How is your Spring going where you are? Here in Omaha, we are enjoying Spring-y mornings and retreating into our air-conditioned dwellings in the afternoons. I am, anyway. I’ve settled into a schedule with work, workouts, teaching, and writing. The flowers are blooming, the bees are buzzing, and I’m getting rid of more clutter - more stuff.

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Now that I am back home in Omaha and working again in the (Steve’s) garden, I am noticing the bees. They are so happy, busy, and drunk on pollen. They even seem a bit greedy, looking weighed down enough with pollen to return to the hive, but continuing about their business as if gravity does not affect them. Do you know which native species of bees you see feeding on the nectar in your garden? Do you garden for yourself, the neighbors, the butterflies, the birds, or maybe the rabbits? I love tomatoes, so those are for me and Susan and not for the rabbits, but in Steve’s garden - everything else is grown, tended, and nurtured for the bees. If not for them, there would be no tomatoes.

Wind and water are pollinators. So are flies. Moths, butterflies, wasps, beetles and bees are the most well-known. We need these pollinators to pay frequent visits to our non-ambulatory flower friends. But the bees are the master pollinators.

My grandfather raised honeybees on his farm in Manitoba. He ordered the bees from a catalog (can I order rabbit-predators from a catalog?), and they came by train each spring. It was hard to winter them over due to a Canada-cold basement, though he tried a few times. Usually, he had two to three hives. My own father recalls: “We had an extractor where you put the combs into holding brackets and spun the extractor by a handle that rotated the drum. The honey would fly out of the combs, run down the walls of the circular drum and then be drained off into cans or jars. Always good honey.” This process of extraction keeps the combs intact so they can be refilled by the bees.

Honeybees live in managed or wild hives with 20 - 50 thousand bees. The queen can live up to four years, and the hive will stockpile honey and survive the winter. If they sting you (or anything else), they die.

Bumblebees are plumper, cuter, and the more robust pollinator because of their ability to “buzz-pollinate” by flexing their flight muscles to shake pollen out of flowers. They are responsible for the existence of your tomatoes. They can sting multiple times without dying but will only attack if you piss them off.

May 20 is the recognized birthday of Anton Jansa (1734-1773), who is considered to be one of the pioneers of modern beekeeping. World Bee Day was established by the United Nations in 2017 to honor Anton and to raise awareness of the importance of bees as pollinators, and to apiculture - beekeeping - which is happening all over the world today. Even on the rooftops of buildings.

While walking along Barrington Street last September in Halifax, Nova Scotia, I stopped to notice the above sign in the window. I thought this was such a great idea - to place beehives on the rooftops of buildings. William, the beekeeper of the Maritime Centre rooftop, explains some of the differences between honeybees and bumblebees:

CBCL - MyHive

CBCL - Halifax

Alveole

Five to ten percent of a honeybee hive is made up of drones. Drones are the male bees of the colony. You can tell a drone apart from the worker (female) bees by their appearance. Drones are significantly larger and have big, black, cartoon-like eyes. They are also extra buzz-y when they fly.

Bumblebees are another bee species that have a colony like Honeybees, but instead of a colony of thousands, these incredible pollinators tend to have colonies of around 300-400 bees. Bumblebees primarily make their nests underground and they also make honey - although it is not in the same quantity as Honeybees. Bumblebees produce small amounts of honey to feed their young and to feed their Queen during the active season, especially during periods when forage is sparse. They store them in these little wax “pots.” They also make something called “Bee Bread” which is a combination of pollen and nectar, which is essential for feeding their larvae.

The next time you are in your yard, garden, or neighborhood park, take notice of the bees. Talk to the bees. Determine if it is a bumble or honeybee and thank them for their efforts to keep you fed.

Bee City USA

Blessings & Love,

In addition to my enjoyment of the everyday sights and sounds, I appreciate a good smell. I have tried and failed year after year to keep enough space free in my suitcase to bring back laundry detergent from the UK. In 2022, I had secured space for a delightful bottle of watermelon-scented Surf liquid laundry detergent that, unlike liquid bottles of detergent here in the States, was reasonably sized - about twice the size of a bottle of dish soap. It made it all the way to Edinburgh and my final night before flight departure - until the suitcase repacking ritual. I could no longer fit it in, so I left it behind with a pair of sneakers. The next year, the watermelon scent was discontinued.

The advertising execs in the UK are on a different and more elevated level than those here in the US. Therefore, I find it worth a bit of discussion. For example, they call fabric softener fabric conditioner. Evidently, a few of them at the Lenor company (the maker of the product) were sitting in a room one day, and someone looking like Darren Stevens from Bewitched said, “How can we create a new fabric softener (conditioner) marketing angle? I know, let’s target indoor drying-rack clothes that often end up smelling musty due to the dampness and the resulting mildew. We could call the product Outdoorable.” They then named the scents Spring Awakening, Golden Sunset, Northern Solstice, Dreamy Jasmine, Pink Blossom, and “Floral Fresh Musty Odour Defense 50.” I’d say, job well done.

Before leaving the UK, I washed my backpack and a travel bag with regular “non-bio” laundry detergent and then used a sample of the Spring Awakening version of the fabric softener/conditioner. (Someone should come up with a formula for hair conditioner and call it hair softener.) “Non-bio” is a thing in the UK and means there are no active enzymes in the detergent, which can trigger allergies in some people. Three weeks later, my backpack still smells fragrantly floral, and I keep asking my friends to smell it. It’s the little things in life that make me happy.

While searching online for this product, I saw this question: “What do the Amish use for laundry detergent?” That just seemed so random, but nope - there is an Amish soap company in Millersburg Ohio called Amish Country Soap Company.

About three years ago during the (my) obsession with the Surf-line of laundry detergent, my friend Christina was so horrified (like Tide and Purex, it’s full of chemicals), she got me a sample kit of Tallow & Ash laundry shampoo and conditioner for Christmas. (Laundry shampoo!!)

Now, let’s go do the laundry.

Blessings & Hugs,

OK - I just looked it up for those of you not residing in the Fahrenheit-exclusive US, and the temperature here in Nebraska is 28C. Later today, it will be 33C. That is hot. True, it is not Japan-August humid-hot but it’s hot, nonetheless. Nebraska has been in a drought of some stage since 2020. Everything is dirty and dry. The lilacs were early this year, the morel mushrooms choked out early as well, but we are being blessed with peony blooms at the moment.

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My favorite accent is the Irish. Although, while in the Manchester airport waiting for an Amish family to check their bags, I did chat briefly with a Northern Ireland man from Belfast, and that is now my particularly favorite accent. I could have easily listened to him talk to me all day long about the “travesty that is the Mancheste…

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During my 20s and 30s I would travel in a primarily westerly direction from my home in Nebraska. Not because of anything Horace Greeley quoted in the nineteenth century, but because my aunt lives in Washington State and my uncle lives in California. I had friends in Portland and in-laws in Spokane. Back then, the closest Krishna Das …

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I am back from Ireland and comfortably reacclimating to Nebraska with a mug full of Italian Roast from The Mill in hand and looking forward to a few morel hunting outings in the next few days. Below I share some photos of Dublin and Skreen, Ireland, along with a few favorite Spring photos of Omaha, Nebraska. Cheers to Spring, everywhere in the world…

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What if for just one week you left your car in your garage, (if it’s not acting as a storage unit), gave up the freeway and intercity hassle of navigation and road rage, took a break from the obscene price of gas, and rode the bus?

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Aren’t doors the best? I am especially partial to the ones with the doorknob smack in the middle. A few days ago, I was out on a lamb walk and passed a house with two doors that have the middle knob. In fact, the woman who lives there was outside polishing it!

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Finally. Little lambs are everywhere. I came to the right country at the right time for lambs. I realize they were out there in a field somewhere, but I did not see any in Scotland or England except but from a blurred distance on the bus or from my rental car while it was getting dark and I had another three graveyards t…

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I have shifted gears from chasing the 18th century ghosts of my family ancestry to chasing fictional characters from the 18th century. Specifically, Elizabeth Bennett from Pride and Prejudice. That book and 2005 film adaptation was my sole reason for visiting the Peak District for the last five days, and there ended up being so many other things that made it worthwhile.

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Amy Nachman, one of my longtime Yogis and dear friends, wrote the piece below about her life-altering experience after her husband Alan died in the early fall of 2024. I share this with you as a testament on the importance of community - something I value with the utmost respect and gratitude. My Yoga family is my life. We keep each other company on thi…

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We all have a place in the world where we can travel down a road, a river, or a train track and see the beautiful variations of a single country or place. As I waved a tearful goodbye as my winter-town of Tarbert on the Isle of Harris receded into the oceanic background, I knew I was headed for a bursting Spring with trees and flowers of all sorts, less wind, and the necessity of sunscreen. Pictures speak louder than words, and so, I give you a photo montage of Spring on the mainland of Scotland…

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Friday’s much anticipated and appreciated ferry from the Isle of Harris to the Isle of Skye arrived late (but we were thrilled it arrived at all due to all the recent government drama) and transported us with a faint hint of a sky-moon view on a smooth, late-evening crossing. After waving a sad g…

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Thank God I’m in the UK for another two weeks because I really want to see the new lambs. This year’s extended stay through the first week of April is specifically for this reason. OK - two reasons: the lambs and the gelato truck Italian guys from Sicily that come here to Tarbert for three days in the spring. They arrived Tuesday and set up at the Harris Gin Distillery parking lot across the street where I can happily monitor them. The strawberry is really good. So is the Harris Gin-flavoured one, especially as a double-dip. Tomorrow, I have a date with the mint chocolate chip.

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Before I leave Scotland and head down to England, we must discuss clotted cream. The marketing department or medieval man who invented the name for this cooked-then-cooled butter failed miserably. To my ear and eye, the wo…

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This post marks my imminent departure from the Western Isles of Scotland in two weeks. Every year here is different, offering its various experiences and interactions with people, flora, and fauna. I make new friends, see new sights, learn new things, as well as enjoying familiarities. I will be leaving yet a few more articles of clothing under the stairwell this year along with my winter raincoat, air purifier, hand weights, and Christmas ornaments. Some people summer away - I winter away - with props.

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These are the internal voice musings that flutter around your head when you are from the Midwest and alone on a beach. When clams and razorback clams and cockleshells taunt you with their state of aliveness or deadness because either way, they always present f…

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I am still thinking about the rogue sheep mystery tour from two weeks ago. The local farm sheep that typically graze up the hill decided to have a field trip and somehow crossed the cattle grid at the top and ran down to town. Sure, there is a wee bit of greenery down here, along with the daffodils and snow drops that have fully bloomed, but it is sparse among the concrete parking lots, roads, buildings, moving vehicles, camper vans, and lorries (semi-trucks).

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