Wellsir, in addition to trying to maintain some semblance of sanity in the world as we see it today, I am trying to get my second book officially started and build some swarm traps using paper mache. Only, before you start to giggle. They will be made of cardboard mache because, wellsir, just because. OK, I want to catch bees who have swarmed and are looking for a new home. I have tried putting out signs advertising my warm and cozy hive boxes but that didn’t seem to work. Let me indent here to explain that when a bee hive gets crowded (and probably some other reasons) they make a new queen and then about half the hive and the old queen all leave. It is really a fascinating process. Maybe next month I will have caught a swarm or two and I can tell you about how it all went.
Every time I tried to get ready to mache this new type swarm trap, the weather did not cooperate. No, this will be a large project and not something one can do in the kitchen; not in my kitchen anyway. It has been discovered that the large, molded flower pots made from something like paper make great traps. It makes my head spin to think someone looked at these pots and said: “Hey I betcha bees would love to live there.” With the swarm season starting early this year I want to have some ready for new tenants. And the work has to be done outside and I don’t do cold or rain. Now that we have finished with a warm winter we have entered into a cold spring. Whoopee (he says sarcastically).
But that isn’t the only thing that has kept me from getting THE book restarted. I now have, as you may remember, two volunteer jobs. I help man one of the information desks at Tulsa International Airport. I get to wear a red blazer, a sporty white polo shirt and black trousers. Also, I get to wear a badge around my neck so I really look official.
There is a problem, however, with a “newbie” at an information desk. We don’t know nothin’. My first trip to the Tulsa airport was in 1962 when I flew back from Los Angeles to interview for some teaching jobs. It was very simple then. Show up ahead of time, check your luggage and go to the proper gate, get on the plane and leave. Not so much anymore.Since 9-11 the restrictions are so hard and complicated it is much easier just to stay home.
But we, the RSVP volunteers, have a job to do. We must be ready to sooth nerves, appear calm and fake whatever we don’t know. Some lady with a cel-phone attached to the side of het head said the taxi was waiting at the flag pole. My partner lady, who is a veteran at this desk, and I looked at each other with blank stares as we each waited for the other to respond. I told her where I knew it used to be and she went looking. The reason for our lack of knowledge is the airport complex is undergoing major, major construction. If it looked like “this” some months ago, it does no longer look like that and probably isn’t there. I went outside and found it so we would no next time.
I also discovered there was no way a taxi could park near the flag pole. Oh well... Last week a lady came by and said her ride was waiting next to the Will Rogers statue. I still haven’t found that. As we left that day, both my partner and I started looking and finally separated in the parking lot totally unsuccessful. Remind me next week to do a complete search. It must be there somewhere.
New topic: As I shall not be sending for the month of April I tried to restart my blog at Blogspot.com. It is not a user friendly blog but,thehenryettan.com publishes this and Mr. Jones runs a very good web paper. I think you would enjoy reading it to see how an e-newspaper should be done.
Check it and look under opinions and columns heading. Later, I am going to try Weebly again. I will spend some time trying to learn Weebly (as I failed the first few times) and I’ll use the Title of Further Books and Bees as the title for it. Note:that may have to be without spaces.
I will post when/if there is something worthwhile so check occasionally. If Weebly doesn’t work, I may have had to use blogspot, so check there. Wish me luck, I want to have at least the first half of my Nobel Prize winning book finished by the time I come back off my sabbatical. Until then, Vaya Con Dios.
