I've been running in the local mountains for years. I have fallen many times, run into bears and rattlesnakes and bobcats and intoxicated hunters. But until yesterday, I had never had a bee sting. Half-way through yesterday's run, as we descended Mt.Zion, we ran into a mule team transporting gear for some campers. As we passed them, the mules disturbed a beehive -- and things got nasty.
I ended up with a single sting. On my butt. Somehow, one of the little fellas ended up inside my running shorts and stung me directly on the right cheek. It hurt like the dickens, as bee stings will, but it mystified me more than anything else. How did the bee get in there? Why was I stung nowhere else? What does it all mean?
Heh. We are opposites, you and I. In fifth grade, I stepped on a yellow jacket nest. The buggers covered me head to toe, something like 200 stings, and the only things they missed (other than my eyes) were ye olde private partz.
I probably did have some stings on my butt, though, so maybe we're not _that_ different. ;)
Posted by: punkass marc | July 31, 2006 at 08:07 AM
Better a hindthought than a forethought?
Posted by: Q Grrl | July 31, 2006 at 08:42 AM
Better a hindthought than a forethought?
Amen.
Posted by: Hugo | July 31, 2006 at 10:06 AM
eek! bees! i turn into such a child about stinging insects, i probably would've thrown a full-on tantrum in your position.
heck, even my apartment's courtyard is a little too verdant for my tastes...
Posted by: kate.d. | July 31, 2006 at 11:08 AM
I've generally lived in homes with flowers, and spent a lot of time outdoors around lots of bees, but the only time I've ever been stung was as I was climbing into bed, dead tired, at 2:00 AM on a cold February night. For some damn reason, there was a bee sitting in my bed, waiting for me.
Posted by: djw | July 31, 2006 at 05:40 PM
"What does it all mean?"
Well, I know that in Bali:
- If the droppings of a cecak lizard (you've probably seen/heard them if you've been to Hawai'i, for example) fall on you, you're destined to earn enough to have a comfortable standard of living.
- If a gecko begins its call while you talk, whatever you're saying at the time must be true. Hugo, if you can get a gecko, maybe you can bring it into your class and hope that it calls during your lectures ;)
Posted by: Ed | July 31, 2006 at 06:36 PM
As for bees, I'm quite terrified of them. I do NOT want to find out firsthand if I'm allergic to them, but given my family's medical history, I probably am.
On the upside of my view of bees, there's a famous dance from Bali called Oleg Tamulilingan (Swaying Bumblebees) that was choreographed in the 50's. It's a courtship dance, with the male dancer doing an extremely difficult movement called "sregseg", which is a type of squatting walk. The actual "tamulilingan" looks more like a black beetle, but it buzzes and hovers like a bumblebee.
Here's a clip of the "sregseg" - I must admit, it's not the best version of Oleg I've seen, but it'll do: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hth1R05cFmM
Posted by: Ed | July 31, 2006 at 06:57 PM