Bees, Dogs and other Environmental Threats . . .

What the label means to me...

I love my dog. However, I am afraid of dogs in general having had a bad experience at age four with a cocker spaniel jumping up on me and knocking me down. Henceforth I would cower in cars, refusing to get out when there was a dog as greeter. I just never told our dogs of my fears. Little did they know over the years that they could have ruled the roost so to speak, with an iron paw and a loud bark.

 

I am also afraid of bees, well anything that buzzes. I don’t kill anything either which puts me at a distinct disadvantage. Neither do I swat, kick, or try to scare anything away. I don’t get out of moving vehicles anymore though; so I think I’m getting this phobia under some control. Right?.

 

I once sat in my bedroom upstairs, towel across the space between the floor and door ( old house) waiting for my husband to get home when a bee got in the kitchen as I let the dog outside. When he got home and found me there, his only comment was: “What did you think the bee would do, find it’s way upstairs, drop to the floor and crawl under the door?” In hindsight pretty funny. Not.

 

I don’t care. Laugh if you will. I still remember the day sitting in the car at a publicity photo shoot for my husband’s band. We were out at an old abandoned railway trestle and it was scorching hot out and me sitting in the car with the windows rolled up, waiting. Sweat rolling off me I sat and watched a bee land on the hood of the car, walk up to the window and shimmy itself down through the ventilation grate…Next thing I knew it was squirming through the inside grate trying to get into the car. Me? Oh, I was standing outside with the door closed watching fascinated.

 

Don’t get me wrong, I am an environmentalist and love animals. As such, I advocate for a proper balance between humans and the various natural systems on which we all, human and non-human, depend. I have spoken out publicly in support of our natural environment and the sustainable management of its resources through changes in public policy and individual behaviors. I have worked with government agencies and citizen groups alike to assure problems are addressed and new technologies are both developed and used.

 

I just like to do all this from inside a building or in front of a TV, petting my dog, not tree hugging in the great outdoors. Bees you know…

Reviews

[redflutterby]

I feel your pain. I have a scar on my lower lip from being nipped by a bulldog when i was 3. I've also been stung more then once and son of a bee does that hurt!!! But thus far my fears haven't kept me inside much although i will leave the tree hugging to others..that bark really irritates my tender pale skin. :-)

[Samuel Dickens]

I suppose this is a case of those boxes we sometimes fit in--those afraid of critters and those who aren't. I'm the latter, thankfully, and dispatch bugs with great efficiency. I also open jars and put the screws back in cabinet doors. My type and your type, the world over, forms a whole.

[Gray Witch]

OMG Sam.... The 'meaning of life'.... profound yet simplistic....Love your thought process.... mine is kinda scatter-brained at time...(another box) LOL

[Gray Witch]

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[CecilA]

You probably get tired of me saying this; 'I love this story'. Well it's your fault for being such a good writer who writes about real life experiences which I enjoy. Some of your stories are poignant; I relive my life in them. But I'm grateful for them as well. They are theraputic.

I say I'm not afraid of bees but I lie. The most humourous bee incident in my life was when I took my new girlfriend, Ann, to meet my Grandmother Root. We had a nice visit and were driving away from grandma's house when a bumble bee crawled up my left pant leg. It was just buzzing and traveling too fast for comfort. I pulled the car over to the side of the road, jumped out of the car and dropped my pants to get rid of the bee who was getting to close to sensitive parts of my anatomy. My grandmother was watching from her porch and wondered 'What the heck is he doing now?

Suddenly I realized what had happened and blushed from head to toe as I pulled my pants on, got back into the car and stuttered my way back to my girl friends home. Panic stricken to explain the happening to her parents, I almost fell up the steps to the house. Ann, laughing so hard, didn't help the situation. Fortunately, her parents were real people and laughed as well. Ann's father did warn me that on future dates I was to keep my pants on. That's why to this day, I'm afraid of bees.

Thank you for sharing this interesting account from your life with us. It really brought back the pain from that date with Ann back to my remenbrance. Or perhaps I should say 'near pain.'

[Gray Witch]

I just love your reviews ... They make me smile and make the writing far more fun than it should be...LOL

[william keepers]

An interesting story Leslie, how you would want to save the creatures that you fear. I cn understand this, for I have a fear of frogs due to a childhood trama. I was tricked into jumping into a hole full of water that, unknown to me, was also filled with frogs. I screamed in terror as the slimy creatures swam around me and I struggled to get out. I am still squimish around frogs today, but would never hurt them. Love the story!

[David Scott]

Love the irony!
An easy read as well.

[Ahmad Cox]

I have to admit I really loved this story. I always love your writing style and how you have a way of describing things that brings the story to life no matter what you are writing about and how you take most of your stories from your own personal experiences.

[Gray Witch]

Thank you ... As always such kind words Ahmad ...

[Ahmad Cox]

No problem. I always appreciate your writing. I have 4 new poems I think you might like. Let me know what you think when you get around to reading them.

[DrD]

You did it again. Marvelously presented with the exact flow it needed and with an economy of words that made the tale all the more palaatable. A really excelelnt piece of writing.