Good morning. ☕☕☕
15 April 2026
My wife planted these Barbados lilies in two large pots outside our back door nearly twenty years ago, and they still come back every spring. It must be the perfect spot — just the right balance of sun and shade — because they return like clockwork.
Thinking about the lilies reminded me of the year a colony of yellow jackets decided to build a nest in one of those same pots. I’m usually a live‑and‑let‑live kind of guy when it comes to wildlife, but that was too close for comfort. They had to go — evicted without prejudice.
That brought back another backyard memory from the day I was pressure‑washing the fence. A mud dauber had built a nest on one of the boards, and when I blasted the water across it, the wasp took offense. It came straight at me and stung me on my right ear. After that, we had ourselves a little battle, and the wasp didn’t stand a chance against high‑pressure water. My ear, however, paid the price — swollen and oversized for days.
How would I describe the pain of a mud dauber sting? Sharp and hot, like a quick jab of electricity. It doesn’t last long, but the swelling certainly does.
I still have the pressure washer, but these days I hire someone else to handle the job. No more backyard duels for me.
That said, when I was doing the pressure‑washing myself, half the job was dragging the machine from one section of fence to the next. One guy I hired showed up with a washer and several lengths of hose hooked together. Genius. And for me, a big duh — why hadn’t I thought of that.
“Experience is simply the name we give our mistakes.” — Oscar Wilde
“If you can laugh at it, you can live with it.” — Erma Bombeck
“Spring is nature’s way of saying, ‘Let’s party!’” — Robin Williams
#photo #photography #photographer #photographylovers #wildlife #nature #morning #flowers #lilies #wasps #pressurewashing
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