• Home
  • About
  • Categories
    • Animals
    • Books
    • Catholic
    • Diet
    • Entertainment
    • Friends + Family
    • Greatest Hits
    • House
    • Instructions
    • Jumble
    • KonMari / WMP / Decluttering Flavor of the Month
    • Library
    • Mind + Body
  • Library
  • Contact

Pancakes & French Fries

Day 79 of walking

Books· Mind + Body

21 Mar

The walk in the rain tonight wasn’t as bad as I anticipated. It was comfortably cool and quiet; nice.

The craziest thing happened at school today! We had a bee swarm! The queen landed in the shade of a rain gutter right by our aftercare room. It reminded me of The Bees: A novel, a book I read last year that combined The Handmaid’s Tale and The Hunger Gamesbut changed all the characters to bees. I bought the book because (1) I love bees* (see: honeycomb pattern of one of my first blog designs) and (2) the idea of a story told from the perspective of an insect was impossible to resist. Here’s the synopsis so you don’t have to click over to Amazon.

Flora 717 is a sanitation worker, a member of the lowest caste in her orchard hive where work and sacrifice are the highest virtues and worship of the beloved Queen the only religion. But Flora is not like other bees. With circumstances threatening the hives survival, her curiosity is regarded as a dangerous flaw but her courage and strength are an asset. She is allowed to feed the newborns in the royal nursery and then to become a forager, flying alone and free to collect pollen. She also finds her way into the Queen’s inner sanctum, where she discovers mysteries about the hive that are both profound and ominous.

But when Flora breaks the most sacred law of all–daring to challenge the Queens fertility–enemies abound, from the fearsome fertility police who enforce the strict social hierarchy to the high priestesses jealously wedded to power. Her deepest instincts to serve and sacrifice are now overshadowed by an even deeper desire, a fierce maternal love that will bring her into conflict with her conscience, her heart, her society–and lead her to unthinkable deeds.

It’s as great and bizarre as it sounds.

* Bees are such amazing creatures. I’m allergic to them, but I can’t hate them for their power to kill me. They’re wickedly smart with a complex society/social structure. They also have a democratic process more effective than anything humans have come up with at this point.

Share this:

  • Facebook
  • Pinterest
  • Twitter
  • Email
  • Reddit

2 Comments

« Day 76, 77, and 78 of walking
Day 80 of walking »

Comments

  1. Kathryn says

    March 21, 2017 at 9:57 pm

    I’m SO GLAD you recognized the swarm! So many people panic when they see them (even though it’s the point where the bees are the most docile they will EVER be), and go crazy with insecticide. It breaks my heart. :-( And yes, bees are amazing (as are ants, and termites!)- they show the incredible power that comes from many small individuals working together towards a common goal.

    Reply
  2. Jen A says

    March 22, 2017 at 4:20 am

    I’m actually reading The Bees right now – I’m about 2/3 done, and it’s SO GREAT! Bees are fascinating creatures…

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Hello & Welcome


Friedrich Nietzsche said that all truly great thoughts are conceived by walking. We’ll see about that.

  • Email
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • Twitter

Join the List

Latest from Instagram

Categories

  • Animals
  • Books
  • Catholic
  • Diet
  • Entertainment
  • Friends + Family
  • Greatest Hits
  • House
  • Instructions
  • Jumble
  • KonMari / WMP / Decluttering Flavor of the Month
  • Library
  • Mind + Body
  • Uncategorized

Blogroll

  • Door Sixteen
  • The Gardener's Cottage
  • Heart of Light
  • Howe We Live
  • Raising Colorado

Search

Archives

Copyright © 2019 · Refined theme by Restored 316

loading Cancel
Post was not sent - check your email addresses!
Email check failed, please try again
Sorry, your blog cannot share posts by email.