Sun Worshipping

-Posted by Isaac

When the sun is bright and high, when the July heat is baking us, when the vast green fields of soybeans are a'bloom, when the summer feels like it ought, I like to check the bees. I like to do it alone, lost in my thoughts. And every now and then, I like to bring company and get lost in bee talk. It's hard to convince my kids to come along. The truth is, they're sick of bee talk. 

But sometimes it's just a matter of an easy bribe.

If you're a beekeeper, a few things make you very happy. White wax would be one of them. When you pop a lid and see a fringe of white new wax lining the frames. This means the nectar is flowing!

I start happy, and my happiness grows with every yard. Driving around, talking about bee life and nectar and honey and heat and growth, stopping to walk the fields and ditches, checking for foraging, contemplating the beauty... awed by the wealth... breathing sweet and lucid air... taking it all in.

It's sublime.

I can't speak for all of us, but when I check bees, I live in an exhilarating virtual world- my head. It's intoxicating, almost addictive. It's selfish. Like the Robert Earl Keen song, 'I am guilty of a dreadful selfish crime.' I love to sneak away to my job. 

And even if I can't sneak away to the bees, if the sun is shining, it's a simple joy just to sneak into the light. And think. Sunlight- millions of years old, these photons. Born of nuclear fusion deep in the sun, struggling to the surface, released, traveling 92 million miles in eight minutes, striking my eye, warming my face, making me happy.

Truly sublime.

Truly.

Some things got done on the bee farm this week. A few big ones, many small. The biggest by far was the work of the bees. They're busy paying our bills.

But a second big happening was what we did yesterday- concrete. 34 yards. Wow! I actually had this big pad formed up and ready to go in March.

But as you may remember, March was miserable. Too cold, too wet. Then came April and we got busy with bees. And continued busy through May and June. Finally things have stabilized and the bees are busy doing their important work. Now we have time to spend the big bucks on our not-so-important projects. Keeping this economy juiced like the true American consumers we are. Buying things we don't really need. 

Funny, I felt strangely patriotic writing those checks. 

What a difference a day makes.

But not just any day. A July day. A sunny day. Huge difference! For two full weeks we've had the sun factor going for us, and it's been the most productive two weeks of the year. Not only from the bee standpoint. Not only from the project standpoint. The sun is the engine for so many important things. Fishing, swimming, boating, camping, etc...

The work never ends.

We jumped into all of it this week.

Not to mention eating. The sun drives it all. This week the sweetcorn came on.

So we had a party.

My brother, the sweetcorn grower, turned 41 on Tuesday. He gifted all us piggies with fire-cooked corn. Little Arlo showed us that sweetcorn is not an acquired taste. You love it from your first bite. 

We've been sweetcorn connoisseurs for generations. And this year is about the best ever. The dry planting, the rainy June, the hot hot July... all contributing to an awesome juicy bite. And what force drives them all? -The dry, the rain, the heat, the juice? -The Sun! 

Not everyone knows this. Even journalists get it wrong sometimes. Even supposedly educated people. Last week the Onion newspaper and their stupid scientists tried to pin it on some sort of astrological phenomenon.

But I was pleased to see that one astute fact-checker caught'm with their pants down.

I totally agree. Liberals never sees to amaze me either.