I have a bee in my bonnet, and I might as well let it out here.
Its my pet peeve about bees and wasps. They like me.
While other people sit quietly nearby enjoying dinner alfresco, these tiny torpedoes zero in on me to check the menu. Within seconds they can take a perfectly calm woman and turn her into a whirling high-stepping action figure.
And this is before the bride has had the first dance at her outdoor reception.
I hate to admit it, but their yellow presence can inject me with fear.
So, you can imagine how I felt the other day when I was loading my groceries into the trunk of my hatchback and one showed up. The flying stinger-equipped critter whizzed in with my Earth-friendly bags.
Suddenly, I wasnt feeling so friendly. One of us wasnt going to my house.
By nightfall, people waiting for my parking space had given up.
Dont get me wrong. Im all for honeybees and wasps doing their jive at their hive. They serve a wonderful purpose when theyre not terrorizing me. And if theyll stay away from my place, I wont visit theirs.
Or at least thats been my set of rules in the past.
Now it turns out that the next program Ill host for KTNWs public television show In Steppe has a nature theme. It will include a beekeeper as my guest one who rescues feral hives. Hes invited me to shoot some video of the honeybees up-close to illustrate our interview.
The veteran beekeeper mentioned casually on the phone, It seems like they get a bit agitated when they can smell fear."
UH OH!
Stay tuned for the buzz.
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Waste, fraud, abuse
Waste, fraud, abuse
When Congress can demonstrate that it will no longer send benefit payments to dead people ($600 billion). And when it will no longer fund research into alcohol consumption by Chinese prostitutes ($2.6 million). When they stop building turtle tunnels ($3.4 million). When they stop giving bogus tax refunds to prisoners ($112 million). When they get a handle on the $60 billion of waste and fraud annually at Medicare. If, after they get control of all the wasteful spending in Washington, D.C., they still need more money, I'm sure all the millionaires and billionaires would then gladly pay more in taxes.
Shelly Childress, Richland
Fast Focus: Not calendar bound
Fast Focus: Not calendar bound
Yes, I have kept one resolution; not to make any New Year's resolutions. If I want to change my behavior, I'll resolve to do something, but the calendar has nothing to do with when my behavior should begin to change. I'll select the change and decide when I want to implement it and when I'd like to check on my progress. That can happen at any time of the year.
-- Joseph Caggiano, Richland
Fast focus: No complaints
Fast focus: No complaints
Of all of the places I have lived, the Tri-Cities is the best in winter. Although we seem to have many cloudy overcast days, it is usually warm and dry enough to play golf. Even when there is snow on the ground it usually lasts only a few days. When it is cold and windy, it is usually clear and the sunshine on a cold day feels good.
I'm close enough to ski areas that I can drive to one of several and back and have a good time skiing all in one day; I'm rarely confined to home with really bad weather, and when I do get depressed about the weather I can call either of my sons, the one in Spokane or the one in Seattle and compare our weather to theirs -- we nearly always win.
Finally, when the weather really gets me down I can go to the Tri-Cities airport, get on a plane and fly to somewhere warm.
LOVE TRIANGLE: Walla Walla woman accused of attempted arson
LOVE TRIANGLE: Walla Walla woman accused of attempted arson
Police say a woman poured two cans of gasoline on her ex-boyfriend's kitchen Tuesday and was holding a lighter when she was stopped by his new girlfriend.
Bigger problems
Bigger problems
Let's see, besides having a 10-year-old war, a national deficit that's sky high, rising health costs, and people out of work, we probably should let the government control how much sugar we eat. In fact ... let's make that a number one priority!
We can't even get our Congress to agree on when the president can make his speeches, how on earth can we expect them to agree on how much sugar we should consume? I think our government has enough on its plate without having to worry about sugar!
-- Sue Stroud, Pasco
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