Saturday, April 2, 2011

Bees

When I was a little kid, I used to play on my swingset in the backyard all the time. The swing was the thing. A lot happened on my swingset. Some award-winning lyrics were created: "I'm swinging! Swinging! While I'm singing! I'm swinging!" Friendships were made and broken when one child was able to swing higher than another child (these competitions were serious business). We used to hold prisoners there during a friendly neighborhood game of "War". The usual.

But, one day the swingset was rather unkind. Unbeknownst to me, it housed a bee's nest, nestled right in the little crick between the chains of the swing and the metal bar at the top of the set. So that when I began to swing, and oh did I swing!, I disrupted that little bee's nest. Needless to say, the bees were not impressed.

I ran screaming through the yard so loud that our neighbor almost called the police because she thought someone was being murdered. When my mother recalls the story, she likes to bring that up. What a disruptive child I was!

Anyway, the swarm of bees followed me as I ran down our street (still screaming) and I escaped the incident with about 20 bee stings. One of them was just below my eyelid and my eye blew up like a tennis ball.

And yet...I still like swings. More than the average person, I would say. I write scenes in my novels that involve swings. If I see a swing, I will cut in front of a child in line to use it. I really like them.

Bees, on the other hand? Not so much.

12 comments:

  1. Wow! I love swings like crazy, but I do. not. like. bees. I'm terribly allergic! Glad you survived :)

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  2. Ah, bees. So many to chose from, huh.

    My favorite childhood memeory involved stepping on a bumblebee next and...oh, well. You can probably guess what happened next.

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  3. I loved my swing in the garden when I was little. It's a shame that you have a horrible incident attached to your memories. You had a lucky escape!

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  4. Ouch!! You poor thing. Picturing that eye is making my own hurt. Cheers to you for doing the A to Z challenge! I'll be looking forward to what you come up with for the tricky letters (Q, X and Z!). It's like Scrabble. :)

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  5. OMGoodness, you poor baby! I'm terrified of bees and wasps. Great story...well written, as usual, Melissa.:D

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  6. We use to have a porch swing on our front porch in Ohio, I loved that. Bees, I don't like them much either.


    Gregg Metcalf
    Colossians 1:28-29

    Gospel-driven Disciples

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  7. That sounds painful and traumatic, but I'm glad you got over it enough to still love swings and write humorously about it!

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  8. I love swings, how could you feel anything but happy when you're gently flying through the air on a swing. Bees...well, bees = stress.
    Found you from the A-Z Challenge, looks like it’s going to be a lot of fun, with maybe a little bit of stress thrown in!! I’m now following you on GFC and I hope you have a chance to check out my blog!
    Monica
    http://oldermommystillyummy.blogspot.com/

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  9. This is cute. :)

    I had to save my daughter from a bee hive that had formed under her slide last year. It was about the size of a softball. Fortunately, she didn't get stung.


    Matt Conlon dot com
    Matt's Brew Log

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  10. I like swing too especially Outdoor Swing put in garden,, but the bees please get rid of them, it harmful to you and your family..

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