The pond and piles of leaves. Click for larger image.

Raking and picking up the fall live-oak leaves has been overdue.  Not only that but living on top of a hill with never-ending breezes blowing the tiny leaves into the waterfall and pond, add to and make the job more tedious and longer!  Then it soon reaches the filter which protects the pump, which quickly needs cleaning too!  Last week and this week I have been Yard Man, Pond-n-Pump Man, and like the honey bees we have around, doing it all under the influence and motivation of my loud vocal trance music and the smell of jasmine:  the Dancing Yard Pond-n-Pump Man.  I must admit, there might be a better way of completing these spring chores, but for me there’s no other enjoyable way of doing them.

As I was cleaning out the pond, treating the water with algae killer, and rebuilding the goldfishes’ rock covered hideaway, I could not help noticing the number of honey bees buzzing me.  They didn’t seem to be as interested in me as they were the water and Lilly-flowers; no need for alarm.  They are worker bees obeying their Queen to go out, seek and find the stuff of food and honey for the hive.  Such is the system of life in springtime.  But curiously when I was at my laptop adjusting the volume from loud to louder, four to six of those buzzers were buzzing my speakers, sometimes the laptop.  I thought “Now that is curious!”  Why were they so interested in my speakers?  Or were they interested in what was coming out of my speakers?  Then I thought “Hah!  They must be Vocal Trance and dance lovers just like me!”  And that’s when it hit me…. bees communicate with each other by specific dances and by the flapping (or buzzing) of their wings:  vibrations/sound waves.

I, like the bees, was working harder by my music and its vibrations.

While I continued to clean the pond and sit next to my music on the laptop to take breathers, I had no reason to be bothered by the honey bees.  In a sense, we were both doing the same work, for our home/hive.  We were dancing busy bees.  We would come over to the music, feel it, and be re-energized.  Then it was back to dancing…. back to work.

Being the inquisitor that I am, I decided to lookup how honey bees communicate with each other.  Scientists have learned that bees talk to each other in remarkably similar ways humans do.  Of their five senses, honey bees communicate through pheromones and choreography.  Think about it, other than talking, how do we like to communicate when we are out in public?  Certain perfumes and cologne mix well with our body’s skin oils, or pheromones.  Other than talking, how else do we communicate?  By how we move.  Honey bees tell each other where a food source is by doing a waggle dance.  All the worker bees (or in this case, dancing bees) pick up on it.  For people our motions and manners convey who we are and what we are doing.  Honey bees are not much different.

Our jasmine vine and blossoms

Speaking of attractive smells, there was a spot in the yard I particularly liked to work and work slowly.  It was downwind of the jasmine vines.  If you have not smelled fresh jasmine blooms, then you are missing out on one of nature’s sweetest addicting aromas you’ll ever have the pleasure of inhaling.  Whoa!  I asked myself, is there a way to bottle this or roll it and smoke it?  Or put it in a low-burning oil fragrance bowl?  Holy cow, is there a support group Jasmine-Anonymous for jasmine addicts?  Because I’ll become a lifer!  And no surprise, guess who else enjoyed the blossoms?  My waggling work buddies the honey bees.

As a young boy growing up who had to rake and pick up all the leaves in our huge yard, and inevitably come down with allergies and sinus drainage and swelling, I never looked forward to or enjoyed early spring.  However, this time was very different.  This time I could blast my inspiring music, work and dance with the bees, and the entire time take big whiffs of jasmine like I was inhaling that cigarette after incredible sex.  Though I don’t smoke, I know smokers know what I’m talking about.

In a weird way I want the work to go slowly.  I’m enjoying it.  I guess you would have to be here to understand.

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