I just had the most magical experience!
My cat Momo found a dying bumble bee in my fireplace. To her credit, she wasn’t trying to kill it, but it must have been there for a while because it was weak and couldn’t fly. I hate to see anything frightened and dying, so I wondered how I could help.
Since the bee was clearly harmless in its condition, I decided to get tactile. To my surprise, it barely hesitated when it gingerly walked onto my finger. I took it outside and placed it on my hanging petunia plant, hoping it would do whatever it is that bees do on flowers and regain its strength. Instead, it teetered around helplessly and seemed disoriented.
Maybe bees don’t get their nectar from petunias, I thought.
So I guided it onto my finger again and placed it on a cluster of orange flowers in my yard (I don’t know the name.) I sat and observed for a while, but nothing happened. At least this pretty flower is a better place to die than my fireplace, stalked by my cats, I thought. I was about to give up hope and satisfy myself with the knowledge that I’d returned it to a more natural environment, but I had one last idea.
I retrieved a chopstick and some local raw honey from my pantry and returned to the bee. I dipped the chopstick for a small dewdrop of honey and dabbed it on a petal near the bee, and hovered the chopstick nearby. I am no expert on bee anatomy, but what I assume was its tongue darted out and started consuming the honey! Slowly, it regained mobility, and its legs and antennae started to squirm. Within another moment or two, the bee was buzzing and soared off into sky, rising high above my avocado tree, with my other kitty Tetsu gazing on in wonder! 🐝✨💛 I was elated and awestruck!
I could not believe the honey trick worked. In fact, a Facebook friend commented that Virgil noted back in 31 B.C. that the way to save bees was to give them honey. I was slightly concerned there might be some negative side effect to giving an adult bee honey, so I’m relieved to know that I have validation from ancient Roman poets 🙂
Anyway, this little episode made my day. Like that Starfish Story says, you may not be able to make a difference for all, but you can always make a difference for one.
Godspeed, Little bumble!
*Note: the photo above does not depict the bee I saved this morning. I snapped that shot at the San Diego Botanical Gardens earlier this summer.
It’s perhaps a bit misleading to entitle this post as though we toured Cambodia, because in reality, we only visited Siem Reap. I knew we couldn’t leave Asia without seeing one of the world’s greatest wonders, Angkor Wat. Despite is reputation for being overwhelmed with tourists, nearly everyone we spoke with said it was worth visiting anyway. I took them at their word and booked the flight from Ho Chi Minh City so we could spend two full days in this city of temples. 
This was the trip I never thought would actually happen. Chuck was away all of January, and we had no idea when exactly the Marines would schedule us to leave Okinawa. As soon as we got our orders, however, Chuck said with determined enthusiasm: “Let’s figure out your last week at work and book this trip!”
It’s hard to explain what Uken Beach means to me. On the surface, it may seem obvious: I like cats. Cats are my spirit animal. And believe it or not, I haven’t always been as obsessed as I am today. Sure, I’ve always loved them, but it wasn’t until my mother got rid of my cat while I was in college (without my knowledge) that I truly realized their significance in my life. As my mom struggled with mental illness and my home life disintegrated, Sammy was my consistent source of comfort. When I didn’t have her anymore, I felt her absence on a very deep level, and from then on would obsess over when I could finally get another feline companion of my own. 
Wildflowers & Whimsy 