Bees and Things

Sometimes when the big picture is just too overwhelming, it’s time to step forward and focus on the little pictures, so trivial and unimportant that they can’t help but provide some relief from whatever else is going on around you.

I did that Wednesday when I returned to the Pt. Defiance Rose Garden to take what are probably the last flower pictures of the year. Yes, the dahlias were still spectacular, but for some reason I got caught up on the large number of insects drawn to the flowers.

The insect world first caught my attention while taking pictures of this Cherubino dahlia, a bee magnet if I’ve ever seen one:

After taking several pictures with several different types of bees,

I decided I have to purchase one or two of these for next year’s garden.

But it wasn’t only the birds and the bees that caught my attention this week. I found myself equally fascinated by the wide variety of insects pollinating plants:

Although I found this iridescent green fly fascinating, there was an even more intriguing black insect around the fuschias that I couldn’t get a picture of no matter how hard I tried. While I’ve been aware of bees importance as pollinators since grade school , I think it’s only recently that I’ve become aware of how diverse pollinators really are.

I must admit I find it comforting that on the micro level, at least, the world still seems to be going about its true business, propagating life, though I’m sure there’s the normal amount of life-taking in the name of propagation. Still, there’s a balance here that’s missing lately in our own world, where death seems to have taken domain.