On the Joy of Being a Beekeeper, a Chicken Mama, and a Grandmother

honeybees behind the insulation

 What a week! Joy and challenges galore. 

We've been dealing with a honeybee hive that set up home in the ceiling of our garage. We thought they left when we turned on the air conditioner, but they were coming and going again a day later. The air conditioner servicemen came to look at the unit, but wouldn't go near it with the bees flying around. (Can't say I blamed them.) One thought they were yellow jackets. Those yellow demons are among the nastiest hornets ,so his trepidation was reasonable, even though he was wrong and busy honeybees tend to ignore people. 

In the meantime, our daughter was scheduled to have her baby induced and the other four children (and four dogs) arrived to take up residence. And so began the swimming, biking, gaming days with lots of mealtime conversation and rosary decades for mom and baby. [See how long it takes you to figure out Max's riddle. "What is stronger than God, more evil than the demons, the poor have it, the rich need it, and you will die if you eat it?" I'm embarrassed to admit how long it took me to figure it out.]

Keep Your Balance. Do Something Fun and Normal: Catch a Frog!

The world has gone nuts but we don't have to go nuts along with it! One of my strategies is to keep doing what I've always done. Get up, dress, and go to Mass every day. My husband and I kept going to our church at Mass time even during the lockdown. We prayed the Mass in Magnificat and made a spiritual Communion. Then we went home, had breakfast, and did our daily chores. We are fortunate to live on three acres and when you have that much property there is always a chore calling your name. Since we are beekeepers, from March to October there is plenty of bee inspecting to do as well as honey harvesting. We were never bored and since we don't go out that much except for groceries and drug store runs and to the Post Office, we were not much impacted by the draconian treatment so many suffered. What were people in apartments supposed to do when they were ordered to stay indoors and go into a kind of unnatural hibernation? It was evil! Plain and simple. 

It's the First Monday in June; What's on Your To-Do List?

As a Catholic mom rearing our five children, I always tried to spiritualize our daily life: morning prayer, prayers at meals, discussion of the meaning of holidays (holy days), planning a weekly family home night with prayer, activities, and a special treat. I tried to help my family look at everything we did through the eyes of faith. I continue that practice with our grandkids. I love the saying attributed to St. John Bosco: Love God and have as much as you can!