Bee Happy

by Marcia C Brandt

  Roger had one hive already out of the shed by the time Calli got there. She hadn’t hurried; in fact she’d walked very slowing wishing she could shift her attitude before she got there. “Did you get the planting done already?” He wanted to sound upbeat and positive, knowing that there was uneasiness about his story about talking to his grandfather. He didn’t want Calli to be afraid of this project or of him for that matter. “Yes, they are all tucked into the ground and ready to sprout when we get a shower.” She too wanted to be upbeat and hopefully enjoy this newest project of learning to be a bee keeper. She just didn’t want any ghosts helping them. “Help me get the other hive; I think it’s stuck somehow.” Together they pulled and pulled and finally the last layer of the hive was free from the dirt. Looking at them out in the sunlight, Roger sighed, “They seem to need a little love and attention, some fresh paint and cleaning. Do you remember if we used up all the white paint, you know when we were painting the tool shed?” Roger seemed to be excited about the prospect of getting the hives looking good again. “I think there’s enough left to cover them with a couple of coats. I’ll go and get the wire brush and some sand paper. Where do you want to do this?” Calli was beginning to shift a little, hoping that working together they would be able to talk about his experience like mature logical adults, adults who didn’t believe in ghosts talking to you in the middle of the night.

  A couple hours later, the hives looked great. Roger thought they looked better than he remembered them. “Thanks! I do believe that they are ready for some bee habitation. Wonder how we can find a swarm? It would be almost unbelievable to think that there might be some by the pond, just like when I first found them with my grandfather.” Roger seemed to get lost in his memories. Having worked side by side with her grandfather for the past two hours, Calli seemed to mellow and feel better about the bee hives and the potential of learning how to be their keeper. She even supposed that she could talk to him about his grandfather’s visit, but just not today. She had to sort through some more ideas and beliefs and probably could use some more girl talk with Sally. She was the one who could get her thinking put back into place better than anyone else. That’s what she needed, some time with Sally. Lucky for her, the sun was almost overhead which meant it was close to noon and her lunch break. “Think I’m going to head into town for a bit and see what Sally is doing for lunch.” Calli wanted to sound nonchalant and didn’t want Roger to suspect why she was going. “That sounds like a great idea. Tell her thanks for coming last night and being with you while I was hooked up to all those machines. So happy that I have good insurance, I wouldn’t want to see the bill if I didn’t.” Roger went to the barn to get the skid loader so he could move the hives back down to the pond. Whistling and grinning like a kid, he felt happier than he had in a very long time.

  Sally was sitting on the bench expecting Calli to show up any minute. She knew her friend well enough to know that there would be about a thousand questions about Roger’s talk with his grandfather’s spirit. She hoped that she could find the words that would put her mind at ease, Calli wasn’t a believer just yet, but Sally knew that eventually she’d have an experience that would bring her around to knowing that life really is eternal and we can communicate with others whether they have a physical body or a spirit body. Just like clockwork, Calli’s van parked right in front of the bench and she hopped out with another sack of vegetables. “You are the vegetable fairy these days. I am living the good life and will be so healthy I’ll probably never die!” Sitting down beside her friend, Calli turned very serious very quickly despite Sally’s attempt to keep everything light and fun. “Now, I want you to tell me that my grandfather isn’t going senile or crazy or both. Could he possibly have talked to his grandfather last night? I’m having a very hard time wrapping my head around the idea that you can talk to someone who is dead. I mean dead for a very long time. This is so far outside what I believe and you are the only one whom I trust to give me the truth. I know that we don’t always believe the same things but this is your arena and I’m at a loss to make any sense out of the entire thing.” Catching her breath Calli continued, “…and what about Jim? What did he mean about his own experiences? Do you have any idea what he was talking about? It seems to me like everyone but me have had other worldly experiences and they are so much more advanced than I am spiritually. I do believe in God and I do pray although I don’t go to church very often. I feel my church is out in my garden, that’s where I feel the closest to God.” Sally paused looking for the best way to answer her questions without scaring her away. “Well, this is going to take a little longer than we have time for during my lunch hour. How about you come over tonight and we’ll invite Jim and see if the two of us can give you some answers that will satisfy your logical mind.” The rest of lunch was spent talking about everything but ghosts, spirits and visitations. Calli called Jim and he agreed to meet the two of them at Sally’s house this evening. Finally she felt like she’d get some answers and some resolution to all her misgivings about spirits and ghosts. Grabbing a large ice cream cone from the Dairy Barn, Calli headed home to see where he’d put the bee hives. Wonder if the two little bees will follow him there? Better than them buzzing around me while I’m trying to work in the garden!

  Chapter 14 The Hives Because she had the prospect of getting some answers tonight, Calli felt better after talking to Sally. And the fact that Jim had agreed to come over too gave her the reassurance that he wasn’t going to disappear when things got a little weird, at least in her mind things had gotten plenty weird in the last 24 hours. When she arrived at the farm, Calli noticed that her grandfather was down at the pond with the skid loader. That means he has moved the hives and is getting ready for bees to arrive she thought. Her curiosity wouldn’t let her ignore that fact that Roger was there prepping everything and she had to go see what was happening. Did he need to play a magic flute and woo the bees into the hive, or do some sort of bee dance? Her imagination was giving her a little comic relief after last night’s events and the unsettling feeling she had about her grandfather’s supposed talking to a ghost. She hoped that being lighthearted this afternoon would set the mood and he wouldn’t say anything more about this. She didn’t know what she would say if he did. After tonight’s talk with Sally and Jim she would be ready, but not now.

  “How was Sally? I see that you stopped at the Dairy Barn by the looks of the front of your shirt.” Calli looked down and there were ice cream drips down the front of her shirt. “At least I didn’t have the chocolate coat, and then there’d be blobs of chocolate drips too! How are the hives?” Roger wiped the sweat from his brow; the sun was quite hot this afternoon, “Well, I think I have them in exactly the same place they were before when my grandfather and I were keeping the bees. I checked the trees around the pond and didn’t see any swarms. So we are going to have to count on Mother Nature and the Bee Gods to bring some here. I’ll put some honey inside the combs and see what happens.” The exact same spot that almost seemed eerie to her, but that would make sense too. If they had been successful here before why not now? The two of them sat under the shade of a willow tree on the edge of the pond. “Seems like it got too hot today to do much else. I think I’ll go back to the house and take a little nap. Last night kind of tuckered me out. All that attention when nothing happened really. Lucky that I’m old and they just decided it was me losing my mind. I did tell the ambulance crew that I had been talking to my grandfather and I know they didn’t believe me one little bit.” Roger shook his head, wondering why no one understood. Calli was aghast that he’d told anyone else about talking to a ghost. Oh, boy, wait until that gets around town, she won’t be able to go anywhere without people staring at her and whispering things behind her back, ‘you know her grandfather is losing his mind, talking to ghosts and such’. Calli wasn’t ready to deal with this, she needed the right comeback when people got going, and small towns are good in one way and not so good in another. People watched out for their ne
ighbors, but also could be quite judgmental as well.

  “I’ll have supper ready for you when you get up from your nap. I’m going over to Sally’s tonight for a little girl talk. Anything special you’d like me to fix?” Roger paused and thought, “…I always liked when June stewed some of the fresh tomatoes and added macaroni, not sure why but that’s one of my favorite meals. But you can fix whatever you’d like, I’m not fussy. If you have a little time would you sit here and listen for the bees to arrive?” He had a twinkle in his eyes, knowing that she needed to relax a bit and listening for the bees was a good enough excuse for her to stay here and soak in the good vibes from the water, wind and trees. This felt like a sacred space to Roger and he hoped that someday Calli would feel the good energy that surrounded the pond. “Of, course, I like the tomatoes and macaroni too. I remember when grandmother would fix that, hope I can make it as good as she did. I’ll wait for the bees to arrive, but if it’s after dark you’d better come and get me!” She tried to keep her voice light and not get too concerned that he was going to take a nap. He never took a nap that just wasn’t in his nature. They hugged; he climbed up on the tractor and headed back to the barn.

  Calli leaned back on the trunk of the willow tree, feeling the wind gently sway the branches. She closed her eyes and let her thoughts go, all the thoughts about her grandfather and his encounter with a ghost and all the thoughts about his going senile. Peace and quiet was what she was hoping to have this afternoon, and definitely peace of mind. The birds sang to her, she knew that the most melodious one was the cat bird. The call definitely sounded like a cat and several other birds, she wondered if the bird was related to the mocking bird. Without realizing it, she drifted off to sleep. The sounds of nature had given her a rest from all the crazy thoughts that were overtaking her today. It was a dreamless sleep, and very restful. When she awoke, she stretched and noticed that the sun was low in the sky; it was probably later than she realized. Knowing it would take awhile for the tomatoes to cook, she got up quickly ready to get supper started. Suddenly she heard something faint, it almost sounded like a far away buzz. No, it couldn’t be. She started walking and the sound got a little louder. Stopping to listen, she turned her head in the direction of the sound. It really did sound like a buzz, maybe even the buzz of a bee. Oh, that would be absolutely too weird – even impossible. But there it was again, this time she turned and started walking towards where she thought the sound was coming from. And there on the far side of the pond stood a very ancient looking tree, one that she’d never paid much attention to. And the buzz was almost starting to sound like bees, and not just a couple bees but many bees. This was starting to feel like she had stepped into the past, because that’s exactly what her grandfather had told her. When he was a boy, he found a swarm of bees inside the hollow of a dead tree near the pond. How could that tree still be here and how crazy would it be if there were actually a swarm of bees still living here? Before she could get any closer, there were two bees that started buzzing around her. Oh, my God! Was it the two that kept annoying her in the garden, the ones who had led her to the hives in the machine shed? Yep, twilight zone, the crazy place. She had stepped into a parallel dimension and was reliving her grandfather’s experience. Wanting to run away as fast as she could, Calli knew that she had to look and see if there was a swarm inside the tree. She found a stump and rolled it over so she could peek inside the hollow. And the closer she got, the louder the buzz. Being careful not to get stung, she peeked inside for just a half a second, and that was long enough to know that it really was the bees making the noise. Climbing down off the stump, she walked away noticing that the two pesky bees had disappeared. Guess they had accomplished their mission, got me to find the bees. And just how did grandfather know that I’d find these bees? Had he already found them and wanted me to be the one to discover them? Making this like a rerun of his own experience with his grandfather? So many questions and not a single answer. Calli didn’t know what she thought or what she wanted to believe. Her very simple, normal life was beginning to turn into a mystery with characters from times past appearing. Too much, all of this was too much.

  When Calli reached the kitchen, she smelled tomatoes, Roger had already put them in the pot to stew and they smelled delicious. There was another pan set out to boil the macaroni in and the bag of macaroni was sitting right beside it on the counter. She looked at the clock and realized that she too had taken quite a long nap. Roger was nowhere to be found. Not in the living room, not in his room not on the porch. She decided to go look in the machine shed, not knowing exactly why because most of the stuff in there had long out lived its usefulness, other than being in a museum of old farm equipment. And that’s exactly where she found him, sitting on a metal seat to some old piece of equipment. He looked up and grinned at her, “I remember watching my grandfather sit on this while the horses pulled the plow. It took a very long time to get a field plowed with a one bottom plow.” He looked in the distance, like the memory was playing across a screen in his mind. “Those were the best horses; remember that Bob saved my life?” Yes, that story was etched in her mind forever. “Yes, I remember Grandfather. What are you doing out here?” He seemed to come back from his memories, “I came looking for the smoker that we used to use to quiet the bees. I thought for sure it was out here by the hives, but then I saw the old plow and wanted to sit on it myself. I was never allowed to drive the team, they were too big for me to handle. So I was just doing it in my own mind. Never did spot the smoker. Would you help me look for it?” Together they climbed over all the pieces of equipment that were of another era and as they moved around the shed, Roger explained how each one was used on the farm. Calli was amazed at how much was involved in farming with horses. Her generation had no clue how to use any of this equipment. Riding inside an air conditioned cab on top of a huge diesel tractor seemed light years away from sitting on a metal seat of a plow being pulled by a team of horses. In the very last corner of the shed, Roger shouted, “Here it is!” He sounded like he’d struck gold. Calli knew that they could order a new one from the internet and it would be here in a couple of days, but this one seemed to have the more character than a brand new shiny one. “This is what kept me from going into the hospital again. I’ll show you how it works when we find some bees for our hives.” Calli had almost forgotten, she had gotten caught up in her grandfather’s memories and stories. “Oh, Grandfather! You aren’t going to believe what I found down by the old oak tree at the back of the pond!” He turned his head quickly, “Did you say the old oak tree? That’s the tree where I first found the swarm of bees. Don’t tell me they are still there after all these years?” His face was both hopeful and doubtful all at the same time. “The old oak tree, the one with the hollow about half way up. I had to get a stump rolled over so I could look inside. I had heard what I thought was the buzz of bees, but didn’t believe it was possible. I thought you were teasing me when you told me to wait for the bees to arrive. Well, actually two did start buzzing my head. Just like in the garden, when they led me to the hives here in the shed. And when I looked in it was just like you had told me. The biggest swarm of bees I’ve ever seen, actually the only swarm of bees I’ve ever seen.” Roger just laughed and laughed and laughed. He seemed to think this was the funniest thing ever, “Well, I’ll be a monkey’s uncle. They are living exactly where I found them more than 70 years ago. That beats all.” They talked about the bees and how they were going to entice them into the hive and how the smoker worked and then began to plan their next phase of the bee keeping. Both of them were pulled into the dream of bees and having honey and bee pollen and propolis. That night sitting at the supper table eating stewed tomatoes from their garden along with the macaroni seemed like a heavenly experience, one that no one else would understand, but they both were content living in the dreams of yesteryear. The way things were the simple life of a one bottom plow, a swarm of bees and simple food grown in their own garden, nourishing them better than a
ny modern vitamin supplement ever could.

  Chapter 15 Ghost Stories With the dishes put away and the left overs stored in the refrigerator, Calli was ready to head over to Sally’s for her evening of what she’d labeled ‘ghost stories’. She had no idea what lay ahead but she was definitely hoping to have a better understanding of what had happened to her grandfather and maybe find a way to relate this into her own belief system, the one that involved everything she could see or touch, not the invisible imaginary world of spirits and ghosts. Jim’s van was already at Sally’s when she arrived. As she was stepping up to the front door, she could hear them laughing and carrying on, sounded like they were having fun, and there was almost a streak of jealousy rising up her back. After all, she was the one dating Jim, not Sally. Checking her emotional state, Calli wondered if she was developing feelings for Jim, why else would she be feeling this way? Sally was her best friend, granted Sally didn’t have the best ‘picker’ in the world. All of the guys she had dated were not suited for her and ultimately always broke her heart and ran off with her cash and her dignity. Knocking first, she let herself in, she’d always done that at Sally’s house, Calli found them sitting very close to each other on the couch and looking at the high school year book. “Oh, my God! You aren’t showing him my yearbook pictures are you? My hair was the most awful style I could have ever had.” Sally, laughed, “Everyone’s hair style was awful. That’s why we are laughing. And we thought we were hot stuff back then.” Sally seemed relaxed and Jim patted the cushion beside him, “Come sit beside me and have a few laughs with us. I’ve never seen such a great looking group of girls, even if their hair was teased to the heavens.”