I’ve been accused of a lot of things.
But this, this had to be the most shocking and— quite frankly, silliest of
all. On the way home from a busy day of weekend errands, my husband
accused me of being, get this— ‘happy all the time.” I had to put
that in quotes as much for you as for me, because I still can’t believe he said
that (in a non-sarcastic tone).
See, the thing is, it’s just not true.
And he should know! I stress like the best of them, —my kids, the bees, and
the state of the world! Good grief. Where do I begin? And yet, he said it
like he meant it!
Looking back, I’m trying to remember the
context of the conversation that would cause him to say such a ridiculous
thing. I can’t. I really think he just blew my mind and it caused
everything said before and after to be dust in the wind. Well, I do
remember one thing. The whole sentence was actually, “the best thing
about you is that you’re happy all the time.”
I’ve never been so flattered, and—
perplexed!! I’ve been trying to wrap my brain around this for a few days
now, and you know what? I figured it out.
No way am I “happy all the time”.
But, one thing I am is grateful, “most” of the time.
In fact, I’m pretty darn grateful that you’re
reading this right now. True! Let me give you a bit of the back-story and
you’ll understand why. You see, I’m a beekeeper. Have been for many
years now. Unbeknownst to me, when my family moved to Hawaii, we happen
to land a block away from Honey Girl Organics. Beekeepers have a way of
finding bees and vice versa it seems, and it didn’t take long before I was
working for Anthony, founder of Honey Girl Organics, tending to his
hives. It can be hard work, heavy lifting, and sure, every so often ya
get stung, but man, is it fun!!! To work with these bees has been pure
joy. Why? Because they live in a tropical paradise surrounded with
fruit trees, flowers and well, to be put it simply aloha! No
chemicals are ever used to treat them—these bees are wild and free!
Anthony has been a beekeeper for nearly 30 years now, and he knows the best way
to care for nature is frankly, to get out of its way. ;)
So that’s why, when the harvest was over, and
I asked for more hours, he said no. It’s time to “let the
bees be.” He was right, and I knew it. And I was grateful.
Thankful to work for a company with integrity and respect for the bees.
Grateful to myself for having the wisdom to not loose sight of the big picture,
and how these bees on this little island in the Pacific, matter.
…And yet, you know that wise saying about
“when one door closes, another opens?” Well, Anthony said to me that
while he didn’t have any more work for me with the bees, he mentioned “there’s
this blog to write,” —and if I wanted, I could “give it a go”. I thought
to myself, seriously? I love to write, but rarely do. It
seems this busy life just hasn’t let up, and sadly, I felt like I never had the
time. But, give me a reason to write about bees, and all
the wonderful and truly amazing things they do, and all the magical gifts they
give us? Look out!! I’m one grateful gal. And ok, I admit even—
“happy.”
I hope that you will meet me back here at
this blog as we journey along together and (as they say in Hawaii) talk story
about bees, honey and everything in-between! In the meantime, bee
grateful, and don't be surprised if it just makes you happy too.
