Me and the kingdom of the bees...

I've been walking/hiking almost every morning since we moved, fascinated by the fact I can cover MILES without ever leaving the property, which is weird for my brain. Since running across the bear tracks, and listening to the coyotes howl at night, and knowing we have mountain lions nearby, I've taken to "packing" my great-grandpa's 1900's era .38 when I go.

It wouldn't have helped today. I'm just not that good of a shot!

My folks lease space to some local beekeepers (more on them later). In the last six weeks I've passed the hives multiple times without incident. Today, I must have irritated the bees...

Nowhere near the hives, I just thought this tree I encountered on my hike was cool.

I was about 50 feet from the hives when the first bee attacked. It body-slammed me in a Kamikazi move right in the middle of my forehead. Yes, my first response was, "Oh crap." Before I could recover, bee #2 knocked into the side of my head, stinging my temple. My second response is not kosher to repeat. When I realized another (third) bee was chasing me, I got a little nervous and started to run.

Do you run from bees? Wait, are they like mountain lions? I know you aren't supposed to run from mountain lions... (These were the thoughts in my head as I "booked it" across the field, frantically waving my arms to try and dissuade any unusually cranky bees from attacking me further.)

I jogged the half mile or so to my mom's and she doctored up my stings. The stinger from the second bee was still neatly lodged in my temple.

When I got home I kept hearing a strange buzzing sound... upon removing my kerchief I discovered bee #2 had joined me for the ride home, trapped in the folds of fabric. Poor bee.

Again,nothing to do with bees... just thought this chubby-muffin ground squirrel was posing for me.

I generally LIKE bees. I used to "rescue" them from drowning in the river when I was a kid. I've NEVER been attacked and chased by honeybees.

Was it a sign? Is God trying to tell me something?

Um... maybe. How about, "Don't walk so close to the hives, dummy."?

Listening to God is a lot simpler than we think, I believe.