NoBell Piece Prize
This was bestowed on yours truly by The Cutter Bee Society of Wasta. Recently there was some work done on the siding on my house, and I changed doorbells and installed a remote control doorbell. It had been at my front door and I changed to the entry and when I was putting the holder by the door, I noticed something that looked rather strange in the main part of the ringer; however, it was playing The Gang’s All Here just fine. So yesterday it did not ring when my neighbor came by, so she opened the door and called, and I said I hadn’t heard the bell, she replied, she rang it, but of course she could not hear it.
This morning, I decided to check it out; the main bell rang with the ringer on the on at the front door, so I looked at the other ringer, and with a small screwdriver, picked at that funny looking stuff I could barely see; it was coming out, and to my surprise, I could see it was alfalfa leaves and the cutter bees had been busy packing my bell ringer with leaves. Before I was finished, I had gotten what would be more than a circle the size of a silver dollar (in a pile), but alas, the ringer would not work. Some friends came by this morning and I was telling them the story, he is visiting my friend and asked if he could take it and see if he could get it working.
That is why I have the honor of receiving the NoBell Piece Prize; I am always amazed when one finds the places those little bees can get in and out. To look at the ringer box and all that is compactly in there, one wonders how a little bee, even one as small as a cutter bee could get in there and how they pack those leaves so tight is a miracle of nature.
In the shed at the ranch, they stored the north wall with little stashes of alfalfa leaves. One night my partner left a .22 rifle in the pickup, and luckily before he shot it, looked down the barrel, and could not see through; he got the cleaning rod and had quite a time getting it through, finally out came a couple inches of alfalfa leaves, packed very tightly. Another time, the big motor on the buzz saw would not start, he took the carburetor apart and it was packed full of cutter bee work.
The funny part of all of this is I like watching the little devils working; they are one of the most necessary little creatures invented by the Creator. And when I think about all of these creatures, from the largest to the smallest, I remember Annie Dillard’s lines from
Pilgrim At Tinker Creek (still my almost favorite book ever); when one looks at insect life and watch their numbers, it seems the Creator must have been a deranged manic depressive. That is not a direct quote, so if you are interested, just get the book, it has hours of enjoyment between the cover.
Wishing everyone a Happy New Year; may it be better than this one!