I may not have peed on a bee......

So Sarah inspired me, I loved her story about Jaden and the bee.

I have learned lessons a bit more painful than Jaden's, if you ask me he got off pretty easy. So, here goes, the things I've learned bees really don't like. I guess I should start with the earliest lessons first...then you guys can all see how long it took me to learn, and maybe have some compassion for my poor mom who tried to teach me so many other lessons......

I'm not sure how old I was for the first two, but I was still living in Hawaii so I know I was younger than eight.

Lesson #1-

If you're walking in some ground cover that has little pretty yellow flowers that you know bees love because there are a million of them everywhere. DON'T GO BAREFOOT!!!!!! Now in all fairness, I lived in Hawaii, I went EVERYWHERE barefoot. Even in to the groundcover infested with little honey bees. Let's just say that a bee sting to your foot can hurt for a while, especially when you're just a kid.

Lesson #2-

We have all caught bees and put them in a glass jar with holes poked in the lid just to watch them, right? And I’m sure most of us were pretty cautious when we let them out figuring they might be fairly mad. Well, my bright idea one day....Why worry about using a jar? I also remember thinking, I wonder what it feels like to hold a bee??? Trust me when I say this, catching bees with your bare hands while they are just sitting on a pretty little flower doing their job is NOT a good idea. And let me say that just like alot of other things in life, I pushed this one too far. The first few bees didn't mind so much. Maybe I didn't hold them quite as long or maybe they were just in better moods. Or maybe it was that honey bees are little more patient than their relatives the big black bumble bees. Anyway, After catching a few and letting them I decided to keep on going, until I found the one bumble bee that didn't take to kindly to be contained in the dark cave that is a child's hands holding it prisoner. Yeah, it stung me, it hurt, and I cried.

And I still didn't learn....

Lesson #3-

Now I'm about 10, it's Halloween and I'm wearing my Cheerleading uniform for my lil. bro's football team. I was at my neighbor's house and we knew where there was an underground hornet nest. Well, we thought it would be fun to kick a little dirt in the hole, and yes once again, I pushed my luck..... I didn't just kick dirt in once then stand back and watch the show. I did it a few times, so did the other kids. Very shortly I ended up with a hornet up my sweatshirt, and one went up my skirt and got my leg.(wait, is it actually possible to fly up a cheer skirt, I mean there isn't much skirt there...)


Personally, I think those hornets remember me. Same house, a few years later we were pulling some small logs out of the woods and over to a great fire when once again, we found those darn hornets. This time I got stung on my scalp. Not that I was doing anything on purpose to the bees, that's why this is just an aside rather than a lesson.

Lesson #4-

Last Summer---Yes that means I was 25 and still hadn't learned the lesson that started so many years ago... I was at a softball tournament for my husband and it was a hot, sunny day. I was hanging out on the grass trying to not go crazy with the kids running in different directions and not listening to anything I had to say. Well, there was clover growing in this grass and just in case you didn't already know, bees love clover! Once again, I was barefoot...some people say old habits die hard but on this one I think it's one that never dies, I just keep lugging it along with me. Well, as I was strolling through the grass barefoot I didn't think to look where I was putting these big 'ol feet of mine, and yes I once again stepped on a bee. Obviously I didn't learn too much from lesson #1. This time the bee got me right in the arch of my foot. OUCH!!!! Trust me, that is a very tender spot!

So there it is. I used to think I had a pretty decent learning curve, looking back I'm totally rethinking that one. Or maybe I'm just stubborn. Who knows.... I do know that I really don't like being stung by a bee. I think it sorta goesback to that whole not liking shots thing....