(EDIT: this post was written before we installed the back fence and still had all those bushes. This was like four or five years ago???)
I was going about my usual glamorous life and picking up turtle mess (my nice way of saying poop) in the backyard when something caught my eye. Scoop and mini rake in hand I puzzle over what I am seeing. At first, I was like, dang, that is the fattest bee I have ever seen. But it didn't sound like a bee, it sounded like a bumblebee. How is that though, it's the wrong color! I slowly follow it from flower to flower, trying to memorize all its little details, listening to its heavy buzzing (and equally heavy landing, ha). I figured it wasn't a carpenter bee since it was fuzzy. Another life I would have stayed with the bumblebee until it flew away but I had chores to do. Aye, adult Heather is so responsible.
Later I go online to look it up, and apparently, bumblebees come in different colors! I'm used to the ones that seem mostly black with a bit of yellow; all fat and fuzzy. The one I saw was mostly golden, or blond looking. How awesome is it that even in your thirties, something in your own backyard can still surprise you! I hope I will see little blondie again, and I will try to snap a photo.
My husband isn't always (or ever) thrilled with the varied insect population in our backyard but I love it (mostly. all the bloodsuckers can die a fiery death). I was raised to be curious and interested in all the creepy crawlies and it looks like that hasn't waned too much. I also like how my first instinct was to completely forget the task I was doing and wander dazedly after this flying thing (though honestly, following a bug or clean up turtle mess, not much of a challenge of what I would rather do). This kind of runs in the family, my younger brother once missed his bus home from High School because he got distracted watching ants.
