Sign Up  /  Login

THE SWARM LbNA #43333

Owner:Adoptable
Plant date:Aug 3, 2008
Location:
City:Ware
County:Hampshire
State:Massachusetts
Boxes:1
Planted by:lilbitsnk
Found by: Nairon
Last found:Sep 18, 2021
Status:FFFFFFaFFFFFFF
Last edited:Oct 1, 2015
This letterbox is to commemorate the release of my first picture book, NATURE’S LULLABY. You can purchase it on line at: http://www.windstormcreative.com/littleblue/26536.htm . Enjoy!
The premise of my book is based on my own childhood memories of growing up in Ware. There were many evenings I spent with my Grandmother sitting quietly on her front porch listening to the wind, the traffic, the crickets. . .
I don’t live in Ware anymore, but I certainly miss it and all the wonderful friends and family I still have there. Luckily, I manage to go back and visit often and bring my kids with me. When we’re in town I try to take them to the places I used to enjoy when I was their age. Janinne’s for ice cream, Snow’s for seafood and the Quabbin. But one of my favorite places is the park. Grenville Park was a big part of my childhood. I played softball there, I belonged to the summer program there, and me and my friends used to ride our bikes there to meet boys. . .
Enter the park through the main entrance and continue straight along the road. The first baseball diamond will be to your left. Derrick and Slugger were always at the park. To me and my best-friend Shelly, Derrick and Slugger were royal pains in the you-know-what. They were always tormenting us, and we were always trying to outwit them. They carried water balloons in their backpacks and we’d never know where they’d be hiding. One day they ducked behind the green right field wall and pelted us as we rode by. After the first splat we pedaled like crazy up the hill, trying to get out of range, but they still managed to peg us off the head way up near the basketball court! Soaked and wet we raced past the playground stopping to rest at the entrance to the second baseball diamond.
I wrung the water from my shirt while Shelly squeezed her pigtails dry. “I can’t believe they got us again!” she complained.
“What goes around comes around,” I said.
“There they are!” Derrick yelled. He & Slugger rounded the corner on their bikes, water balloons at the ready.
“Let’s go!” I screamed, taking off up the road. We sped past the boat launch and lost sight of them for a minute when we turned the corner. We didn’t go left to the donut because then we’d be sitting ducks. Instead, we banked right and pedaled hard uphill; the boys in hot pursuit.
“I’m tired,” Shelly said, breathing hard. “I’m not gonna make it.”
We turned another curve and came upon a small clearing/picnic area.
“Let’s ditch our bikes here,” I said, running north into the woods past an old BBQ pit.
“Here they come!” Shelley screamed.
“Run!” I yelled, pushing her ahead. We ran along a stone wall until we reached a corner. When I looked back, I saw the boys drop their bikes and head after us.
About 15 feet from the corner a nice flat rock jutted out of the wall forming what looked to me like a perfect step.
“This way,” I called, and like a shot, we vaulted over it into the trees beyond.
The boys hopped onto the wall laughing and taunting us with a stupid victory dance.
“You big chickens!” they shouted. “Come out and face the music!”
No sooner had Shelly and I stopped to catch our breath when the boys’ victory dance went from bad to worse. Screams of terror replaced laughter and the water balloons fell forgotten to the ground while they hit and slapped at themselves.
“What’s with them?” Shelley asked, a strange buzzing rose through the trees.
“I think they’re facing the music,” I answered.
The boys darted for their bikes and a thick black swarm chased after them.
“What goes around, comes around,” I repeated.
Shelly and I slapped each other high fives and laughed until our bellies hurt. We’d finally gotten the best of those boys!
Later that fall, we went back to the stone wall and found the empty bee’s nest. To the right of our “step” is a 3-trunked pine tree. Directly behind that tree is a hole in the wall beneath the top layer of stones. One lone bee sat at the entrance and he seemed to smile at us before slinking back inside. I took a small rock and covered the hole to keep the little guy safe. After all, he and his friends did us a big favor. If you find him, tell him we said, “Thanks.” Please put any rocks you move back where they belong.