Emily's Garden (Blogophilia 8.11)

The trowel slipped into the black paste. Emily felt the cool slickness, rubbing dark flecks into her red hair. Dark streaks covered her t-shirt. Didn't matter to her. This was fun. Where most people saw mud, she saw flowers and they were good. The bath waiting when they got through would be good, too. She wouldn’t be able to see the tub through the water. With a tug, a dandelion came loose and landed in the wicker basket. None of them had made puff balls yet. Mama said it was too early. Too bad, she wanted a cloud to chase.

it was a mission, get a full basket of different plants for her school's project. In the process, the flower beds in the front of the house get cleaned up for spring. They pulled viny begonias from the stone curb and creeping clematis off the porch. Yellow, pink and purple flowers, their bright colors contrasting against their dark green stems. Yard trash to most people, but not to Emily. It was God's bountiful bouquet.

The next row was a line of purple and white iris Mama had planted before she was born. A fat yellow bee landed on it, probing it. She backed away from the plant and pointed.

"Oooh!! Mama!! A bee!"

"That's fine, but be careful, Sweetie." Mama said without looking up. "If you don't bother him, he won't bother you."

With out thinking, Emily reached out her palm. Nonplussed, the bee lifted off and floated over to the trellised rose against the wall to continue his search. It dipped up and down like a dancer at a barre. The little girl watched, fascinated, as the creature went from blossom to blossom, occasionally stopping to scrape fragile legs. Emily pulled on Mama's sleeve and she looked up.

"What's he doing?

Mama sat back on her haunches.

"Collecting pollen and nectar so his friends can make the honey you put on your toast for breakfast."

"Really?" Emily was confused. "I thought honey came from the store."

"Well, yes we buy ours at the store." Mama answered, knowing more questions were coming. "But the bees make it."

"How does it work?"

"You know the green stuff on the car?"

"Yeah, it looks yucky."

"The green stuff is pollen. Mr. Bee goes from flower to flower looking for the bestest tasting green stuff. He'll start at one, pick some up. Then he gets to the next flower and finds out it's better or they have nectar, so he'll trade for it."

Emily's eyes narrowed. "Sounds like a lot of work."

"Not to the bee. It's his job to get the best stuff for his buddies back at the hive." Kathy put her hand up to the little girl’s ear. "Guess what? The leader of the hive is called a Queen."

That got her attention immediately

"A place where girls rule?"

Mama knew they weren’t going to get any more done for awhile. She settled cross legged on the ground and motioned for Emily sit beside her.

"They do there. The Queen is the leader the boys bees bring the pollen and nectar to feed her. She eats and eats and the leftovers are honey."

The gears ran in her mind. Suddenly a flash went across her face.

"So honey is girl bee poop? And the boys eat it?"

Mama giggled.

"Yes, Emily. The boys get the bad end of the stick here."

"Good." She hugged her mother. "What good are boys, anyway?"

"They are the bees to our flowers."

Emily thought for moment, then her eyes got wide.

"Is Daddy your bee?"

Mama pulled the heart shaped necklace out of her loose fitting blouse and looked lovingly at it.

"Always and forever. I carry his heart with me. I carry it in my heart."

Emily's face scrunched up in distaste.

"You're getting mushy, Mom."

Mama took her grubby daughter into her lap and nuzzled the messy head. Emily took the locket and opened it.The picture of Mama, Daddy and her smiled back. With a kiss, she closed it and slipped it back under her Mama's collar.

"Oh, I know. And you will, too, when you get a little older."

Turning Emily around to face her, Kathy continued the explaination.

"What the flower gets out of it is something to make seeds from. Remember when we planted those Zinnias seeds on the other side of the house? The ground got warm and it began to grow. After a while a flower bud came and opened up. After a while, a bee like that one, or maybe a bird, brought pollen to the flower. The pollen melts with the flowers and makes fruits and seeds. We plant the seeds and they grow back into flowers. It’s all a big circle"

"Weeds?"

"Yes, Sweetie. Even weeds."

“And boys and girls?

Mama didn’t answer that one. She picked up the basket and walked toward the kitchen door.

"Let's see if we picked enough here for your project. Peanut Butter and Bee Poop for lunch?"

Emily giggled.

"Yeah!"

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Topic-Colleen Keller Breuning

Pic (new one)- Dahlia Ramone

Pic guesses: Dandelion (in blog), bountiful bouquet (in blog) bright colors (in blog), Life, Friendship bouquet, Yellow, pink and purple (in blog), lillies, Iris (in blog),