As much as I love living surrounded by trees, at this time of year, it kind of drives me crazy. Our house is bathed in darkness. All the time. There is moss on all the pavers and stairs and the lights are always on. Trying to dry clothes (I don't have a dryer) is a nightmare. I basically chase the sun in the backyard with a little fold-out clothes horse and move that around on the deck and throughout the yard and then eventually inside until I get dry clothes usually after a few days 😂 I'm essentially living in the arctic circle minus narwhals (which incidentally my normally very smart husband just discovered were real life actually-of-this-world-not-even-made-up animals the other day 😂).
And with the lack of sun, comes the severe reduction in insects. After finally attracting native bees to my yard, they have all since disappeared but the European Honeybees, well they persist regardless! The camellias are buzzing, literally, with the bees fighting over pollen filled flowers, crawling over each other, kicking one another out when it gets too crowded, their faces sprinkled with pollen grains. I actually loved trying to squeeze in amongst the action to get these photos. The bees weren't scared of me in the slightest, brushing against me as they navigated to the flowers, the wind from the beating of their wings sending a cool breeze over my hands and even moving strands of hair from in front of my face!
So weird that such little critters can have such an impact on the environment around them, both good and bad. I'm sure there's a great metaphor for life in there, but you're all smart and I haven't even started making dinner yet, so I'll leave it to you to make of it what you will. Or, just look at the pictures. That works too 😊
European Honeybees
Northern Illawarra
