Bee-autiful Posibilities

This is the work of 2-legged predators...

Well, a few weeks ago, I was sure I wrote an entry for the blog about our bees and their run-in with some vandals, however, at the moment, I can’t seem to find and finalize that entry in my computer – aka the black hole of endless thoughts and files of information.

Wild boar don't have the ability to pick up and throw stones...

But, as you can read for yourself from a fan of the farm in this Dallas Observer story, our bees had a run-in with some vandals a few weeks ago.  Interestingly enough, it led to befriending two youngsters in the neighborhood who seemed to take up my plight for securing the “woods” area of my property – so long as it meant they could continue to explore and forage food for the family snake. Only in rural America....

It seems as though ever since the Dallas Water Control and "Improvement" District No. 6 decided to put a sewer line though the back of my property some 10 years ago and fail to replace property fence lines, the public has taken to the area as their own private playground.  Now, I can’t say as though I place all of the blame on the public because the water district never did replace my barbed wire fence when they were done.  Why not, you ask?  Good question.  When my city’s public works department head inquired with the water district on my behalf about the fence, they were told – there never was one.  Huh?

Well, sometimes you have to just pick your battles they say, and at the time, I must have had bigger fires to put out because if you know me, you know if this was a battle I had chosen to take up, I would have made a lot of noise about it. Remember  A Rooster's Tale? But, no one was bothering anything back there and I honestly didn’t have a need for a fence because our horses couldn’t access that area anyway.  There’s a very deep ravine, 30ft drop or so, and it had been cross-fenced years before to keep the horses safe. 

Sadly, my "woods" have turned from a playground to a dumping ground.

This is NOT a road

Dallas County Water District #6 contractors left "silt fencing" to grow into the fauna - nice touch.

 However, as noted above, over the years it seems it’s been more than just the water district using this “right of way” easement.  One morning this winter, I took some of my out of town relatives to the back of my property to show them the bees and, well, just the back of my property; only to find a family of several, parked in their vehicle and several all terrain vehicles rambling all over the back of my property! Hey, wait a minute!!

So, I meandered down the ravine and up over to the other side to ask if they realized they were trespassing on private land, to which of course, they replied, no.  I had to politely explain to them about the water district’s lack of responsibility and ask that they not drive across my property anymore as it was ruining it.  This land used to be a very beautiful strip of basically un-touched prairie. Native grasses wafting in the breeze, wildflowers, birds and oh the sound of the highway – which, I’ve now managed to transfer in my mind to be the sound of a distant waterfall thanks to the suggestion of a friend.  (hey, it could sound like a waterfall if you pretend!)

I remember when I was a kid growing up next door to Chicago in a little blue collar suburb, that may as well just have been another Italian neighborhood of the big city. We used to play in 1 of two “fields”. Running around, climbing trees, burying our dead goldfish, and just exploring.  Then, one day, they fenced off and built a fast food restaurant on one of them.  And soon later, they put up a senior citizen facility on the 2^nd one.  Our “woods” were gone. I felt the loss as those two boys looked at me putting up posts, that they helped me pound into the ground I might add.  One asked, very sincerely, can we still come over here?  I replied, "not with your vehicles".  I hated to give him an outright “NO”, because I feel for these kids having all of their “woods” built up with cookie cutter homes and postage stamp sized yards.  It’s no wonder they all hang out inside in front of screens.  These two kids, at least, still had a sense of adventure. In fact, they’d been out exploring the day I met them.  I had been laying down near my brook, which only is such after a good rain, but this day it was making that peaceful gurgling noise a brook makes that can lull you off to a nap.  Until I heard “BAM!”.  A bb gun went off and woke me from my slumber.  I decided to get after that fencing project I’d been putting off – right then. An hour later, they were helping me haul trash from the "woods" and pound fence posts into the ground and run fence line string while we shared stories about the land one of the youngsters' fathers owns in Kaufman County and my farm - of which they were quite intrigued. I hope to see them this spring for a visit - at the front gate.

A Young Explorers Dreamland!

So now I have 2 pairs of eyes on the back of my property, hopefully helping me keep trespassing down to a minimum.  And, maybe I’ve made two new young friends who appreciate nature as it is – without tread marks running through its’ beautiful native grasses and wildflowers and spray paint, televisions and other trash littering its’ woods. 

Marie Eat Your Food - Naturally!