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rescued bumblebee
Thursday, June 9 2016
For some years now, Gretchen and I have maintained a kiddie pool in our yard. We initially bought it in hopes the dogs would get in it and splash around, but the only dogs who have ever done this have been visitors. Indeed, the biggest fans of the pool have been the cats, who drink from it, splash in it, and have even thrown a mouse into it to watch it drown (which it had indeed done by the time I found it). The local insect life also benefits from the pool. Mosquitos lay their eggs in it (though we try to flush it before they become adults) and wasps have been seen landing on its surface to gather water and then flying away. Occasionally, though, I find insects struggling in the water, having somehow gotten into it and being unable to extricate themselves. I always rescue any insect I see drowning in the pool, even Horse Flies that I would happily swat were they to attack me. Drowning is an unpleasant way to go, particularly for an insect (which typically takes a long time to drown). The most common rescue I perform is of Bumble Bees. Today I found one floating in the pool that looked to be entirely dead. It looked so inert that I fished her out with a bare hand. How sad; her pollen baskets were full from a morning of hard work, and it looked as if it was all for naught. But after a few seconds of being out of the water, the bee began to move. First her legs started wiggling and then she started crawling to some suitable place in the lawn. Within a few minutes, she had begun thoroughly cleaning herself. Bumble Bees are marginal to begin with when it comes to being able to flies, and a wet Bumble Bee probably cannot fly. Then, about fifteen minutes after I'd rescued her, the bee took flight. At first she executed a broad circular trajectory about 30 feet in the air and 30 feet above the ground, perhaps to ensure all systems were go. And then she headed off towards the northwest. I don't know what my intervention had done to her worldview. Perhaps she'd found religion, since my behavior probably seemed like the kind one would expect of a benevolent god. But unlike the omnipotent God of Christianity, I hadn't first cast the bee into the pool in a sadistic demonstration of unpredictability.
It was a cool and windy day, causing me to occasionally latch the laboratory window so it wouldn't keep flopping around distractingly.
Gretchen went to Woodstock this afternoon and returned with some groceries, some of which I'd specifically ordered. I was particularly interested in a brand of corn chip I'd recently discovered and that I only knew to be available from Hurley Ridge Market: Herr's Authentic Cantina Style Tortillas (Lightly Seasoned). Gretchen came back with three bags of them, and I proceeded to eat 80% of one of the bags in one sitting, an intake of 55 grams of fat among other things. Though Gretchen found these chips disgusting, I love them, and it's probably because they're a rich source of monosodium glutamate (MSG). I thought Gretchen was making too much of my gluttony, but soon thereafter I started experiencing a headache bad enough to require ibuprofen.
I finished out the workday on kratom tea, which is a reliably-good stimulant when I need to get shit done. Normally I'd drink alcohol to come down off such a buzz, but tonight I did not. Instead, I just lay down in bed and hoped for the best. It took a little longer, but it was a pleasant wait as I pondered the things I need to ponder when I'm away from media and other distractions.
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