Dance of the Bumblebees

It was a fine, sunny spring morning, perfect for getting some yard work done. As I weeded the front flower beds, I heard the buzzing of bumblebees, and stopped to watch them gathering pollen in the azalea bush.

I had brought my tiny pink iPod shuffle and its matching little pink speaker set along outside for entertainment (their shade of pink exactly matches these blooms): party in the yard!

We were jamming to a mix of music from the 80s: Bruce Springsteen and John Mellencamp and the Bangles and the Go-Gos and Madonna and Journey and REO Speedwagon, and all the rest. Beloved, good-times tunes. Was there ever any music happier and more joyous than 80s music?

The bumblers seemed to enjoy dancing along to the music. As they flew from flower to flower - or did I just imagine it? - they were buzzing to the beat. They were so covered with pollen that the yellow dust dropped from them as they flew. They almost seemed drunk with it; at one point, one of the bees just did a face-plant in the next delicious flower and lay there recovering for a minute or two.

In this photo, you can see the bumblebees (for what are they if not tiny teddy bears with wings?) dancing. The one in the upper right is doing a fancy jig. The one in the lower part of the photo is waving its feet in the air like it just doesn't care! These are good times. The sun is warm. The food is plenty. The music playing is the soundtrack of our lives: an ode to joy.

All I can add is this: Party on, dudes! And be excellent to each other!