Hope Is a Garden
As I was weeding the front garden on July 11th I was stung twice by yellow jackets. In a fit of panic I tried swatting them away, only to have two of them follow me into my house and chase me into three different rooms as I tried to escape. Apparently I was shrieking and hollering so loudly that it sounded to my working-from-home spouse like I was being murdered. All I can confirm is that I carefully stalked both yellow jackets to release them outside wearing a combination of my kids’ dress up clothes, a bike jacket, and winter gloves to cover any bare skin. The swelling from the stings lasted a week, but the fear of anything buzzing too close has lasted longer. It’s surprisingly hard to return to a state of trust that all the pollinators will leave me alone. And the pollinators are everywhere! The catnip is especially popular, even more so than the fennel or butterfly weed. In response, I’m taking it slowly, spending increasing amounts of time in the garden near buzzing action and moving slowly when I see a yellow jacket.