Nature is Everywhere
Nature is everywhere. My 2 1/2-year-old granddaughter, Sasha Ann, watched her mother carefully remove a bee from the window of their LA apartment using a jar and a piece of paper. Lesson: Bees are good. Don’t hurt them. They belong outdoors.
An hour later Sasha, I, and Grandma Nina (the photographer) were playing in a park when she wandered out of the playground onto a nearby sports field. Suddenly she stooped to point out a bee on some clover. “Good bee,” she said.
When her mother, my daughter Sally, was tiny I carefully removed bugs from the house. Obviously, the lesson took. As parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, neighbors, let us never overlook the impact of our actions on our children.
Yes! Bees and particularly spiders… here is Australia where snakes and spiders have venom, the reaction is to kill first and ask questions later. To promote a calm response and instil a ‘remove from harm’ approach can be tricky for adults who, themselves, have been schooled in the idea that danger is everywhere. This is an example of the ripples of our actions.
Love the bees! One of the most wondrous creatures under heaven. They teach us about community and caring for one another. The honeycomb, honey, the queen, royal jelly…. all of the properties and sacred mythology of the bees are rich with blessing. Thank you Ann and Sasha Ann for your beautiful lesson.