Article Contributed on: 7/1/2009 3:05:56 PM
Catchy title, eh? I can't take the credit...I got it from a nice young (6 yo) friend of mine. I heard him walking around trying to find his left shoe and saying "Jesus Crickets!" over and over again. Since I am not this boy's parent, I did not correct him--not that I would have, even if I'd been his parent, as I was too busy laughing my arse off, but when I was a kid, words like "Jesus" and "Christ" and "God" were only allowed in church or at the dinner table during prayer. I think my young friend could have done worse--much worse.
Life in the Cole neighborhood thrums merrily along. My health is holding steady, and I have just discovered a new doctor in Scottsdale, AZ, who justmay hold the key to my complete recovery--if nothing else, I can finally talk to someone who connects my illness dots. I feel like that song "I can see clearly now/The rain has gone" except the rain is more like a drizzle (not gone) and I can't say my vision is totally clear per se...but I don't feel so hopeless all the time. It's amazing what validation does, how much lighter I feel now. I'll be heading to Scottsdale sometime in August, I think. O, what a WONDERFUL time to be in southern Arizona! Maybe it'll be 110 degrees! Ugh.
But Cole. Things are changing fast. At the beginning of May, members of the Whittier Neighborhood Association held a "spring fling" in Madame CJ Walker Park. There were informational booths, food, and a huge plant sale/exchange. I cannot tell you how cool it was to walk a few blocks to a localpocket park and see people milling about, talking, laughing, sharing. This would NOT have happened 5, 7 years ago. Turned out we were two of three people there who lived in Cole, at least that's what we could tell by those who signed the registration sheet. We met a nice woman named Clara who lives on York--she offered to give us her USE ONLY WHAT YOU NEED Denver water sign. We also met Julie, a hobbyist beekeeper, who was demonstrating the top bar hive method of beekeeping. We talked to Julie for a long time. Her tales of the bees were absolutely fascinating. Julie mentioned that she and some other beekeepers were organizing a top bar hive info session for later on in the summer ... we could sign up if we were interested. And we were.
We also scored big at the plant exchange--we'd brought some tomato and snapdragon starts, along with heirloom seeds from the Seed Exchange, and ended up trading for radish seed, a Mr. Stripey tomato, a japanese climbing cuke and some yellow squash. There were so many plants! It was good to see neighborhood folks, some of whom were obviously struggling financially, stop by the plant table and leave with something for their gardens. I recall an older Asian woman, stooped over, her head covered in a floral scarf. She looked confused; how much were the plants? "They're free," said one of the volunteers.The old woman's eyes brightened. "Free?" she repeated? Soon after she walked away with one of our tomato plants and several packages of veggie & herb seeds.
Just last night we went to the first of our top bar beekeeping "classes." They're not really formal classes, just a group of hobbyists who thought it would be nice to spread the word on keeping bees--how it doesn't have to be complicated or expensive, and anyone can do it. We met at awoman's house in the San Raphael neighborhood, or at least somewhere near that historic district, and spent three hours (!!!) talking bees. I didn't notice the time, really, because I was too busy taking in all the information. The presenter, Sharon, is obviously passionate about what she does (though I don't believe she's a professional beekeeper) and loves talking about bees. I think you'd have to be braindead or in a coma or the most boring person on earth to NOT love hearing about the life of a honey bee. It's *that* interesting. We could learn a lot from these busy, single-minded creatures--how to work together in harmony, the importance of constant communication, the preciousness of each and every life. Bees don't mess around--they don't dilly dally like flies, or float around aimlessly, looking for blood, like mosquitos. Every bee has a job to do, and that's all that matters. That and, of course, the Queen.
It's too late in the season to build our own hive, but build one we will, probably this winter.I think most of the people who gathered at Sharon's house will continue on this new journey toward keeping bees...which leads to maintaining gorgeous flowers, producing luscious fruit and veggies, and, if you're so inclined, harvesting more honey than you can imagine would come from a hive the size of a 30in television. One of the beekeepers said that she read how, in Denver at the turn of the 20th century, 1/5 of the city's population kept bees. It was
the thing to do. Now, with rampant colony collapse disorder, the need for wild bees is greater than ever. Let's face it: In Denver, every tree was planted, and many of the plants are not native to this area. Honeybees aren't native to the United States either, which means they play a critical role in pollinating non-native species.The bakyard hobbyists, according to Sharon, are filling a much needed gap, one that large commercial operations-- often outfitted with
Langstroth hivesor other, larger, faster producing hives -- cannot. (To see the difference between traditional Langstroth hives and top bar hives, see some basic info
here.)
And remember Clara, the woman I mentioned from the Spring Fling? She was on the list for the beekeeping info session, so was part of the email thread that went around to interested parties. Through that. she emailed me and invited us over for a BBQ/garage sale onJuly 4th. Her partner, John,attendedlast night's session, and I finally put two and two together...John had been the one sitting outside his house on York, registering voters and taking applications for mail-in ballots last year. I'd also met him at some politically-oriented gatherings during the lead-up to the presidential election. Turns out John and Clara keep bees too. It's a small world, indeed, and it's buzzing.