We’re famous, new venue, needed prayer

Mama saw on the Facebook page for our Beeker’s Club that the question a had been posed to the group. Using the photo I had sent James last Saturday morning when the swarm was on the outside of the hive, he asked to the new beekeepers, “What would you do?” What a great teaching tool. Mama and I knew the answer, but some others came up with the correct response as well. We will meet via Zoom tomorrow evening and discuss the event in further detail. Mama and I are pleased that the hive is now home to the bees we caught. Just that effort saved us $200, which is the cost of a nuc, as well as giving us a population of bees that are – I am told – more resistant to Veroa Mites; a scourge to honeybees. We will find out if the resistance is higher in this group of bees, but I will treat them for the mites as I do the other hives. Anyway, Mama and I are happy to share our experience with others for the benefit of the group. When I have another hive ready, I will put out the swarm trap again. I will stop for the year at four hives and we will hold there for a year before we talk about expanding. Mama and I are not very interested in doing this in a commercial way so six to eight hives will do it for us.  

I will be teaching a 4-hour class this afternoon to some of our heritage clients. The class will be presented over the internet via a program called Jigsaw. This will be my first time to teach a longer session live online. With the internet we have at the office, I am not concerned about presenting in this format. we have proven that it can work well. It will be interesting to see the interaction from the attendees isolated in their various locations. The last class taught in this manner was far more interactive than I had expected, so I am hoping this will be as well. Regardless, the class will only be four hours long. A very short class compared to what I am used to presenting. I would have preferred a morning class since this is Wednesday, but I am not complaining. I am working fulltime and thankful for that.

Mama is on her own all day today. This may once again become the normal for her as I expect to be called back to the office next week. In past weeks, I have worked until lunch in the office and finished out the day at home. I like that schedule. I have to admit that I will miss the extra time at home as I worked from home. But at some point, we will have to get back to normal – as undesirable as that may be for some. This whole illusion of danger is evaporating for most people, but there are a few who liked the arrangement and are unwilling to give it up. There are a few who are still truly scared. For them I have the upmost respect and do not challenge their genuine fear. That is not true generally throughout the population. I personally do not like the idea of treating each other as though we had a deadly disease. Stay away from me! Don’t come near me! Don’t touch me! All with the overarching attitude that screams without vocalizing it, “I’m aware of the danger and you are so stupid to be ignoring it!” This too will soon pass, but I still am a bit fearful of the lingering effects of this dichotomy within our society at large. Of the rudeness it has engendered.

Pray, if you would, for me and Mama as we struggle to determine what to do with these houses in Lawton. We have been dealing with this for over 18 months now on one of the two houses and have just passed a year on the other. We have prayed many times – nightly – for wisdom but are not seeing the answer. There are times when God is silent concerning specific prayers. This is one of those times. Thankfully, we are seeing God answer prayers in all other areas of our lives, but this one has eluded us thus far. Hopefully, this Saturday we will go to Lawton and meet with our realtor/contractor to see what is lacking in completing the projects and how much money we will need to do so. But we still need much prayer for the wisdom to ask the right questions and test the willingness of our realtor to complete the houses – all the way to marketing and selling them. Unfortunately, this has left such a bad taste in our mouth that we will not hurry back to buy more houses in Lawton…and that’s a shame. It offered such a wealth of properties in a very easy manner.

Where to go from here with this real estate business is another matter for much prayer.