At least there's still ice cream

-Posted by Isaac

“If we’re going to commit suicide as a nation, I guess I’d prefer nuclear war. What we’re doing now is really taxing my patience.”

That was an Isaac Barnes quote from the bee yard. Well, from a shelter house near the bee yard. I had the kids with me, and we took a little lunch break. As an exemplary parent, I found my way to Facebook while they fought over the pop.

It was a buddy’s post that brought out the comment. The meme showed the raw escalating Covid numbers in juxtaposition with some recent Trump quotes where he was trying to somehow give the whole debacle a rosy shine.

I guess I was feeling somewhat fatalistic.

Come to think of it, the morning had fatalism coming at all angles. First it was Bridger.

My future rock star. Listening to the radio he says, “Dad, is this 93.3 The Bus?! They play the best music. I love this song!”

(AC/DC’s ‘Highway To Hell’ had just come on.) Oh boy.

After that shaky little laugh, Mason gave me more of a hearty laugh. We were riding along, passing the usual proud multitude of TRUMP 2020 banners. He says, “Keep America great? …Dad, aren’t we still in a pandemic?”

Now that was funny.

(Well son, I think we are. I guess it all depends on where you get your news.)

Thank God for the bees.

They keep me hustling. Even when I pay attention to the news, I can’t afford to dwell on it.

The very day we finished up with the dark tulip poplar from the eastern yards,

(14 buckets this year. Not great, but good enough to carry us through!)

I was already running late to get a second mite treatment on the hives.

So I went right back to it.

The first treatment came while the spring honey was being pulled. Due to the way the brood cycle and the mite cycle line up, it’s good to treat again within two weeks.

Plus, it was high time to get those hives supered up for the summer flow.

The Bee Man watched it all happen this year.

Not a minute too soon. The soybeans are starting to bloom. I noticed a trickle of nectar coming in during the early part of the week.

By Thursday it was a gusher.

This intense heat helps. I don’t know why. With the honeysuckle, you can fill boxes and boxes with 70 degree temps. It takes at least mid-eighties to make gobs of summer honey.

And gobs it is. So far, so good. We’re only at the beginning.

Will those storm clouds hold off for a few more weeks?

And the bigger, broader question— Will those Covid storm clouds hold off for a few more months? It’s not looking good. When’s this vaccine coming, anyway? January?

Not looking good.

Thankfully, for now, we’ve got bigger and more pressing worries than the impending societal meltdown.