Bee Happy

by Marcia C Brandt

  What the heck, I can’t think of a good enough reason to say no and maybe this will give me the chance to change my attitude about Jim. Or at least I’ll know what it is about him that irritates me so much if I spend an evening with him. “I didn’t know the next movie was playing. You are right I’m a big Harry Potter fan. I’ve read all the books and even have a magic wand.” Calli tried to be light hearted and say words that made sense, even though her mind was still befuddled. “I’d like to see the movie and if you’re buying that’s even better!” Jim nodded his head, “Yes, I am buying and if you’re willing we can go out to supper first at the Burger Barn, I know that you and Roger like to go there after farmers market.” “That sounds like a good way to start the evening. What time should I be ready?” Calli tried not to bite her tongue when she confirmed the commitment which was one of her worst fears, spending time with Jim. “I’ll pick you up around 5:30 that way we’ll beat the crowd and the seniors will be done.” They both laughed, most of the senior citizens in the town were there at the Burger Barn around 4:30 for an early supper and senior special. “Oh, and just in case you don’t recognize me, I’ll be driving my regular vehicle, my classic Mustang.” Calli looked puzzled. “I know you thought I only had my old hippie van. That’s what I drive when I’m working and hauling my produce. When I’m out on the town I drive my ‘real’ car. It’s bright red so you won’t miss it.” With that Jim sauntered back to his old van and drove away, leaving Calli in absolute shock. First of all she’d said yes and second of all he had a classic Mustang. She took him to be a very poor gardener with limited income and even more limited abilities. This new information made her more curious than ever to discover what was behind her immediate and intense dislike for this man. What was it about him? And for the love of Pete, why had she said yes when she really wanted to shout out loud, NO, NO, NO! The rest of the weeds in the garden didn’t stand a chance of survival; Calli was on a mission and taking her frustration out on them. At least this was a very productive way to express her anger and get it out of her system. Maybe weeding is a new form of healing, with that she chuckled at herself and relaxed a little. But not enough to be comfortable with her date with Jim, tomorrow night was going to be here too soon for comfort.

  Chapter 7 Impossible Dream Calli tossed and turned, trying to escape from the nightmares in her sleep. She was walking down the aisle of her church in a wedding dress and at the front of the church stood the minister, the best man, Sally her maid of honor and JIM! The rooster was her savior this morning, at the crack of dawn he announced that the sun was up and every person on the farm was supposed to be getting up as well. Calli struggled to wake up after such a fitful night. She covered her head with her pillow wishing it wasn’t tomorrow already and wishing she’d had more restful sleep because she was going to need every ounce of energy she could muster tonight. A date with Jim. What had she been thinking? Was there a way to cancel and not have to go through with this? Could she pretend to be sick and cough a lot when she called him? Of course not, she knew better, he’d see right through her excuse and offer to bring over chicken soup or some herbal brew that tasted more awful than manure. Maybe not quite that bad, but she’d tasted some pretty vile concoctions that were supposed to be natural and cure whatever ache, pain or problem you had. She hadn’t learned about all the healing properties of herbs, but she knew enough to stay away from the nasty tasting ones. Shaking her head in disgust, Calli got up and headed for the shower, maybe that would refresh her and she could actually accomplish something rather than wasting the day worrying about her date with Jim. They were even going to have to look at each other at the Burger Barn. Why had she agreed to supper? That means he’d be sitting on one side of the booth and she’d be on the other side and she couldn’t avoid looking at him at all. At least in the movie they’d be side by side and she wouldn’t have to look at his face. Oh, God, what if he tries to hold my hand during the scary parts. I’ve read the book and there are some awful frightful scenes. Ugh! This day is going downhill very fast. Where’s my magic wand? Can I just say an incantation and have this day disappear? Chuckling at herself, Calli dried her hair and headed down for breakfast, she could smell the bacon already; Grandfather must have been up before the crack of dawn, gathering the eggs and cracking them into the skillet. The smell was wonderful and began to lift her spirit just a bit.

  “Morning Sunshine. Look at the blue sky. I’m ready to help you get some fall seeds in the ground. I know that it’s time to plant our second crop of lettuce and beans and peas. How did you sleep? You look just a little groggy even after your shower.” Roger was too cheerful for Calli, especially today. “I didn’t sleep very well. Too many unsettling dreams. But I’m sure once we get digging in the soil, that I’ll feel better. Planting seeds and knowing that we will have little green sprouts in a few days is all that I need to lift my spirits. Breakfast smells so good. Thanks.” Roger set her plate down in front of her and poured them both a cup of strong coffee, French roast, Calli’s favorite. “Thanks, think this will clear the cobwebs out of my head and get me moving today. Oh, did I tell you that I’m going out for dinner and movie with Jim tonight?” Calli tried to sound nonchalant and hoped that Grandfather couldn’t detect her unpleasant mood about the date. “A date? With Jim? Tonight?” Roger was surprised. The whole idea put such a puzzled look on his face that Calli felt like she had to explain. “Yes, a date tonight with Jim. He stopped by yesterday in the afternoon and offered to take me to the newest Harry Potter movie playing at the Strand Theatre tonight. Then he suggested that we go to the Burger Barn first. I really hadn’t even considered going out with him, but decided it must be time to get back in the dating game. And Jim offered to pay, so that seemed to be the deciding factor for me.” She lied, because she knew that money wasn’t an issue with her going out on a date. The issue was Jim and her looking for a way to understand why she disliked him so much. Roger munched on his slice of bacon and simply nodded his head, knowing enough to keep quiet on this subject and eventually Calli would actually tell him the truth about this date with Jim.

  The morning seemed to disappear; they planted several rows of beans, peas and a variety of leaf lettuce and a long row of spinach. The birds were singing and put both Calli and Roger in a good mood. They dug up a few worms and Roger put them in a container for later, fishing at the pond this afternoon seemed like a great reward for getting all these seeds planted. They would have plenty of vegetables to sell this fall at the market before the frost came. The seasons and the cycles of life played out before them in living color. The green plants, the flowers and the herbs all seeming to sing their thanks for the care that they gave them, love really did make everything grow better, bigger and the vegetables tasted divine. At the farmers market, people knew that their produce was a notch above the average gardener. They didn’t know why and they really didn’t care, people just knew that Roger and Calli had exceptional vegetables and they returned week after week to buy it. The sun was directly above them in the sky, telling them it was noon and time for lunch. Calli stretched and looked up at the sun, “Looks like it’s time for lunch. I think I’ll take a drive into town and see if I can find Sally. Do you want me to bring you anything back to eat?” Roger shook his head no, “Thanks, but I’m going to make me a PB and J sandwich and take these worms and head for the pond. I do believe this is the perfect afternoon to sit on the bank, dangle some worms in the water and see if there is a fish or two that wants to be my supper. Since you’ll be with Jim tonight, I won’t have to catch as many fish.” Calli didn’t like the reminder, after all that was why she was heading into town to see if Sally had any magic spells or healing chants she could give her to make the evening go better than Calli could imagine at this moment. “Okay, I’ll expect a fishing report when I return.” Calli headed into the house to wash her hands and grab something to drink.

  Calli arrived at the town square a little after noon and waited for Sally to emerge from City Hall. They had
an unspoken lunch date; whenever Calli was able she joined her best friend, providing the much needed female companionship for each other. “Hi! Looks like you’ve been in the sun and digging in the earth this morning. You have that ‘gardener’ look about you. Some days I wish I was working outside like you do, connecting with the earth and the nature spirits. Guess that’s not my destiny at the moment. Why do you look so distraught?” Sally was intuitive enough to sense Calli’s mood but couldn’t figure out why. “Oh, Sally. I’ve gone and done it now.” Sally shook her head and was taken aback a bit. “What do you mean? What’s happened that I don’t know about?” Calli let out a big sigh and began to tell her tale of woe about her date tonight with Jim. “…and then I said, yes, I’d go to the movie and the Burger Barn with him. I couldn’t figure out how to say no.” Sally laughed out loud. “You’ve got to be kidding me. That’s why you look like you’ve lost your only friend in the world. It’s about time you spent some time with the male species, besides your grandfather. You’ve been without dates long enough. I’m predicting that you’ll find him to be more like you than you realize. After all you both dig in the dirt and have awful fingernails.” Sally thought she was pretty funny and watched as Calli rolled her eyes and gave her a frown. “What are you talking about? Dirty fingernails, I’ll have you know that I scrub them every night and they are clean before I go to bed!” Calli glanced down at her hands and realized that her nails could use a good scrubbing before supper with Jim. “Oh, Sally, I just don’t want to go out with him. I can’t figure out why he rubs me the wrong way. I try to be nice and speak kindly around him, but there’s just something that makes me cringe every time he’s within three feet of me. What’s in his aura that bugs mine? You are psychic enough to tell me. Please!”

  Sally leaned back on the bench and closed her eyes. Calli almost held her breath, not wanting to disturb Sally’s concentration. She relaxed a bit and tried to wait patiently for Sally’s insight. After what seemed like forever, Sally opened her eyes and looked at Calli and smiled. “Well, my dear friend. I don’t see anything bad or dark or awful in his aura. The energy that he puts out that bugs you might just be something that you’re not willing to experience yet.” Calli gave her friend a strange look, “meaning what?” Sally grabbed her hand, “You haven’t been dating since you lost Cal. You have dedicated your life to growing vegetables and spending time with your grandfather. I’ve watched the single guys in this town attempt to get you back into circulation and you always turn them away. This guy just might be the one to open your heart up again. He might be the one who will sweep you off your feet and take you down the aisle.” Calli jumped off the bench and sputtered at her friend, “What are you talking about? Take me down the aisle? That’s preposterous. I don’t even like him; I can’t stand to be around him for more than a minute. Wait a minute? Did you tap into my dreams from last night? I was at the church and you were my maid of honor and Jim was the groom. This is just too crazy for words. I’m going to have to find a way to cancel tonight. That’s all there is to it!” Calli almost stormed down the sidewalk towards her van, and then returned to the bench where Sally was chuckling to herself. “Wow! That put a bee in your bonnet! Excuse the pun, but you looked like those bees you told me about were chasing you away from me. Calli, I didn’t tune into your dreamtime, but I did look forward in time and could see you being very happy with Jim as your partner. You’ve got to grab a hold of yourself and stop being closed down to love. I’m not saying that he’s the one for you for the rest of your life, but I am saying that there’s a possibility that he could ignite that spark of love in your heart again.” Calli looked Sally in the eyes; she could see that her friend was telling her the truth, a truth that she didn’t want to hear. It had been too long since she’d felt someone really care about her, or love her. She had closed her heart to love and hadn’t even considered dating for a very long time. “Thanks,” Calli managed to say without tearing up. “I know that you’re right about dating again, but I’m not too positive about Jim just yet. If you believe that we could actually end up together, I’ll at least try to be open tonight to starting to like Jim just a little. I am not saying I’m ready to walk down the aisle, but I will give him a chance.” Sally had to hurry back to work and Calli stayed on the bench for a long time imagining how she could open her heart up to feel love again. She’d lived with a broken heart for too long, she knew that in her soul. Her thoughts drifted back to Cal and the love that they had shared. She knew it was going to be difficult but also knew that she was almost ready to love again or at least consider loving again. She didn’t want to be hurt or feel the pain of loss ever again. Her stomach started growling and Calli remembered that she hadn’t had lunch. Walking down the block she went into the grocery store and grabbed a premade sandwich and a bag of chips, nothing very nutritious, but enough to tide her over until her date with Jim at the Burger Barn. The clock tower struck 2 pm as Calli climbed into the van. She’d found a new dress at the second hand shop for her date. At least she’d look good tonight, even if she didn’t know if she’d feel good inside herself. Opening to love again doesn’t sound very hard to do, but for Calli it seemed like an impossible dream.

  Chapter 8 The Date When Calli returned home, she put her new to her dress in her closet and headed for the garden. At least there she knew that she could get herself feeling calmer and grounded. Plus there were a few weeds that needed to be hoed and that would take her mind off her date tonight. She started humming a little tune that she’d made up in her head, no song that was on the charts, but something that kept her mind from wandering to this evening. She knew that her grandfather was probably still down at the pond fishing, and she didn’t want to disturb his alone time. She also knew that he missed her grandmother more than he was willing to talk about with her. They had what she considered the perfect marriage, always in partnership with the everyday chores and the ups and downs of life on the farm and raising children. Calli smiled thinking about the fact that her dad was her grandfather’s son. She’d seen pictures of him as a kid growing up here on the farm but now that he lived in town and wore a suit to work every day, the images just didn’t match – who he was to who he is now. Life takes us in many different directions and we never know exactly what’s down around the bend of the road. Calli was wondering what her life would look like now if Cal hadn’t died. She probably would have a couple of kids and might be here on the farm but also might be living in another state. Just then her little bee friends started buzzing around her head, like they were trying to get her attention again. “I know little fellows, I know, you are looking to see if I’ve forgotten about the bee hives in the machine shed. I haven’t forgotten, but I also haven’t had any time to get my grandfather interested in rebuilding them just yet. I have to find a way for him to be comfortable with keeping bees again after his experiences with his grandfather. Wonder how many generations of bees there have been since they were bee keepers? Guess I could get more information about how long bees live and how to care for them.” Calli knew it didn’t make much sense to talk out loud to bees, but at least she was able to hear her own thoughts better and that might get her motivated to do some research for herself, even if Grandfather couldn’t find a way to forgive himself. Might also be time to remind Sally that he’d okayed the distant healing and that she could work her ‘magic’ whenever it fit in her schedule.

  The hour and a half Calli had spent in her garden had relaxed her and given her connection to the earth that she needed. Her thoughts were more on life in general, cycles, bees and how generations continued patterns without even having a conscious awareness. Keeping bees must run in our family even though it had skipped a generation. All the anticipation of her date with Jim had taken a back seat in her mind and she was ready to see where this evening was going to take her, hopefully not down the aisle just yet, she laughed to herself, what a silly dream. Today she could look at it as a silly dream, before it had almost seemed like a nightmare! Deciding
that it was time to get ready, she put away her tools, cleaned them carefully and headed for the house. After she dried off from her shower, Calli put her new dress on and took a look in the mirror, with all the time she spent outdoors, her face had a nice tan and she truly didn’t need any makeup to look good, at least in her mind anyway. She wasn’t going to try to look special or out of the ordinary, she was the type of woman who wouldn’t go to extremes just to get a guy. After all, she hadn’t been looking for a date; it just had appeared out of the blue, almost like those little bees and now look where they had taken her. She felt almost ready for whatever lay ahead tonight. She went out to sit on the front porch, looking at the clock, Jim should be arriving in a few minutes, and she was on the lookout for his classic red Mustang and wondered if it was a convertible or not. Roger came walking up the path from the pond with a string of fish in his hand. Whistling and grinning he approached Calli with a curious look on his face. “So, do I see a new dress for tonight? You must have a date or something.” He was teasing in a good natured way and Calli knew that he wasn’t making fun of her. “Why yes, kind sir! I do have a new to me dress on and a fresh shower and am going to be taken out for a night on the town!” Calli decided that she could have fun too! With that feeling of lightheartedness, she saw Jim and his red convertible drive up the lane to the farm house. Roger gave a low whistle, “That’s some car he’s got. You better make a good impression on this stud!” With that said, he disappeared into the kitchen to clean his fish and leave Calli to her date.