beautiful small creature...... It bodes well for Roger.
ReplyDeleteI LOVE LOVE LOVE this post. For all that it says about you and Roger and mother nature but also because it reminds me of when I taught high school one year. I taught child development but in the home ec room and caught a couple of my boys catching September bees coming in the window and putting them in the freezer. I scolded them roundly for engineering precisely this event so as soon as i read the first line of your post I laughed because I knew where it was going. Reduce, renew, revive!
ReplyDeleteBees are amazing creatures. My s-i-l has about 250 hives for his tree crops and is teaching me about the bees. So interesting.
ReplyDeleteGood Karma is in the air around you, Robin.
I'd been saving the countdown series to read in full. You've caught me sneaking in ahead of schedule because I just have to ask whether those are bits of plantain leaf you've used to inspire the bee.
ReplyDeleteAre those bits of plantain leaf you've used to inspire the bee?
Around here, we use plantain to make a poultice to treat ... bee sting!
That's why I had to ask.
Today I must venture out for a bottle of L. Mawby, a local sparkling white, so that I may properly raise my glass after the last nasty pills go down!!
GOOD ON YOU BOTH, and on Bonsai, too!