Hidden Powers, Secret Missions, March Madness, and The Pollening.
The Pollening happened in Durham this week. Each spring a fine coating of delicate yellow pollen coats everything overnight. It’s not great for allergy sufferers but thank goodness for this life-giving substance. The energy has been building, but the pollen’s arrival marks the official beginning of the fertile madness that overcomes this region at the end of March every year.
Unlike many of my fellow North Carolinians, this is the only March Madness that interests me.
Bees Can Be Delightful
Contributing to this fecund riot is a shocking eruption of digger bees from the expanse of moss in our backyard. When the ground warms, they emerge into the sun. I love these little golden bees. So many of them fly low, hovering and circling near the ground, it looks as if the moss is shimmering. Bluebirds swoop down, snapping them up. Each year, the bees expand their territory. They live only a few weeks, long enough to pollinate, and for the females to create nests filled with food for the eggs they lay below ground to survive the winter, hatch, and emerge the following year. For those few weeks, a big part of our yard is theirs. I walk slowly through when I must, careful not to step on them or the entrances to their subterranean homes. Digger bees are gentle and not inclined to sting. They are a pleasure to have around.
Bees Can Be Jerks
Carpenter bees, on the other hand, are confrontational. Going innocently about my business, they fly their big round selves menacingly towards my face. ZZZZZ. Hey lady, I’m flying here! (they weren’t) Meanwhile, they bore holes in our stairs, fences, shed—any wooden structure that will be expensive to replace—with a sense of absolute entitlement. AITA? No bees, it’s you. But I love them anyway. I’ll play along and pretend I’m scared. Ruin it all, just stay alive, and keep spreading that gold dust around. We’re all depending on you! Literally. But no pressure bees. (A carpenter bee just banged on the window in front of my computer right now as I’m typing this. Oooh, so big and scary!)
Clearly, I’m anthropomorphizing the bees that visit here most regularly, and with whom I’m most familiar, (and those who can take a joke and who have given permission for me to write about them.) We share this space with other bees, wasps, and all sorts of amazing and valuable insects. The number of bee species alone is mind boggling. They do their bee things which I don’t presume to comprehend fully. We let them alone as much as possible. People often label other species as nuisances or threats without really knowing them and their observable or hidden powers. Bees provide us all a service with their pollinating work. Who knows what else they do?
Pollinator Wolves
Scientists believe wolves are pollinators. Wolves! That’s a hidden power. Who would have guessed? Of all the valuable roles wolves play in our ecosystems, pollination would not have been on my bingo card. A wolf with their nose in a flower—what a delightful image. Humans are terrible stereotypers of the animal kingdom. I mean, everyone knows carpenter bees can be jerks, but who knows about their tender side? (I’m just kidding. No one knows either of those things.) But seriously, pollination is the wolves’ hidden power, a delicate compliment to their status as apex predators.
Hidden Powers, Secret Missions
I want to learn the hidden powers of other animals. How often would they run counter to that animal’s public image or archetypal reputation? It makes sense. Nature is inherently balanced in the aggregate and the specific instance. Ecosystems are comprised of many different parts that create a balanced whole. Healthy individuals have balance within them.
What hidden powers do you have? Perhaps it contradicts the more public image you have intentionally cultivated or developed because of your roles in family or work situations. You may have hidden powers you are not aware of. Now, that’s an intriguing quest! What if, right now, in these exceptionally chaotic, unpredictable, terrifying times, we are being called to unearth hidden powers we are unaware of? Perhaps in addition to the overt ways that we contribute to society we also have secret missions that call on us to use these powers.
I feel like this may be the case. As I talk to people who are cycling between hopelessness, panic, detachment, and dedicated action over the destruction of our country, the shocking hypocrisy, greed, racism, and sexism, the perpetual lies and misinformation, it seems like we need to birth something different from deep within ourselves. Maybe we can put our hidden powers to use collectively.
Unexpected Cycles
In our circle last month, we talked (metaphorically) about sowing seeds, harvesting, and how this feels like a period where the cycles are unusual. We may need to think longer term (like the wise adage about thinking seven generations ahead), or perhaps the time from planting to harvesting will be shorter. It’s tough to predict. I think of the digger bees in my yard. Their life is about maintaining life for the collective, and specifically for the next generation of digger bees.
As a culture, we are accustomed to thinking about what we want and expecting our work towards our goals to pay off in our lifetimes, hopefully with some short-term gratification. Next-day shipping! 3 Steps to X! Results in 30 days or your money back! Maybe our hidden powers and secret missions will be about fulfillment (safety, happiness, health, whatever) in our lifetimes, and maybe they will be in service primarily to those who come next. We may never know how much our hard work matters. Animals who work collectively, like bees, focus on the hive.
I want to know what your hidden powers are. I want to find some new ones of my own. Imagine if we used our powers for good. If, like the bees, we “pollinated” and made more sweet things to nourish the world. The real “madness” is that we aren’t paying more attention to what nature can teach us.
March Madness
March Madness in North Carolina (the spring blooming and pollening and everyone making babies, not the basketball one) is glorious. Every year, it gets more complicated. The wisteria are blooming, and their sweetness is swoon-worthy, but they are an invasive species. (More thoughts on this). I love our neighborhood, but which house will be bought by people who cut down the trees and the nests they hold? With so much at risk and tragedy seemingly everywhere, let’s take the moments of joy where we can: the fragrant spring bloom, the warm weight of a cat on your lap, a hot cup of coffee, a conversation with a true friend, a safe place to sleep.
Come see me if you want to explore your hidden powers or sit outside and smell the flowers and watch the birds (bees, squirrels, frogs, hawks, wrens, etc.). Or both.
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Photo by Dennis Derringer on Unsplash
Hidden Powers, Secret Missions, March Madness, and The Pollening.