Korsakov grabbed my
attention that day in Red Clover Rock Garden, and it wasn't exactly the flight of the
bumblebee either! Korsakov for the sake of this story, is a honeybee in flight! A very
aggressive honeybee, with lots of other honeybee pals! None are really musically inclined
though.First, before I tell of my
adventures, let me give you a little history about Red Clover Rock Garden. It is
surrounded by thick, lush red clover, which explains the name. Also, around the edge of
the garden, daises, buttercups, brilliant yellow birdsfoot (or trefoil), yellow hawkweed
and many other wild flowers grow. Right next door to Red Clover Rock Garden is Black
Raspberry Patch, Spring Water Pond (the greatest frog and fish hotel around) and Five-Acre
Meadows. The area has a bountiful supply of pollen for the two hives of honeybees, which
are located a short distance from the garden. A friend of ours, whom we allowed to put the
hives up near our garden, harvests the honey and sell it to local stores.Now my adventure with
Korsakov begins. The other day as I was weeding in the garden, a honeybee in flight stung
me in the face! It felt like I had been kicked in the face by a horse! To top it off, not
only did it sting me, but it also chased me, even though its stinger was already stuck in
my face. By the time I got to the house, my face was quite swollen. I took the stinger
out, put an ice pack on my wound, and medicine on my face. I then went back to work. The
only satisfaction I had was realizing that the honeybee was no longer! Sorry! He was gone
to that great Hive in the Sky! (g) I guess I just don't like getting stung! A few days
later, I was working in the garden planting a second crop of beans when I got stung again!
This time on the opposite cheek and again I was chased after being stung. My husband came
to the garden because he saw me jumping up and down and heard me yelling, "Ouch!
Ouch! Ouch!" When he got to me, he pulled the stinger out, but got stung on the arm
while helping me. And he was chased. I never realized that honeybees were so aggressive. I
was always told to just hold still and they would not bother me. Well! Try holding still
with a bee in your face! It isn't one of those "feel good" experiences.Later that afternoon, we
went back to the garden and looked around. The whole perimeter of the garden was full of
honeybees! We had been literally surrounded that morning. The potential for getting stung
was great. Needless to say, we now have a few less wild flowers around the garden. I may
even have to change the name of Red Clover Rock Garden to Rock Garden. This would be
appropriate considering it has plenty of rocks in it. However, because I want the bees to
have lots of pollen, I planted some wild flowers around the pond, which is a greater
distance from the garden. In the meantime, though...I have my trusty weed whacker handy
when I work around the garden. I definitely don't want to be surrounded again!Even though, for awhile, I
didn't want to go back to the garden, I didn't give up. I keep at it because it is what I
love to do. Also, the rewards are endless. It provides good exercise, a sense of
satisfaction, the enjoyment of being outdoors, and of course something tasty at harvest
time.The whole honeybee episode
reminds me of how we are all surrounded by potential harm in this life. I'm sure life has
dealt many of you some pretty potent stings. Some experiences we can prepare for, but
others are like the sting of the honeybee. It is something that comes at us full force,
stinging us right in the face! We never see it coming or even expect it. We hurt or maybe
at times we are even in shock because of the sting.So, what do we do about
these stings that come out of nowhere? I know what I do. I do the same thing that I did
when the honeybee stung me. I put the ice pack and medicine on my face. What I mean is
this: God has the answers for the stings that we take in life. He can heal the wound. I
pray and read God's word and ask Him to sooth the sting. Some stings may take a short time
to heal and others a long time. But whatever life deals us, we can be sure that God is
always there, waiting to take the stinger out and give us a healing touch. Hopefully we
won't just give up, but get on with enjoying what God has planned for our life. When we
are His children the rewards are endless.
First, before I tell of my adventures, let me give you a little history about Red Clover Rock Garden. It is surrounded by thick, lush red clover, which explains the name. Also, around the edge of the garden, daises, buttercups, brilliant yellow birdsfoot (or trefoil), yellow hawkweed and many other wild flowers grow. Right next door to Red Clover Rock Garden is Black Raspberry Patch, Spring Water Pond (the greatest frog and fish hotel around) and Five-Acre Meadows. The area has a bountiful supply of pollen for the two hives of honeybees, which are located a short distance from the garden. A friend of ours, whom we allowed to put the hives up near our garden, harvests the honey and sell it to local stores. Now my adventure with Korsakov begins. The other day as I was weeding in the garden, a honeybee in flight stung me in the face! It felt like I had been kicked in the face by a horse! To top it off, not only did it sting me, but it also chased me, even though its stinger was already stuck in my face. By the time I got to the house, my face was quite swollen. I took the stinger out, put an ice pack on my wound, and medicine on my face. I then went back to work. The only satisfaction I had was realizing that the honeybee was no longer! Sorry! He was gone to that great Hive in the Sky! (g) I guess I just don't like getting stung! A few days later, I was working in the garden planting a second crop of beans when I got stung again! This time on the opposite cheek and again I was chased after being stung. My husband came to the garden because he saw me jumping up and down and heard me yelling, "Ouch! Ouch! Ouch!" When he got to me, he pulled the stinger out, but got stung on the arm while helping me. And he was chased. I never realized that honeybees were so aggressive. I was always told to just hold still and they would not bother me. Well! Try holding still with a bee in your face! It isn't one of those "feel good" experiences. Later that afternoon, we went back to the garden and looked around. The whole perimeter of the garden was full of honeybees! We had been literally surrounded that morning. The potential for getting stung was great. Needless to say, we now have a few less wild flowers around the garden. I may even have to change the name of Red Clover Rock Garden to Rock Garden. This would be appropriate considering it has plenty of rocks in it. However, because I want the bees to have lots of pollen, I planted some wild flowers around the pond, which is a greater distance from the garden. In the meantime, though...I have my trusty weed whacker handy when I work around the garden. I definitely don't want to be surrounded again! Even though, for awhile, I didn't want to go back to the garden, I didn't give up. I keep at it because it is what I love to do. Also, the rewards are endless. It provides good exercise, a sense of satisfaction, the enjoyment of being outdoors, and of course something tasty at harvest time. The whole honeybee episode reminds me of how we are all surrounded by potential harm in this life. I'm sure life has dealt many of you some pretty potent stings. Some experiences we can prepare for, but others are like the sting of the honeybee. It is something that comes at us full force, stinging us right in the face! We never see it coming or even expect it. We hurt or maybe at times we are even in shock because of the sting. So, what do we do about these stings that come out of nowhere? I know what I do. I do the same thing that I did when the honeybee stung me. I put the ice pack and medicine on my face. What I mean is this: God has the answers for the stings that we take in life. He can heal the wound. I pray and read God's word and ask Him to sooth the sting. Some stings may take a short time to heal and others a long time. But whatever life deals us, we can be sure that God is always there, waiting to take the stinger out and give us a healing touch. Hopefully we won't just give up, but get on with enjoying what God has planned for our life. When we are His children the rewards are endless.