Bedtime with Mrs.
Honeybee.
Today,
In the Honeybee neighborhood,
We'll be starting a lemonade stand business.
Why lemonade,
You ask?
Well,
It solves a problem.
A parched,
Thirsty problem at that.
We have everything we need to succeed right here.
For the greater good.
We have lemons.
Let's make lemonade.
We're going to serve the best lemonade ever and make our customers so happy.
Oh,
And we'll learn a thing or two about business on the way.
Our ripple of good begins with us.
All you have to do is close your eyes,
Get cozy,
And listen to the sound of my voice.
Mrs.
Honeybee will be your guide.
Let's begin.
You are here in the Honeybee neighborhood,
Around the corner from our house.
But today,
You're not alone.
A stampede of running feet are trailing behind you.
As the horde inches closer,
You see that these are marathon runners.
They're all wearing shirts of the charities they're supporting and are rooting each other on.
It's a particularly warm day today.
You've already tied your sweatshirt around your waist to cool off a bit.
Your leisurely walk to our house picks up to a brisk one,
Then to a light jog.
Right foot,
Left foot,
Right foot,
Left foot.
The front runners of the marathon begin to approach you,
And you run right along with them,
Blending in until you have to turn to the corner of our house.
Take a slow,
Deep breath in through your nose.
Feel the coolness of the air coming in and gathering in your expanded chest.
Then,
Slowly,
Breathe all the way out through your mouth and continue running with the marathoners.
The corner to our house comes much faster than usual,
But you don't stop there.
You wave the runners goodbye and sprint all the way to our door as fast as you can.
By the time you get there and knock,
You have to catch your breath with your hands on your knees.
As always,
Harold answers the door first,
Running so fast that he should have been in the marathon that just passed by.
He slams against the door like he does when he doesn't stop his pause in time.
And Melody B,
Clamoring after him,
Cannot quite open the door lock yet.
She fumbles with it before Mr.
Honeybee saves the day by answering the door.
Hello,
My little Honeybee.
Wow,
You're out of breath.
Did you run here?
Wait,
Why did you run here?
Melody B and Harold rush up to give you big hugs and notice the last of the marathon runners passing by down the street.
Oh,
Is today the Honeybee Neighborhood Marathon and Walkabout?
Mrs.
Honeybee,
Is the marathon today?
Yes,
I think it is.
Oh yes,
See them over there?
They're the Walkabouters.
Let's wave.
Together,
We smile and wave at the rest of the marathoners who are doing their part to help.
We welcome you inside,
But Mr.
Honeybee stays at the door,
Transfixed on the Walkabouters.
Mr.
Honeybee,
Are you coming?
Dear,
What are you looking at?
Oh,
Sorry,
I was just thinking of something.
Were you thinking about how the platypus is a mammal but lays eggs and has venom like a snake?
Huh?
No,
I wasn't.
Oh,
What were you thinking about then?
Follow me,
Everyone.
We need to get to the finish line before the runners do.
We follow Mr.
Honeybee,
Who takes a shortcut through the park to where the marathon finish line is.
When we get there,
We are met by a few early bird spectators awaiting the marathoners they're supporting,
But otherwise,
It's very quiet.
Mr.
Honeybee looks around and sighs,
As if he's disappointed.
Harold jumps up on his leg for pets to see if he just needs a little fluffy pick-me-up.
He reaches down to pet Harold and thinks out loud,
In just a little while,
We're going to have hundreds and hundreds of people rounding that corner after finishing a miles-long marathon,
And there's nothing here for them.
Their loved ones are here,
And there's a ribbon they'll run through.
I'm sure more people will arrive a little later,
When the marathoners are closer to the finish line.
That's good.
That means we have time.
Time for what,
My dear?
Time for problem-solving and good deeds.
The two things there's always time for.
And if there isn't time,
Make time.
Hey,
Harold gets it.
So,
Everyone,
Gather around.
What will those runners and walkers need most when they finish this marathon?
To sit down for a week?
Well,
Yes,
But no.
A foot massage?
Also true,
But also no.
Maybe it would be faster if you just told us,
My dear.
They'll need water.
Oh,
That's true.
They probably brought their own,
But imagine having cups of it here waiting for them.
That's a great idea,
Mr.
Honeybee.
But that's not it.
Just assume we're not going to be able to guess before the marathoners reach the finish line,
Mr.
Honeybee.
Okay,
Everyone wants water,
Right?
Maybe some of them will want,
Oh,
I don't know,
Honey-sweetened lavender lemonade.
We have that.
Exactly,
Melody Bee.
We have that and can possibly have much,
Much more of it than we do.
So we'll offer them lemonade,
Too?
We'll set up as much water as everyone needs.
That's what everyone will need most.
For those that want a super special treat,
We'll sell them lemonade.
Sell it?
Well,
Let's think about it.
We'll have to buy the ice and the cups,
And we'll have to squeeze the lemons,
Which is labor.
So we have to think of all that it will take to do this good deed.
But that's not all.
Oh,
No,
That's not all.
If we sell it for a nickel,
Just think of how much we can make by offering lovely celebration treats to tired,
Thirsty people.
We can split what we earn between the charity the marathon is supporting and the Neighborhood Fun Fund.
Oh,
That's true.
Our Fun Fund is just about empty now,
But this will surely fill it up.
And the yard sale,
Too.
Then we can finally decide as a neighborhood what fun we're going to do to celebrate.
Exactly.
One problem solved can turn into so much good if you think about it from the right perspective.
Come on,
Let's get started.
The runners will be here in no time.
When we get back to the house,
We get right to work.
You,
Melody Bee,
And I head out of the lemon tree to pick as many lemons as we can.
Mr.
Honey Bee gets to work on building the actual stand from scrap lumber he always has waiting for projects in his garage.
We fill our arms up with lemons until we cannot hold anymore,
Then start an assembly line into the kitchen where we pile them onto the counter.
When we have a tumbling mound of lemons,
We know we have enough.
Melody Bee buzzes out to get some fresh honey from the hive.
A little dollop of honey is all you need for the best lavender lemonade you've ever had.
Together,
We go out to the garden to pick sprigs of lavender that are ripe.
The bright afternoon sun is directly overhead.
It's warming up the lavender plant enough for it to bloom and send its beautifully soothing aroma out to all the bumblebees and butterflies.
Take a slow,
Deep breath in through your nose.
Smell the sweet scent of fresh lavender in the garden.
Then,
Slowly breathe all the way out through your mouth and pluck the ripe lavender blossoms from the stems.
You'll know the blossoms that are ready because they are deep,
Dark purple.
If we harvest the lavender at the right time,
It will produce the best aroma and taste for our lemonade.
When we fill up our harvesting basket,
Melody Bee joins us back in the kitchen with Mr.
Honeybee and Harold.
Mr.
Honeybee filled ice chests with ice and set them up in wagons in the garage.
They are ready to be wheeled out to the finish line when we are.
That way,
The water and the lemonade can be ice cold for the tired,
Thirsty marathoners.
Harold is doing his best to drag big jugs of water out from the garage and stack them in wagons too.
We'll use that to fill up the cups Mr.
Honeybee got.
All we have left to do is turn lemons into lemonade.
One by one,
We begin our assembly line.
We cut the lemons in half,
Squeeze out each side into a big bowl that already has the thoroughly washed lavender and honey at the bottom.
We're careful not to get any seeds in there,
And every so often we give it a good stir to mix everything up.
We fill bowl after bowl that we carefully pour into pitchers that we stack one by one in the ice chests along with the water.
Mr.
Honeybee keeps a careful eye on the marathoners and helps us keep pace.
He leads us to finish squeezing lemons together in the kitchen and starts setting up the stand itself.
After a few trips back and forth,
Mr.
Honeybee and Harold come back to announce that the first of the runners are approaching the finish line.
How's it going in here?
It's going well,
My dear.
We have a good system going.
Our little Honeybee is always so helpful,
And today is no exception.
Wow,
You've been working hard.
There's so much lemonade,
And it smells delicious.
Harold and I just finished the stand,
And it's all ready for the lemonade.
Just one more squeeze,
And we're done.
We roll our wagons full of enterprising lemonade to the finish line,
Taking the shortcut through the park.
The first of the runners are just about to round the last corner when we arrive at the finish line.
There are many more spectators now who are just as warm and thirsty as the runners.
Before we can even set the lemonade up in the stand,
We have a line of our first customers.
They all fish for nickels,
And when we tell them that the funds are going to the Marathon's charity and the Neighborhood Fun Fund,
Some people even decide to donate extra nickels.
Harold stands out front of the stand to give puppy kisses to all our customers.
The Marathoners are starting to cross the finish line now,
But you and Melody Bee are just in time.
You meet them at the finish line with ice-cold water,
Handing it to everyone one by one.
The Marathoners are so grateful for the water.
Many of them take a few and splash cool water on their sweaty faces to cool off.
Melody Bee gets you a couple times with splashing water,
But you get her back just as many times,
If not more.
Mr.
Honey Bee and I run the stand until you two finish handing out the waters.
Then you join us back at the stand where we can hardly keep up with demand.
We are frantically accepting nickels in exchange for ice-cold honey lavender lemonade.
The Neighborhood Fun Fund jar keeps getting fuller and fuller.
Finally,
As the sun begins to set,
The line finally starts to dwindle.
We feel as though we ran a marathon ourselves,
But today we successfully solved a problem with an innovative solution.
This is how you turn one good deed into two,
Three,
And more.
We helped thirsty runners,
We built up the Neighborhood Fun Fund,
And the best part,
We even supported the charity of the marathon.
We can feel satisfied about a job well done today,
My little Honey Bee.
Such a good day can only be finished by delivering the funds from our lemonade stand directly to the charity organization who put on the marathon.
They had no idea we were doing such a thing,
But are so grateful for our support.
They helped many,
Many people in need,
And now they're able to help so many more.
As you hand over the funds in the form of a gigantic jar of nickels with a few quarters and dollars strewn about,
You feel the gentle satisfaction of doing the right thing,
Of giving what you have to give.
As we close down the lemonade stand and the day,
We think about all the fun things we can do as a neighborhood with the now overflowing Honey Bee Neighborhood Fun Fund.
What should we do,
My little Honey Bee?
We'll need to put it to a vote.
Always remember,
Mrs.
Honey Bee believes in you.
You are special,
And you are loved.
I can't wait to see you again.
