#352: A Bzzy Bee

I love these reflections from Jaime after time spent out in the woods. I too go for a woods walk every evening, but the way Jaime notices the tiniest gifts from nature always inspires me more deeply. Reading this makes me want to slow down more, to pause and observe what is going on around me, and to really soak it all in because there are so many wonders taking place simultaneously right at my sneakers as I put one foot in front of the other. I’m in constant awe of the different findings that exist here in our natural world, and Jaime captures this diversity so beautifully in both her words and pictures (which I made into a little collage at the bottom).  :)

- Amanda

A Bzzy Bee

I think today was the first time I enjoyed a bee sting. Maybe not the very first experience of it. It was a little shocking and it did take me a few flailing attempts to remove the yellow jacket from my left calf. But after that and a few deep breaths I settled into the sensations. I felt a strange surprising joy in the electrifying sensation in my leg. I started to imagine the bee had given me some sort of medicine. And I really reveled in the fact that this little sting kept me so inside my body during the entirety of my walk in the woods.

It was also almost ridiculously ironic how many cool interactions I experienced in the woods today after that. A fox rolling around in the dirt. The teeny tiniest little eyelash mushrooms I’ve ever seen. A bee eating a caterpillar. A slug eating a mushroom. And just loads and loads of fascinating fungi. 

It was so stupidly easy to be hyper aware of how very alive and interconnected the world is. Even with the sting in my leg my central nervous system softened. Even with a million mosquitos molesting me I felt so damn grateful for this moment. Even out of breath from the ascent up the hillside I found my breathing to be a joy. It’s here. Everything my body and soul needs is in here.