Bees, giving us good lessons

This morning, quite early, I was in my office doing some writing. As sure as I am sitting here, someone knocked on my wall. I heard it as clear as can be.

I have no explanation. It wasn’t like the “shave and a haircut” knock. Nope. Just a plain old thud, thud, thud.

There is probably some logical reason behind this. But for the life of me, I cannot think of one. It was as if someone was right behind my desk, knocking on the wall.

It is these little happenings that make life so wonderfully interesting. Most of our days are spent in the common happenings. Those chores. This responsibility, and that. The things we do, to get things done.

But every so often, something out of the ordinary occurs. It is enough to remind us that this world is a pretty large place. Sometimes it looms. Other times, it delights.

Take for instance, bees.

We used to have a Bee Farmer. He kept several colonies here. Last fall, he took those bees to California. He never brought any back. Perhaps those black and gold buzzers found a nice beach house on the ocean and took up surfing. Whatever the case. We miss those bees.

But those little creatures are one example of this amazing place. They form an incredible community of little…. well…. Worker Bees. They communicate and coordinate and do all the things they do to keep this planet well stocked in our food sources. Pollination and all.

(Hey, sidebar. What do you call a country named after me? Polly-nation.)

Anyway. Honey bees communicate with one another by dancing. And. Honey bees must gather nectar from two million flowers to make one pound of honey. That’s a big bunch of collecting and a whole lot of dancing. Magic.

I just read a story recently about all this crazy goodness. There was a woman who lived in England. Shropshire, to be exact. Her name was Margaret Bell and she kept bees for many, many years. In June of 1994, Margaret passed away. What happened next is amazing to me. Soon after her funeral, mourners gathered and were astounded. They witnessed hundreds of bees, all of them gathering, landing, and settling on the corner of the street right where she had lived.

I think they were paying their respects The bees stayed for an hour before buzzing off over the rooftops.

Around every corner of our lives, amazing stories are just waiting to be seen. Like the bee. And just the name of them is a reminder to us.

Be.

That is the best we can do in every moment. Be. That knock on the wall started all of this. Putting me in the mind of being. Exactly who we are, where we are. May we all find the magic to dance like the bees.

==========

“The moment you doubt whether you can fly, you cease for ever to be able to do it.”
― J. M. Barrie, Peter Pan

===========

“The world is full of magic things, patiently waiting for our senses to grow sharper.”
― W.B. Yeats

===========

“If the bee disappeared off the face of the earth, man would only have four years left to live.”
― Maurice Maeterlinck, The Life of the Bee

===========