Yesterday the girls and I spent some time capturing the sunshine in the backyard. They have a bug catcher that has a magnifying glass on top so that they can investigate their catch. Tovah told me there was an unusual bug on the back step that she and Alaina were checking out. I told her she could use the tongs to pick it up and put it in the magnifying jar, but that they weren't allowed to touch the bug. She brought the jar over for me to see and asked what kind of bug it was. It was a honeybee! It was quite small and most likely a drone. She was so surprised that the bug they were playing with was actually a bee. Fortunately it wasn't harmful, but she told me we had to put it somewhere so that it could find nectar and pollinate because the honeybees are dying. So we found a tulip nearby and released him there. After a while we went back inside and the girls were playing downstairs while I cooked upstairs. Tovah came up crying and went to her room. I followed her and asked what was wrong. She said she saw a commercial the had a honeybee about to extract nectar from a flower when a big gust of wind blew it away. The narrator said the bee was going off to die and it had some message about the dwindling honeybee population. She was so sad that the bee was going to die, but felt good about rescuing the one she found earlier. I told her she was so lucky to be blessed with the gift of compassion. I'm convinced she will save the world one day!
