Oh Bountious Fevered Spring!
It is springtime! We who have reached the age of sentiment --what, 1 day old and above?-- feel that lovely return of a loving Earth. Our kitchen walls --hangings and bouquets-- look like this:
Aggressive Carpenter Bees come out of their wooden tunnels and coat their backs with pollen, to ease our minds about them stinging anybody very much. Darth Vader could've used some yellow pollen on him.
As you may have already surmised, I have no idea what my subject is here --except the gentle, enigmatic possibilities of springtime. It is a time when movies let up on violence a little and concentrate on scripts that have characters chewing each others clothes off. Even martial arts films settle down to combats like Feng Shui --oh no? you haven't seen how I practice it-- and the devastating discipline of Fukurettsura (ふくれっ面 =Japanese for pouting, sulking). I am really good at it. Bullies don't want to mess with me.
So, let's repair to nature, rapidly encroaching around the barn. Here we see a wild rose climbing a plum tree --a view that incriminates our impatience with sweet fruits-- with barbed flowers that protect, judge, and remand us into the custody of our imaginations.
To all, a beauteous, gladsome spring!
Such a vibrant exciting time.
ReplyDeleteOn this side of the world I am enjoying cooler days (and nights) and arboreal fireworks. And longing for rain.
Ah EC, I'm always amazed that I experience an inverted temporal mirror image of your seasons. This planet, this garden growing around its star never ceases to amaze me. Happy autumn!
DeleteWe NEED a video of you Feng Sui-ing, Geo. Or Fukurettsura-ing. Either one would be fine :)
ReplyDeleteJust a day or two ago I saw a video online of a carpenter bee excavating around a nail in a brick wall. Eventually, using a great deal of energy and persistence, the bee forced the nail completely out of the hole. It was amazing. I was tired out just watching him.
Happy spring to you and Norma!
O_Jenny, I looked at Youtube for that heroic Carpenter Bee --and will continue to do so-- but mostly found tutorials on how to kill the creatures. I don't mind them so much. It took them 35 years to make our potting shed get rickety. Now we've solved the problem with a stumpery (a garden feature similar to a rockery but made from parts of dead trees) at the back of our property. These beautiful bees thrive there. Happy spring!
DeleteWell, Geo., it's a good thing you mentioned your search. I went to find the video and discovered it was a MASON bee, not a carpenter bee, and as you probably already know, they are not the same thing, just as a mason is not a carpenter. But here's the video, because it's still interesting to watch!
Deletehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uFnv0VcSmGk
Jenny, I went to the site you kindly furnished and was amazed by Mason Bee. Recommend reader copy and paste and turn up sound so you can hear the photographer's encouragement.
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ReplyDeleteRegrettably, I had to eliminate your catalogue of various company and delights. Your preamble,
Delete("Welcome to Mumbaihotcollection.com, home of the finest Mumbai escorts in Mumbai area. Our Mumbai escorts are the finest Mumbai has to offer and will provide an unforgettable Mumbai Escort experience!"), reminded me of my younger days as a starship pilot for the Bombay-Pleiades Navigation Co. --900 lightyears round-trip and very lucrative. However, when your country replaced Bombay with Mumbai and made everybody move there I lost interest. But thanks for offering me "escorts" in response to my post about springtime
LOL Geo.
DeleteAnd a beautiful and joyous spring to you as well. Thanks for sharing those marvelous photos. They are lovely and the pollen laden bee is nearly hypnotic!
ReplyDeleteDear Tom, Once again I must emphasize that Norma never uses special lenses, but actually gets THAT close to her subjects. Sometimes I call it risky, sometimes nervy, but really it's just her gentle way with nature. I'll convey your excellent compliment to her. Thanks!
DeleteHello Geo; ".....I have no idea what my subject is here....." Perhaps it is simply the experience of whatever springtime you were passing through when you wrote this post. More and more I am realising that it is the experience that is offered to us which is important. The words are just the wrappings. [Never watch martial arts films!!]
ReplyDeleteHello Tom! Your thought on accepting the experience is quite on the mark --recurring renewal through which our temporal path passes. Agree also on martial arts films. Last one, I watched part of with wife and daughter,"Crouching Dragon Hidden Something or Other", and excused myself early when it showed otherwise very proper ladies running up bamboo stalks and kicking everybody.
DeleteI am happy for you and the other denizens of the Central Coast. Really I am, even though I'm looking at a new 2" of snow and 17 degrees.
ReplyDeleteMike, our Daughter lives in Illinois and sometimes sunshine is just a dreamy memory, but she's 10x tougher than I am now --you probably are too. Stay warm please.
DeleteYes, Geo, wonderful spring is here also. After looking at stick trees for almost six months, the green is glorious and the pinks are perfect. Everyday, more beauty appears.
ReplyDeleteEveryday, when I go out on my old wood deck to take in all the outside beauty, I am greeted by our two resident Carpenter Bees. They can be annoying but they have been here for years and have made a hole here and there, but nothing that is not fixable. Poor guys, they have no place else to go. All my neighbors decks are composite.
Dear Arleen, I've heard only the female Carpenter Bees sting. Male workers don't. When I encounter them, I say "Hi guys", hoping they are guys, but too shy to check.
DeleteFor some reason, I did not think that they were stinging bees, and were just annoying and big and hungry for wood. Now that I know better, I will have to take more caution.
DeleteIt's always a good idea to move cautiously around bees, but from my gardening years I learned the male Carpenter bees don't generally sting. They may fly aggressively at any possible intruder. The real stingers are female --as a last, and quite effective, defense against hive intruders. If the bees don't bother you, and just go about their business, they don't consider you a threat.
DeleteIf spring ever comes I will welcome it with you.
ReplyDeleteThanks Emma. Let me know and I'll assist with a toast.
DeleteHappy Spring to you, Geo and Norma.
ReplyDeleteShe and I wish you the same, Bruce. Thanks.
DeleteI love bunnies, wild roses, and plum trees - - but I can't exactly warm up to the Carpenter Bees. I'm overwhelmed with them this year...and they are indeed AGGRESSIVE. I'm getting too old to run from them, Geo.....
ReplyDeleteI've definitely "reached the age of sentiment".
In my considerable experience, dear Jon, Carpenter Bees will buzz me til I run indoors and calmly tell Norma, "Those big f*****s are after me!" Then she goes out with her little telephone-camera and takes photos mere inches away from them. I suspect she has a deal with them to get me jogging --but I declare I have raced from their stumpery at a pace that would do justice to a high school track star. It is out of sentiment I forgive her.
DeleteI believe your sweet wife must be some sort of nature whisperer. Only someone uniquely attuned to our fellow critters could get so close to them without causing a "fight-or-flight" reaction. It's quite an attribute. One I suspect you and she share.
ReplyDeleteHappy spring to you, too! The visible pollen here is finally on the wane, and the temperatures are definitely on the rise. I expect it won't be long before we hit the nineties. But for now? It's glorious!
May all of your weeds be wildflowers, gardener dude.
Susan, I'm sure you're right about Norma and wild things. She keeps things calm and orderly among feral creatures --mainly. I still gnaw holes in the couch, but she's working on me.
DeleteI like Feng Shui. It's a wonderful concept! I don't follow all rules; things may depend on one's age, environment,economic and personal status. I take from it what works for me, helps my mood, my energy, and my well-being.
ReplyDeleteIt does indeed encourage the life-force in one's house. Norma is our practitioner here. I learn from her.
DeleteHey, Geo! I enjoyed your post, but I have to admit I'm in awe of Norma's work with a phone camera! That carpenter bee loaded with pollen is wonderful! We've been having snow showers in recent days and cold wind and rain. I take hope in our increasing daylight as a sign that spring can't be stopped, and it will warm up here (maybe even this afternoon!) I only forced myself out the door yesterday to take out our garbage and recycling bins. Terry is off in Henderson, Nevada house hunting. With the wonders of FaceTime, I can view houses with him! The probability of moving is becoming very real. Wishing you and Norma another glorious spring day!
ReplyDeleteWow, that's quite a relocation, Louise. My brother moved to Nevada 40 years ago and stayed there. He loves the attention the state gives to nature, to yardangs and petroglyphs --all of which you'll find around Lake Mead. I hear Henderson has a hotel with a rolleycoaster. Do keep me posted --you're in for adventures!
DeleteI will keep you posted ~ If I survive the move! LOL No luck on the house front yet.
DeleteThanks! Good luck!
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