#507 ‘nation

So I was at a nursery the other day. And it seemed like every tree and shrub was in bloom. Flowers, flowers everywhere and not a drop to eat. For the bees. Cause strangely, I didn’t notice any bees. Now when you get right down to it there’s nothing like being in the middle of all that pollination. Pollination rocks. It’s my favorite ‘nation in the world. Give me a stamen and a pistil any day. Whip out the stigmas, styles and anthers and let’s watch the flowers rock. Flowers are the showiest reproducers on the planet. Plants in and of themselves are pretty boring—leaves, bark, trees—barely capable of engendering a hug. But flowers. Flowers are the beauty of existence. And the fact that when you come right down to it, flowers are the exposed genitalia of the plant world only adds to their allure. Giving your loved one a bouquet of vegetile sex organs has helped many a couple on the road to mammalian species propagation. So it was fun to be in the midst of all that herbal fecundity. Okay let’s admit it, it was a floral orgy. Pollen drifted through the air in a cloud. Come to think of it, given that orgy stuff, it was a little icky.
But not a bee anywhere. I was reminded of a little science snippet I had read. Beekeepers in 27 states report that up to 90% of bees have disappeared. Uh oh. Bees role in pollination means they have a crucial responsibility for 25% of the world food supply. I’m not worried though. I read another article recently about the advances in nano-technology that are making a robot bee closer and closer to economic viability. It looks like we’re going to be lucky and not have to change any of our global warming habits and our rampant use of broadcast pesticides. Robot bees will save the day. Maybe we can make some of them into little Orecks so I won’t have to walk through clouds of icky horticultural love dust either. I grew out of all that flower power stuff in the sixties.
America, ya gotta love it