Bees and Belligerence
Bees
I have taken some time to really notice the bees going about their business around my yard. I highly recommend it. I am amazed not only in their numbers--they are especially attracted to lavender and catmint (Nepeta sp.) blooms--but also in their diversity.
I cannot tell the difference between some of the native bees and European honeybees, but I would wager that there are at least a dozen or so species that visit my garden, based on subtle variations of striping, color, and shading.
A rainbow of flowers including daisies, lilies, bindweed, sunflowers, yarrow, poppies, and now squash blooms also add to the diversity of pollinators in the yard, with multiple honeybees, bumblebees, wasps, hoverflies, beeflies, hummingbirds, and butterflies. Not only do certain species prefer certain plants, but also different times of day. The giant black carpenter bee ventures out to the larkspur in the late afternoon, while moths come by the lavender once the sun has set to pick over whatever pollen scraps were left behind by the honeybees.
I bring my head inches to the bees in fascination, wonder, and appreciation. I have not been stung.
Belligerence
There are fewer bees over at the garden at McManus Elementary, which was hit yet again by vandals who pulled up plants, added graffiti to newly donated benches, and kicked in the wire mesh on the new compost bins.
On May 29 I wrote that I was "sad and frustrated." Now I am angry. Part of me wants to camp out day and night and catch the vandals, and see them do community service. But I actually don't live in that part of town, so part of me wants to blame the community for not keeping a watchful eye over their school. But what about the police? What about the school district? What about those who are responsible for the vandals and their upbringing--parents, teachers, the greater Chico community?
But blame does not rebuild a school garden.
When they say that war, violence, and poverty are sustainability issues, I am sure many people think of faraway places such as India, or Darfur, or the Middle East.
But violence and vandalism in our own communities are sustainability issues too.
The evidence is at McManus Elementary, where callous footprints have been sunk deep into the garden beds, in the place where seedlings should be sprouting.