Bee Stings

While visiting a neighbor's garden, he showed me his beehive. He was just demonstrating how friendly the bees were by putting his bare hand near their entrance/exit at the bottom. That's when i felt a bee buzzing in my hair.

I tried to gently shoo the bee out of my hair, but that only made her mad. When one bee stung me on the scalp, i started running away from the hive, but i could feel a couple of bees still in my hair. Another sting on my neck. Then the owner of the beehive started chasing me and swatting bees (and me!) One more sting on my arm, and i hurried away from that garden as fast as possible.

I could be mad at the bees. I could be mad at the beekeeper. I could be mad at myself for not just standing still. Or i could simply feel the next-day itch of each sting. Itching is what's happening in the present moment. The bees have come and gone. The stings have come and gone.

I'm going to look for the anti-itch gel.

Pollinating

Walking through a London park, i saw dandelions hiding among perennial sage. The cheery yellow flowers made me smile, and when i looked more closely the little bee made me smile even more.

What is it that you want to pollinate in your life? Cheerfulness? Or stinging comments? What do you want more of in your life?

I keep angling toward happiness. My particular flavor tends to feel more like cheerfulness. How does happiness feel to you?

Acid Soil or Acid Tongue

Now that the garden chores are slowing to a crawl, it's time to do some annual maintenance. Today, it's time to sweeten the lawn and gardens with lime.

 Here in New England, we typically have acid soil, due to pine needles and acid rain blowing east from the smokestacks of the West and the Midwest.

Certain plants love acid soil and grow well here in New England--ferns, pachysandra, begonias. Certain weeds also tell us that the soil is acid--dandelions, stinging nettles, lambs quarters, and sheep sorrel, among others.

Lime is slow-acting and eventually "sweetens" acid soil.

We too can sweeten our own acidic and acerbic tendencies by practicing gratitude and kindness. Feeling like a sourpuss doesn't really feel good anyway. As much as we might love to zing out a tart reply when our feelings are hurt, a zinger is meant to sting the other person into recognizing us. Speaking harshly only pushes people away.

Let's sweeten our own inner soil with some gratitude right now. Name 3 things you are grateful for.

That's the way to grow friendliness.