After a picnic lunch, these two were sprawled on the grass deep in inspection/discussion mode. It's what boys do: inspect, discuss, do more inspecting, do more discussing. (Ever been to an antique car show with males?)
Not privy to the casual observer was what, exactly, these two boys were inspecting/discussing.
Like me. The camera lady, attempting to complete her mindful Picture Inspiration assignment. Which was to "observe"...as in, "capture a sliver of a moment, without the photo subjects knowing that you are capturing them." You know, be a fly on the wall.
So like, how easy was this assignment for me? I totally rock at being a fly on the wall. I pulled out my camera, set it on the grass, and hit the shutter button a million times. Observe, capture...it's what I'm made for people.
After a million clicks my son finally looks up.
Kid: So mom, what do you think? Do you think this bee might be hurt?
Me: (crawling over to now join the inspection/discussion) Uh, you mean the one that you are poking with that blade of grass over and over again?
Kid: Yeah. He just keeps rolling over and can't get out of this little hole and fly away so I keep shoving the blade of grass in his face.
Me: (silent pause of disbelief) If I were desperately trying to get out of a grassy hole and someone kept shoving a blade of grass in my face I'd have a hard time too. (infer the "duh" tone of voice)
(more silence, more poking)
Me: Let me rephrase that. So what I'm saying is that maybe you should just get out of her* bleepin' way, stop poking her, and let her get out of there on her own.
So. Picture Assignment complete. Lesson's learned:
1. I am pretty good at observing, and capturing. I have always loved being a fly on the wall.
2. No matter how smart our boys can be, it's moments like these that confirm that there is a short circuit in their ability to fully master the power of observation. (And thus, the ability to draw sound conclusions.) I am not stereotyping here, I am just observing what I see folks. I'm married to a boy and I have a son. I'm a female. Please refer back to number one.
Girls, you know what I'm talkin' about right?
*99.9% of bees you see out and about are girls working hard to gather pollen. They are also the ones that make the honey, clean the hive, tend to the queen. The boys are at the hives attempting to mate with the queen, until they get kicked out or killed. They also do not have stingers. I'm not sure I believe in karma, but if I did this would probably be the tid bit that sealed the deal for me. How do I know this stuff? Three years of preschool teaching experience, and a trip to the UC Davis Bee Biology Lab with twenty little three and four year olds. They all got to wear little bee-keeper outfits and helmets and let the boy bees crawl over their hands without the fear of being stung. Was all absolutely adorable.
2 comments:
#2 made me laugh so hard. i love your writing so very much. ;)
I didn't know that about boy bees. I DID know that about boys though (#2) :) Great photos, once again.
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