A Raven for a Bumblebee

The title of my blog was formerly "Never Mistake a Raven for a Writing Desk". This was perhaps confusing to people who have never watched or remembered the riddle from "Alice in Wonderland" where odd creatures kept asking Alice why a raven is like a writing desk, then continued talking nonsense. I wondered for many years at this riddle. What was the solution? Or was it just a made up riddle with no solution that simply sounded poetic?

Then one day I asked Brother N why a raven is like a writing desk. He replied by telling me they both have quills. I don't know how he knew this, but I thought it very interesting and still very poetic. All of this came back to me when I began blogging, but I twisted it, making it more obscure, and confusing.

This confusion and obscurity is what has motivated me to change the title to something more palpable, and meaningful.

And here it is:

Bumblebees fly. Obviously. But according to science they can't. According to math they don't. The laws of science and math say that the bumblebee's wings are to small in proportion to its body and could not lift it into the air. But bumblebees don't know the laws of science and math, so they unwittingly fly from flower to flower bumbling and buzzing all the way.

I think that is interesting. It is interesting that somethings in this world defy the logical laws of math and science. Some things in this world just are, and there is no rhyme or reason behind their function.

So by living laws Man cannot comprehend, to me bumblebees testify of Divinity.

The Kelly Family

You probably have never heard of them, and if you have, you have probably not listened to their music.

I just want to preface this introduction of the Kelly family with the fact that I understand that their music is not Radiohead quality, or even Coldplay quality, also they leave something to be desired with their lyrics, but what they lack in intrigue they make up for in wholesomeness, and passion.

With all of that said let me tell you a bit about them, and how they have won my heart.

They are a family with nine kids, all the kids have long hippie hair, and they sing together like their lives depend on it. (Which perhaps they do.) I don't know exactly where they are from, Germany? Switzerland? Maybe they are nomads, but what really matters is that they are a large happy family that love each other, and create beautiful music together, and that alone is charming.

Now let me tell you how I was introduced to this family:

One Sunday evening The BF and I came back to his house from a long excursion visiting his sons so far away. We were relaxing in his office, looking up romantic songs on youtube and sighing and looking at each other.

Then The BF said, "I love this song, you have to hear this." He typed "I can't help myself kelly family" and selected the first song that came up. It was okay at first, I wasn't completely sold, then The BF pulled me into an embrace and I realized he was crying.

We listened to that song over and over, holding each other in that swivel chair and crying.

I can't guarentee that that song will have the same effect on aanyone else, but I think everyone should give the Kelly family a try. They are a little dorky, they are a little cheesy, but they are so sincere, that they might just win you over, the way they won me, and The BF.

I couldn't see it, but something was there, just beyond the light...

The BF and I finally had one full day together for the first time in months, and wanted to make it worthwhile. So we drove over the mountains with the trees changing color, to the quaint little village tucked away in there.

We spent the day shopping and eating and feeling like one day was not nearly enough, until all the stores closed and the sun went down. Then we got in the car and drove around. The streetlamps glowed soft, round and golden, and the shops lined the streets like a Norman Rockwell painting. We were the only people in the world, and the air itself seemed to breathe romance, as we slowly drove nowhere.

I was not used to days filled from top to bottom with activity, and I felt myself getting weary as The BF climbed the car into the mountains. Shops gave way to extravagant houses, some abandoned, some occupied, but most were for sale. As we climbed higher, the road broke up and faded to dirt, and the houses became less extravagant and more like run down, abandoned shacks. A shack. . .weeds. . .darkness. . .shadows. . .another shack. The car crept slowly up the winding, dirt, mountain road, everything was darkness and shadow, except where the headlights shined.

I was reminded of the scary stories my grandma would tell. The stories always began with several teenagers camping in the mountains, then they found an abandoned shack, they would get seperated, their flashlights stopped working, and there would be something terrifying they couldn't see, hunting them. I tensed myself for the moment something would throw itself against my window. The doors were locked, but we were driving so slow.

"Let's get out of here," I said. The BF drove until he found a place to turn around. Then we had to drive slowly back down the creepy, winding, mountain road, through the Norman Rockwell village, which now seemed like a facade, hiding something sinister, and along the pitch black road until we reached the highway, where I let out the breath I had been holding.

It had been a long day. I turned over in my seat and fell asleep.