My last few posts have been about talking flowers, pollinators, and my story The Little Daisy. It seems fitting that two days ago I should find a lone bumblebee bumping against the picture window in my living room. The day was warm and sunny, welcome relief after a particularly cold winter and very late spring. It’s hard to know what kind of weather to hope for. If it gets too warm, we’ll have storms, and there have been catastrophic floods across Saskatchewan already. On the other hand, the cold weather has kept the insects away, which seems like a good thing at first glance since we can be overwhelmed at times by mosquitoes. Unfortunately, the dearth of insects means the birds are very hungry. I can’t seem to replenish my bird feeders fast enough.

When I saw the bumblebee bouncing against my window, I wondered why it wouldn’t stop. I’ve seen birds fly at the window but never a bee. This bee was determined to get at something. It was then I remembered that there are few flowers around. Hardly any buds have come out anywhere. There are no blossoms. There are hardly any dandelions. At mid-May, winter’s chill has not left us. I think the bee must have been very hungry. There was nothing of color outside the window, and the bee was most definitely trying to get in. That’s when I looked at the “butterfly grass bundle” on my coffee table. It’s something I picked up at Pier 1 Imports a couple of years ago. It’s quite realistic and I thought it would cheer us up at Easter to have spring colors in the house when outside the snow is still piled up. I can’t bear to put it away until the world outside my window is in bloom again.

Is it possible that the bee saw the artificial flowers through my window?

To make a prairie it takes a clover and one bee,
One clover, and a bee.
And revery.
The revery alone will do,
If bees are few.
–Emily Dickinson

There are no clovers for the bees today; the revery part I’ve got covered. I hope no other bee must suffer unrequited love this year.