Felt the wish upon her tongue to fly

[sovay]

This afternoon for the first time in decades, I was stung by a bee. Unlike its summer's coreligionist, it caught in my hair without a telltale buzz, so that I put up my hand to comb out a trapped leaf or twig and received instead a stinger in the pad of my thumb. I was able to pluck it out within surprised seconds since it stood out as clearly as a splinter, but I felt terrible about the bee. The pain had started to ebb by the time I got back to the house, but I took the second half of my walk with my thumb in a baking soda plaster. I was reassured by the sight of other bees in bushes of lavender and sunflowers.

In better news of the insect kingdom, the last two monarchs hatched in the late afternoon and were released by my niece, eagerly fluttering their stained glass wings to the sun.

Comments

[minoanmiss]

I'm sorry your destiny collided with the bee's, and delighted by the monarchs. I should get a butterfly icon.

[osprey_archer]

So sorry you got stung. That's never fun.

The butterfly picture is beautiful.

[sartorias]

It IS reassuring to see bees about their business.

[oracne]

Ouch!

[chanter1944]

Ouch! Not fun. Been there, experienced similar; what I once thought was a strand of my hair trailing across my hand (not at all impossible, given length) turned out to be - OWWWW! a wasp. Ick! Poor bee, though. I'm glad to hear there were many others buzzing away in the flowers. Pollenation, go!

Yay Stripey the Seventh! I love the yearly monarch rearing and release your family does. Keeping up an endangered flutterby* population, a half-dozen friendly flutterers at a time.

*I'm in the habit of reversing this word more often than not, and it's a conscious thing. It circles back to my maternal grandmother, who knew just as well as I do that butterfly is correct but flutterby is whimsically amusing.

[thistleingrey]

Monarchs!

[asakiyume]

I love about monarchs how the pattern of spots on their wings continues on their bodies. And yes, how beautiful they are when they catch the light!

Very sorry for both you and the bee!

[gwynnega]

I am sorry about the bee sting.

What a beautiful photo!

[nineweaving]

Ouch! Last time I got stung, I was reading under a tree in flower (risky) and the poor guy attacked unprovoked. I felt sorry for him.

Gorgeous monarch! So glad your niece got to launch it.

Nine

[thisbluespirit]

Oh, I'm sorry about the bees sting! But, as I just said elsewhere, that is a beautiful pic of a beautiful (non-stingy) butterfly. ♥

[a_reasonable_man]

I hope the bee sting feels better--and like you, I feel bad for the bee! I've had a couple of bad encounters with yellowjackets when younger, as has Lily, but I don't think I ever was stung by bee.

Although I disapprove of monarchy in general, I'm very glad to see more of these monarchs! And the photo is lovely.

[genarti]

I was stung by a bee the other week, also for the first time in decades! Or possibly a wasp? I was walking under trees at night; I felt something land on my neck, an insect or a bit of bark or something, and reflexively reached up to brush it off; a sharp hot pain stung the pad of my ring finger, and I equally reflexively flung the bug away, so I couldn't say anything about its identity for sure.

It had been so long I actually had to google "what does a bee sting feel like" on my phone as confirmation. But ibuprofen and ice worked wonders; the pain was fading fairly rapidly and completely gone by morning. I hope it was a wasp and not a bee for its own sake, though. I don't think either of us wanted events to go down as they did!

Also: congrats to your niece (and all her adult helpers) on her successful monarch husbandry! That picture is gorgeous.

[lokifan]

Poor bee and poor you! But they love lavender, I'm sure the majority are having a wonderful time.

I love that monarch photo! Glad they've all hatched.

[adore]

eagerly fluttering their stained glass wings to the sun.

What a beautiful picture and description.

[regshoe]

What a lovely monarch <3 The moths I catch sometimes perch on my hands in the process of letting them go, and I always feel very fond of them.