Reason for Excitement!

The last thing I got excited about happened a couple of days ago. There were two reasons I was thrilled! Both reasons had to do with what I was about to view. Who knew that this would combine my love for nature and also Segway to assist my grieving process?

My husband beckoned me to the back yard, with a “Hey, come and see what’s outside!” We strode out to our windbreak. These evergreens were planted roughly thirty years ago with the help of our children. “Look up there and listen!” The air was electric with sound. Far above our heads, near the top of one of the Norway Spruce was a large ball of bees! Initially, there were a few buzzing about, as if they were magically protecting the swarm of bees clumped together.

Bees were buzzing with excitement!

We had not had a bee cluster on our property for ages. A deciduous tree, a maple, happened to be the hosting location for the earlier swarm. This first colony of bees was lower on the tree. Having young children at the time, we thought it would be best to locate the bees elsewhere. We knew a beekeeper, so we had them collect those bees.

Times are different now. Our pollinators, such as various insects and birds, are needing a bit of help to maintain and grow enough food to feed the world. We recently decided to plant our property with a Conservation Reserve Program for pollinators. As manmade petrochemicals are quite harmful to our pollinators, we opted for an organic practice. This is the first year the plantings are blooming nicely!

Here are some practices to help solve our pollinator issues: https://pollinator.org/7things?gclid=CjwKCAjwivemBhBhEiwAJxNWN99pl-0xiPWSgDvORWpOjk7PzzSr1DKJfGjg8A8pn-2JTbValmZKURoCtGMQAvD_BwE

Incidentally, our county wildlife biologist told us that evergreens “attract bees and wasps in late summer and fall… because of the sugary sap that the evergreens produce. The sap provides vital food for them right before winter.” Additionally, I read that spruce tree sap can help honey bees to make “propolis” which seals cracks in their hive honeycomb. (Interestingly, bees provide the perfect antidote of honey for a sting: Sweetest Antidotes!)

My Second Reason for Excitement!

Of course, the first reason I was excited was because of the bees. The second reason also had to do with the bees. These insects inadvertently reminded me of a philosophy that served our son well. One of his favorite songs had a phrase, “just be glad to be here.” He shortened it to “be glad to be”. Our son dealt with pancreatic cancer for seven years past his diagnosis. Seven years! Plus he had symptoms two years prior to his diagnosis. He did have good years during that period, but he also suffered a lot. What got him through was this attitude that he was truly glad to be here, no matter what.

I was thinking of parents, such as us, who are left behind by a child. So many can have quite a difficult time in not having their child or children in the earthly realm. I decided if our son could have pancreatic “c” word and still be glad to be, then he could be my role model. Neither pancreatic “c” word nor child loss is painless. However, with the attitude of just “be glad to be”, it can be made bearable.

Our bees gave me a new way to word our phrase.

Just bee glad to be!

Here are a couple of my popular posts which summarize some of my grief philosophies that have guided me through the rough times: ARTS A Bridge To Life and Radical Acceptance. May you bee glad to be as well!

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