Bee Happy (14 page)

  The rest of the morning flew by, Calli whistling a happy tune as she fixed the holes in the fence around the garden; those rabbits can discover the tiniest little bend in the wire and squeeze through making her lettuce look like a tornado had passed through. This was all part of living on the farm, trying to plant enough to feed the resident animals and the humans too.  Lucky for her there hadn’t been much damage done last night.  Maybe she should have wished on the first shooting star for a ‘rabbit free’ garden.  No, that one was for Roger -- he’d been positive it was June wishing them well.  The cat bird was singing and singing in the tree.  What a jo
y, to hear the melodious song
, she wondered if birds had their own language.  ‘Here I am, come over
here;
this is the best place to be today’.  She started making up bird conversations, then realized that some people would think she had been in the hot sun to
o
long and was losing her sanity.  Too bad, I’m happy and so are the birds, the rest of the world can think I’m crazy but I don’t care.  She had a favorite book, ‘What You Think of Me Is None of My Business’ and the title was all she’d ever read.  Most days she was able to live by that saying,
and today was one of those days.

  
Roger kept both of them laughing all the way to the city.  He was telling about when he was a boy and the ‘trouble’ he and his friends would cause for the teachers.  She had no clue what a mischievous boy he had been.
All of the pranks they had pulled had been harmless but funny.  A far cry from the crazy stuff kids do today, she thought.  “You have to be kidding!  You put a goat in the outhouse at t
he one room school house?
  I’m surprised that the teacher didn’t have a heart attack.”  Roger laughed again, “No, she was quite used to all the shenanigans that we pulled on her.  Most weeks, we had to stay after school and clean the black boards and scrub the floors.  But we didn’t mind, it was worth it.”  Calli wondered what it would have been like to have gone to a one room school.  She cou
ld only imagine how
much work it had been for the teacher, teaching K-8
th
grade all by herself.  Calli parked in front of the hardware store, it seemed huge compared to all the shops in Evergreen.  Together they wandered down just about every aisle, filling a cart with essentials that weren’t available at home.  When they came to the area where all the bee keeping supplies were located, Calli was in amazement.  There were so many tools to get that were supposed to make this easier.  Roger just shook his head, “My grandfather and I were the most successful in the county, and we didn’t have half of this stuff.  We’ll just get a couple of things and make do with our skills no need to spend money on what isn’t necessary.”  Calli respected his frugal mindset. 
In order to be profitable it was imperative to keep the costs down, depending on only five months of produce to support them for the entire year, they both knew how to utilize their personal resources instead of buying unnecessary equipment.  She knew that being outdoors and using hand tools kept her in great physical shape.  No need for her to watch what she ate in order to stay healthy.  She had the entire vegetable garden as her own personal ‘gym’ and personal training center. 

  Next stop was
the shoe
store;
Calli was excited to try on the latest styles.  As the clerk brought out higher and higher heels, Calli felt lower and lower.  She knew that her balance was good but being on a stiletto probably wasn’t going to be her best choice.  There was no way she wanted to fall flat on her face trying to dance in those, besides Jim wasn’t that tall and she didn’t want to tower over him like an Amazon.  Finally a cute pair of shoes, with sparkles, fit and seemed to be the perfect dancing shoes.  She moved around the floor, making sure they weren’t too slick, again not wanting to fall on her face.  The clerk promised to scuff the bottoms so she wouldn’t fall during the first dance.  Even Roger thought they were good looking shoes. 

  They headed down the street towards
the
herbal shop, C
alli loved to go inside and enjoy all the smells.  She was learning how to make her own herbal infusions and always found a new book there to add to her collection.  Someday she hoped to be a certified herbalist, raising the herbs, and making the tinctures and formulas that would keep people healthy naturally.  This really was a passion for her, although she knew she was still in the learning stage.  What truly amazed her was that stinging nettles, the plant people avoided at all costs was one of the best herbs available.  They grew everywhere and instead of killing them she started harvesting and drying them for herself.  One of these days, she’d even write up a booklet and sell the dried herbs at the market.  All these dreams kept her excited during the winter months, that’s when she had time to read and study.  So today she would hopefully find a couple new books to add to her book shelves.  When the snow was piling up on top of her garden, she’d be sitting at the window with her cup of herbal tea reading and planning for the next season. 

  “Hey, come back here.  You must have gone traveling somewhere.”  Roger poked her in the arm to get her attention.  “You’re right.  I was thinking about finding some books to study this winter when the snow is blowing all around and I’m safe and warm by the wood stove drinking my herbal tea.”  “Understand.  Your grandmother was a fine herbalist; you must have some of that in your genetic makeup. You were so young when she passed on, she would have loved to have taught you everything she knew.  I wonder if I can locate her journals for you.  I’d forgotten all about them.  I bet they are somewhere in the attic.  I’ll check that out when we get home. You might not need any more books from the store.  But don’t let me stop you.  Hopefully I didn’t toss them when we cleaned it out a couple of years ago.”  Lost in his memories, Roger went outside and sat on the bench in front of the store
while Calli talked to the shop
owner.

  “I’m looking for some good herbal guides for making your own herbal remedies.  My grandfather just told me that my grandmother was an herbalist.  I had no idea.  I do believe it’s up to me to continue the legacy.  What new books do you have?” 
They talked and laughed as they looked over the newest herbal books on the shelves.  “You say your grandmother was an herbalist?  That’s such a lost art.  I do hope that you will find what excites you the most.  There are so many different ways to use herbs.  I personally love to mix the powdered herbs and put them in capsules, making my own herbal formulas. There are other herbalists who believe that you should only use one herb at a time.  You’ll know what spea
ks to you.”  Gwen was the shop
owner and a wealth of information; Calli felt like she’d found a mentor and new friend.  “I’ll put you on our mailing list.  We have classes here and you’re welcome to come join us, most of the time we get together and laugh and experiment with new formulas.  There is a group of us -- we call ourselves the Green Witches.  That keeps the ‘sight seers’ away.  Only people really interested in natural remedies and herbs are willing to join with a name like that.
We are meeting next weekend on Saturday afternoon if you’d like to visit and see if you like our crazy group.”  Calli was excited at the offer and promised to come back on Saturday.   With
her sack of books in hand, she joined Roger on the bench outside.  “Did you find what you were looking for?”  “Absolutely!  And more!  Gwen told me all about her herbal group. They meet once a month and next Saturday is their meeting.  She invited me to join them.  I’m so excited!  And now that I know that grandmother was an herbalist, I can feel it in my blood.  This is going to lead me down a new path.  I can’t wait to meet everyone.” 

  During the drive home, Calli kept talking about how she had always wanted to know more about herbs and how you could keep yourself healthy naturally instead of taking supplements and vit
amins that usually you just pe
ed away.  Both of them felt the joy of their new adventures, Roger was returning to the love of keeping bees and Calli was ready to embark on her grandmother’s path.  Little did they know where all of this would lead
them;
this trip to the city hadn’t been just about dancing shoes. 

Chapter 19
The Wedding

 
The sparkling dancing shoes received a prominent place in Calli’s closet.  She was getting more and more excited about tonight.  Jim had called and told her what time to be ready; he needed to be there early for pictures before he began his ushering. 
Her mind wasn’t focused on what she was doing in the garden, without paying attention she almost hoed out a row of spinach.  The shoots were still small and at first glance she thought they were weeds.  Lucky for her, there was a stake reminding her there were baby plants here.  Next time she should make a very big sign that says, ‘do not hoe’.  Roger was busy in the barn building something for the bees.  She wasn’t sure what it was for, but knew that he was happier than she’d seen him in a very long time.  This was turning out to be a special summer, maybe even one that will
be
the start of a new adventure.  She wasn’t quite ready to consider the possibility of marriage, but dating was feeling right for the first time since Cal’s death.  The thought of him brought a warm feeling to her heart, almost like he was sending his love and approval to her.  The
‘
skeptic
’
reminded her not to put too much emphasis on things she couldn’t see or touch.  After cleaning her tools and putting them in the tool shed, she walked over to the barn to see what her grandfather was building.  She’d heard the noise of power tools and hammering.  Stepping into the
room with the old milking stalls it took a little while for her eyes to adjust to the light.  At first she thought she saw a cow in one of the stalls, but after blinking she realized it was some tools leaning against the stanchion.  Her imagination must be playing tricks, or she’s thinking too much about ghost and spirits. 

  “Are you building something for the bees?”  She saw what looked like a storage box with shelves and wheels.  “You are right.  Are you tapping into your psychic abilities?”  Roger asked with a teasing tone to his voice knowing it might get her riled up a bit.  “No, I’m looking at the box and using my scientific logical mind to determine what you’re building.”  She knew exactly what he was doing, trying to get her agitated, but for what reason?  “Aw, I was just teasing you.  I know that you aren’t very interested in the psychic realm, but you have to admit that you do hang out with Sally and from what I can gather Jim also has
a tendency to go there.  And since you’re going out with him tonight, I wanted to see if you’d opened your mind just a wee bit more to the possibility of communicating with people on the other side.”  This was exactly where she didn’t want to go, especially before the wedding.  Her plan was to have fun, laugh, and dance the night away, not check for any wandering spirits at the party.  “I’m building a storage box to keep all our bee supplies in.  I don’t want to buy anything when I have plenty of scrap wood lying around and
the tools and skills to build my
own.  Besides I can make it exactly like I want it.  Here’s a place to put the smoker and the extra frames.  I’m also going to build something to keep the honey extractor in.  Then I’m going to figure out how to make a pollen trap.  My grandfather and I didn’t gather the pollen, but when he talked to me he told me to collect the pollen and the propolis.  So I have some more to build and learn about.”  Calli was actually imp
ressed with his ingenuity and his
abilities.  For a retired teacher, he was really into being self-sufficient here on the farm. 

  “You’ll have to tell me more
later
.  But right now I’ve got to go get ready for the wedding.  Jim should be here within the hour and I’ve still got dirt under my fingernails.  He won’
t want to dance with me if I don’t clean up a bit.  I hope he likes my dress and my new dancing shoes.” 

  Glancing at herself in the mirror one last time, Calli decided that she looked as good as she could.  She watched as Jim drove in the driveway in his red mustang.  Lucky for her the top was up, she didn’t want to deal with fixing her hair again.  Jim came up on the porch with a bounce in his step and a grin on his face. 
He was carrying a small box which Calli hoped had flowers in it.  As she opened the door she felt a rush of excitement, “Hi, you look absolutely beautiful.”  Jim handed her the box and as she opened it he gave her a quick kiss on her cheek.  “Oh, these are
beautiful;
help me pin it on my dress.
”  Roger appeared from the kitchen, “My, you two look like you’re going somewhere pretty special.  Jim you take good care of my granddaughter.  Don’t let her wear her new shoes out dancing!”  Roger gave Calli a quick squeeze making sure he didn’t smash her corsage.  “Have fun you two.”  Jim grabbed her hand as they walked down the stairs, this felt like a night to be remembered and it was just beginning. 

  Calli relaxed in the back of the church while Jim posed for the pictures.  There was plenty of laughing and joking going on, mainly to get everyone to smile; the photogr
apher was bouncing around
like a
colorful
bouncy ball.  First one shot from this angle and then another.  Calli was amused at all his antics.  The bride and her bridesmaids disappeared and the groomsmen and ushers continued the joking and kidding.  The groom sta
rted teasing Jim about his date, “You know my requirement for you to be head usher.  I expect you to have the best looking girl in the county as your date.”
  Calli blushed at this.  Jim winked at her and motioned for her to come to the front of the church.  Reluctantly
she
slid out of the pew and headed down the aisle, wondering
if she’d pass for at least looking
‘
okay
’
.  “Here she is
--
my friend Calli, the best looking girl in the whole county!”  Jim grabbed her and kept his arm around her waist.  The guys all whistled and the groom agreed, “I’ll have to say Calli I do agree with Jim, except that my future wife is still number one in my book.  Sorry but you’ll have to be the second best looking girl tonight.  Then tomorrow when we go on our honeymoon, you can return to being number one.”  Calli felt a little awkward but pleased all at the same time.  She wasn’t used to having so many guys paying that much attention to her and
noticing
how she looked.  The ve
getables in her garden had never
made a comment about how she looked, and her customers at the market were mainly checking to see how good her produce looked, no one paid much attention to how
she
looked.