Bedtime with Mrs.
Honeybee Today,
In the Honeybee neighborhood.
.
.
Wait.
.
.
Do you smell that?
I do.
What is that?
It smells like.
.
.
Something's burning.
It's much too warm for someone to have a fireplace on.
It gets stronger as you get closer to the backyard.
I think it's coming from the forest.
Oh no.
Could it be a forest fire?
Oh my.
I think it is.
Look.
Does everyone remember the emergency plan?
Yep.
I do.
We should keep an eye on it.
Come on.
Let's go out back.
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,
Rounding the corner to arrive at our house.
The sun is shining today,
But instead of being bright and clear out,
There's a sense of grayness in the air today.
There are many puffy white clouds blowing by that draw your attention away from the muddled sunshine.
You focus on their shapes as you walk,
Right foot,
Left foot,
Right foot,
Left foot.
When you come back to your five senses,
You see that the grayness isn't just a feeling or a passing cloud,
But is coming from a plume of grayish black smoke that billows in the distance behind our house.
Your attention snaps around a possible emergency,
So you run as fast as you can to our house and let yourself in through the side gate.
We are standing at the fence in the backyard,
Looking toward the forest,
Which it backs up to,
The one that you travel through on occasion,
Through the secret and not-so-secret trails Harold showed you long ago.
Harold hears you arrive and shepherds you to an open spot in the sunflower stalks between Mr.
Honeybee and me.
He then jumps up with his paws on your leg for you to pick him up.
We are too worried for our usual greetings,
So I just put my arm around your shoulders for a silent side hug while we look to the forest,
Watching more plumes of smoke emerge and listen to the crackle of a raging forest fire.
Melody B buzzes out of the forest with a brave face on,
Holding her nose.
The good thing is that the fire is more or less under control.
Which is it,
Melody B,
More or less?
The beavers didn't say.
Should I go back?
No,
No,
Stay here,
Melody B.
Let's not get closer than we have to.
This is already close enough for me.
Me too,
Mrs.
Honeybee.
Melody B flutters over our heads,
Watching just as intently as we are.
Harold howls out to the forest creatures to check on them.
I squeeze you in close to make sure all of my people are safe around me and we continue to study the flames.
Take a slow,
Deep breath in through your nose.
Feel the coolness of the air coming in through your nose as it finds its way to your lungs and expands your chest out.
Then,
Slowly and powerfully,
Use your belly muscles to breathe all the way out through your mouth as if your exhale alone could extinguish the fire.
Luckily,
Our backyard is far enough away that the smell of pine trees and blooming flowers far outweighs the hint of smoke that waves past us like a warning.
With our backs turned toward the house,
We don't see Roger Robot rolling out to join us until he's standing behind us with critical information.
I sent a fleet of drones out to get measurements on the blaze,
At least to know the extent of the fire.
Roger pushes a button on his wrist to make a screen drop down from his arm.
On that,
He shows us live footage captured by the drones laid over a topographical map of the forest behind our house.
I've calculated different zones,
Namely the danger zone.
Anyways,
If the flame spread to this red circle right here,
We will need to pack up everything and get to safety.
As soon as I saw the first hint of smoke,
I packed up the essentials and the non-negotiables.
They are sitting by the door,
Ready just in case.
Great!
Good news is the fire is only right here,
So far.
A black dotted line traces out from behind Roger Robot's finger as he outlines where the forest fire is currently contained.
It looks like there is a big space between the danger zone and where it's at now.
That's certainly good news.
Phew!
Roger Robot detaches the screen from his arm and hands it to you to monitor.
You hold it as if you are holding the safety of the entire Honey Bee neighborhood in your hands.
The orange flames crackle and spark red as they engulf trees and create more and more black smoke.
Though the fire is spreading,
You measure the distance between its current position and the danger zone with your finger to track how quickly it moves.
You feel assured even before you hear the pitter-patter of beaver feet quickly making their way down the small hill toward the other side of our fence.
Mr.
Honey Bee opens the gate for them and several waddle in as quickly as they can.
Before Mr.
Honey Bee can shut the gate behind them,
He looks out from behind the fence and his eyes widen.
Uh,
Everyone?
I think we're going to have some guests soon.
How soon,
My dear?
This is no time for guests.
Soon as in now?
Harold squirms in your arms anxious to get down to the ground as forest creatures,
Big and small,
Pour into our backyard through the relatively small white gate.
The sunflower rustles as deer,
Bears,
Chipmunks,
Lemurs,
And low-flying birds all pack into all available space.
Melody Bee busily rearranges potted plants to make more room for them.
Roger Robot slowly wheels away backwards toward the door having never seen so many creatures in one place before.
He scans all of his databases to cross-reference statistics on animal behavior before he even thinks about letting a furry creature approach.
Harold,
On the other hand,
Has forgotten all about the forest fire and is enjoying our surprise guest visit to the fullest.
Through all of this,
You do not let your attention stray from monitoring the screen.
According to your finger measurement,
The fire is spreading.
It's getting closer,
But it is nowhere near the danger zone.
Take another slow,
Deep breath in through your nose.
Let your mind clear of worries so your reaction can match the situation at hand instead of imagining something that hasn't happened yet.
Then slowly breathe all the way out through your mouth and feel the softness of relief as you release excess worries from your precious mind and heart.
With the last creature,
A 175-year-old tortoise has walked through our gate seeking refuge.
We mingle with the animals to make sure they're all okay To our surprise,
The creatures of the forest are in high spirits as if they didn't just flee from assured danger.
Roger Robot can even tell that these animals are not at risk of attack.
They're actually quite relaxed and,
Dare he say,
Pleasant.
That puzzles you.
So Roger Robot joins us back at the fence and together we listen in on conversations between bears,
Deer,
And especially the chipmunks who tend to know all the gossip of the forest.
Besides the mushrooms,
That is.
They truly know everything from the ground up.
The animals don't seem upset at all.
Wouldn't you expect them to be worried,
My dear?
I would.
I know I'm sure worried.
Maybe the aminals know something you don't,
And that is the source of worry.
You mean the animals?
Yes,
The aminals.
What am I saying?
Oh,
I think your vocab wires got crossed.
Even the slightest smoke particles can affect transmission.
Here you go.
Try again,
Roger.
Animals.
Whew.
Okay,
Maybe the animals know something we don't.
They seem to be talking about the forest fire like a yearly vacation,
Like I would talk about my yearly harvest,
Which I usually talk about with no alarm whatsoever,
Except for that time I got stuck under a gargantuan zucchini.
Whew.
I heard one of the bears say they can't wait for more sunshine in the forest again,
And the birds are talking about having more flight clearance without the excess trees.
Roger,
Can you look up information on forest fires?
We must be missing something.
The natural process of fire is as essential to many of the world's ecosystems as sunlight or precipitation,
Especially for forests and grasslands.
Should I continue?
Roger Robot goes on to explain how forest fires are a natural part of the forest's life cycle.
When trees and vegetation become too overgrown and dense,
They threaten the entire ecosystem.
Even though they are rightfully scary for animals and humans alike,
They serve the function of clearing out the old to make way for the new.
It says here that forest fires rejuvenate the soil and eliminate invasive species,
Which promote healthier and stronger plant species,
And that many plants have adapted to the occurrence of fires.
Such adaptations include thick bark,
Below-ground buds,
Or cones that only open when heated.
Oh yeah,
I've heard of this.
There's a specific mushroom,
The morel,
Which is a storehouse of all the juicy forest gossip.
They only sprout from burned soil.
Oh,
Oh,
And the romnea,
One of my favorite poppies.
They look like fried eggs.
Their seeds only germinate when lit on fire.
Can you believe it?
Listening to the animals,
We lean in to ask what,
If anything,
We can do.
A friendly group of deer reply that there's really nothing to do except for run when it gets too hot,
And then wait for the fire to get tired.
Though we appreciate the function of forest fires,
We also have a neighborhood full of people we love to protect.
We all gather around you and look down at the screen in your hands to see that the fire has spread even more.
Just then,
Before panic could set in,
The resourceful beavers from the forest hardware store,
Who also have much infrastructure to protect,
Fling open the white wooden gate and call us in for assistance.
We are grateful to be of use,
Because though waiting and seeing works well for nomadic deer,
We can only do that for so long.
You pass the screen back to Roger,
Who slips it back into his arm to charge as he puts on his off-roading wheel.
With that call,
We are off into the forest,
Heading toward the fire with bravery swelling in our hearts and dried leaves crunching beneath our feet.
Take another slow,
Deep breath in through your nose and strengthen each and every one of your muscles to reconnect with your power.
Then,
Slowly,
Breathe all the way out through your mouth and let your body and mind relax so you can react without worry and go with the flow without rigidity.
Focus and flexibility are the two most important aspects of helping out in a way that truly helps.
We should have known that the forest beavers would have had this situation perfectly under control.
They've mobilized trucks with fire hoses that need operators.
You and I jump up into the first big red truck we see and drive off to spray the fire with hoses.
Meanwhile,
Mr.
Honey Bee and Melody Bee are up in a helicopter that splashes water down like rain on the flame.
They wave to us as we get to the top of the fire truck to activate the hoses.
On the count of three,
Two,
One,
The fire hoses spray and it takes all of our might,
But together we aim the powerful stream of water at the blaze.
Roger doesn't need a helicopter nor a truck.
With a snap of his finger,
Both of his arms transform into geysers of water that arc over the entire fire.
Together,
We focus,
We adapt,
We stay on target of the fire to protect all that we know and love at the crucial moment when the forest fire has burned enough of the debris away.
This is a compromise.
The forest has gotten a chance to care for itself in its fiery way and we have maintained the safety of the Honey Bee neighborhood.
Before we know it,
The fire is put out.
Only embers glow before they fully extinguish with one last cough of smoke.
The grayness of the day clears and gives way to beautifully bright sunshine.
The fire trucks leave,
The helicopter lands,
And Roger's arms return to being arms.
On our walk back home,
We already begin to see sprouting signs of new life.
All the animals that were packed in our backyard slowly return to their homes,
Waving us goodbye for now on their way out.
The world is such a magical place and even the most devastating situations seem to have a reason.
Thank you so much for all of your help protecting the Honey Bee neighborhood today,
My little Honey Bee.
You are so brave.
Always remember,
Mrs.
Honey Bee believes in you.
You are special and you are loved.
I can't wait to see you again.
