Day 1: They're Here

We are now the proud hosts of 2 colonies of sweet mild mannered Italian honey bees. Hived them yesterday. My daughter Anita took some great pictures. The extra safety gear didn't arrive in time so she had to go veil-less. Not a touch of fear. She's a natural. No stings at all. I
guess this is typical - they have nothing yet to protect. No honey, no brood.


My best friend of all time from elementary school posted this on facebook today

'We cannot put off living until we are ready. The most salient characteristic of life is its urgency, "here and now" without any possible postponement. Life is fired at us point blank.' -- Jose Ortega Y Gasset - (Spanish Philosopher)

I was reading a little about his philosophy (thanks Wikipedia):

famous maxim "Yo soy yo y mi circunstancia" ("I am myself and my circumstance")

Jose Ortega y Gasset wrote that "life is at the same time fate and freedom, and that freedom is being free inside of a given fate. Fate gives us an inexorable repertory of determinate possibilities, that is, it gives us different destinies. We accept fate and within it we choose one destiny. In this tied down fate we must therefore be active, decide and create a 'project of life'—thus not be like those who live a conventional life of customs and given structures who prefer an unconcerned and imperturbable life because they are afraid of the duty of choosing a project."

In all the excitement, we locked ourselves out of the house. The hive tool came in handy! Before it was ever used on the hive!

The buzz around basecamp these days is Avatar the Last Airbender - M. Night Shyamalan is making a trilogy the first of which comes out on July 2. We are watching the original cartoon series right now. In a book 2 episode, Prince Zuko is complaining to Uncle Iroh about their present circumstances.

Zuko says "..This city is a prison. I don't want to make a life here."
Wise old tea swilling fire bending peace loving Iroh responds: "Life happens wherever you are whether you make it or not."

This is the queen from our 'FlashMob' colony. She will need to stay in her cage for a few more days. They have only been together for 1 day and if she is released now, they will most likely kill her!