Calling Holidays

Today, with temperatures soaring and the children playing outside with such powerful inertia that all mothers were washed away (for the second day in a row) and forgot, simply forgot, to cook dinner... my neighborlady, Evelyn, and I declared it a holiday. Because we could. We had that power.

I know we have that power because today, after writing a post to this blog, the Universe took me by the hand of a child to my backyard where ("look! look!") my bees, 10,000 of them, were swarming for a new home. If I had not followed that child, I would have missed it. I swept them into a makeshift hive and served lunch. As we finished and prepared to bike across town for the kids to have a playdate while I grafted trees at a Community Nursery Raising (thank you, Nick, and all!), my youngest child said, "Oh, they're going out. All of them."

In minutes, the bees had swarmed in a dizzy massive cluster over the roof and across the street. The children were dressed. "Follow them!" I ordered, and we raced out the door, across yards and through alleys where we saw them light in a pine tree.

To the great entertainment of a construction team next door, we ran back and forth with ladders, beehives (2 deep this time; I think they determined the single Western insufficient), and veils to the heavy laden branch. I brushed them and received a few more stings for my impudence. Then I got clever (or perhaps I only listened to good guidance) and grabbed my pruning shears to take the branch off and lay it gently atop the open hive.

"That was awesome!" shouted a passerby. "It looked very scary there for a minute!"

I left a quick note for the residents upon whom I had assumed a trespass based on their groovy bumper stickers, ran back, dropped off the kids and made it to the grafting only 5 minutes late. A check on the bees 4 hours later showed them still in place.

So it was that Evelyn and I stood on the street corner watching sprinkler soaked blond children throw dirt at each other and we said, "Yes. A holiday. This day will be called 'Cloud Rising.' For all of the clouds that have risen today. (More than you know, said Evelyn.) The bees have named it."

And tomorrow? Tomorrow is a holiday, too. We couldn't resist. Tomorrow will be "Dam Breaking." So prepare yourself to open, let flow and heal. Prepare the channels you wish your flow to enter. Prepare yourself for the ride.