Tag: GBee (Page 1 of 2)

The Monster!

March 1, 2026 / queenbee / 0 Comments

This little incident happened recently when all the four of us were returning home late, one night.

Mr.Bee was driving, I sat beside him. GBee was seated in the seat behind us and KBee was feeling sleepy, so he sat in my lap. We were hardly 5 minutes away from our home.

Suddenly, he saw the road sign to our right side….

I don’t know in what angle the road sign looked like a monster. It was either the lack of street light or the radium paint on the road sign shining under our headlights or the weird stick figure dropping litter, which must have looked like black liquid leaking from his stretched hand, or, KBee’s over- active imagination…Whatever!

I turned my head to look at what caused the panic….understood that the road sign was the culprit. I pacified the kid saying, it is just a road sign.

That soothed his brain.

He began playing again, with the cars in his hands. (His hands are never empty. He has something or other always in his hands.)

This little incident made me realize that even harmless stuff like a road sign can be a cause of worry for little kids.

Just like the lump of coat hanging from a peg, which dances at night, thanks to the high speed fan, anything can be a monster!

P.S :

1. This particular incident had taken place inside the car, but, drawing the inside of the car is too tedious. So, I have kept it simple. The cartoons are supposed to show KBee and me sitting in the front seat but all the extra details of car would have made the cartoon clustered.

2. While this incident was happening, Mr.Bee was silently driving the car and GBee was shouting at the top of his lungs about his friends who stay nearby, etc. They were not involved in our conversation, so I refrained from drawing them.

3. Turns out KBee is giving me lots of material for my blog posts. Incidentally, both the kiddos name all their cars. We have vroom vroom car, First Asha, MK- 1 (short for Mortal Kombat), Point – 1 and Lighter! (These are some of their favourite cars)

Till the next post, cheerio!

Munnar : Of Terror Attacks and No show safaris

December 3, 2025 / queenbee / 1 Comment

Day 6 (23rd April 2025):

We woke up, freshened up, had breakfast and sat in the hotel room. I was under the weather and Mr.Bee was sweet enough to take the boys out to play, by himself.

They played in the playground at the White House Hotel, while I had a rejuvenating nap. I woke feeling a little refreshed and active.

We had our lunch in the room, watched some random movie.

Incidentally, this was also the day after the Pahalgam terror attack, about which we came to know a little late. Since we had been on the road all day (Day 5), we couldn’t be in touch with anyone (no signals at most viewpoints) and that must have been terrible for both Mr.Bee’s and my parents. We didn’t know there was a terror attack and we didn’t know people were trying to get in touch with us!

Anyway, after our evening snacks, we got out of the room at last, to go for shopping. Mr.Bee bought me a Kasavu saree at the Kasavu Aalayam. (Yet to wear it)

Our next stop was the Munnar Chocolate Factory. GBee and KBee were excited about visiting MCF and even without eating a single chocolate, they seemed to be in a sweet-induced-high!

We reached room in time for our dinner and slept peacefully.

Day 7 :

As if Munnar was silently crying for the victims of the Pahalgam terror attack, the day had started out bleak, with a downpour!

Although we were on a holiday, we still felt sad for the effect the terrorists had on tourists. (Incidentally, Munnar is a safe place. Most of the population here follow Christianity.)

I kept thinking about …what goes inside the brain of a terrorist ? Are they even human ? Are they crazy ? And more such thoughts continued…

We had originally planned for a safari tour, to watch the animals in the majestic Munnar. Sadly, the rain was a deterrent.

After our lunch, we decided to go out anyway. Coming to Munnar and sitting inside the hotel room for most part of the day, seemed useless.

Once the heavy rain turned into a drizzle, we booked our safari, through a phone call. (Safari tours are just a phone call away)

Our rental Ertiga driver, who was still with us in Munnar had no major work for two straight days. He was happy chatting up with other drivers and sleeping lazily throughout the day.

Our safari tour guide brought a jeep, loaded us inside and we started out.

I packed a bag with some 45th Avenue cookies, water bottles, ear muffs and fully charged phones and we were ready for the elephants!

As soon as we reached Anachal, we took beautiful photos at various viewpoints.

@ Anachal

We entered the forest area and thanks to the heavy rain since the morning, the forest was replete with waterfalls and rain water run-offs.

You really need to be there to see the beauty of Munnar. I can’t explain it any better.

At one viewpoint (pic above), we saw a car driver, park his car on the rocky trail, fill up a bucket with the water from the foot of the waterfalls, to wash his car! Even that simple task seemed new to us. (Who even washes a car near waterfalls in the city? No one.) It was a novel experience, although using a soap is not exactly environment friendly in places like Anachal and Mankulam.

Munnar is a beauty and thanks to the rain, we got to see it, in its true glory.

By the time we reached Perumbankuthu Waterfalls, the rain was not a drizzle anymore. It was more of a downpour. Our safari driver stopped the jeep, gave us two umbrellas and pointed towards the bridge and the steel deck we needed to go to, to take in the view.

Angle 1

Angle 2

Angle 3

Steps leading to deck – on normal days, with no rains…

The bridge and the viewpoint were completely deserted. (Who even goes around for tours when there is a downpour? No one, except some rare specimens like QB and family!) Here too, inspite of the umbrella in my hands, drenched feet and cool breeze causing shivers, I still enjoyed the view. It will stay in my memories, for a long time to come.

@Tiger Cave – QueenBee and a bridge!

We later made a brief stop at the Tiger Cave, near Mankulam village. It was closed because of the rains and we returned to our jeep. Every village had small shops with noodles, tea, coffee and the forever unhealthy option of packets of half filled potato chips of Lays and others.

GBee loves potato and it’s byproducts, so he demanded me for a Lays packet. I complied his request, by giving him the millet cookie! He looked at me in silence, he has the whole life ahead of him, to complain, he will get there soon!

We continued our tour, the final destination being Anakulam. It was already half past five.

The jeep came to a halt at the junction which was prominently marked by Holy Mary with Baby Jesus in Her arms. Many vehicles were parked there, filled with tourists in all sizes and shapes. We even saw a white family, who waited for a glimpse of the elephants, patiently.

We met a desi family, who are NRIs from the U.K and we discussed the tour plans and feedbacks. They were past the age of 60 and the kiddos too didn’t shy away from telling them what they really thought about the safari tour!

We waited and waited till 6:30 and decided to return to Munnar from Anakulam, since it was already getting dark and the kids were hungry.

The safari tour guide had already warned us about a ‘no-show’ from the elephants, because, heavy rains meant cold climate and foggy pathways in the forests and the elephants preferred to stay together with their herds, than roam about towards the village or play in the water, like they usually did!

@ Anakulam – on a normal day

GBee was mighty disappointed and even after a month or so after the trip came to an end, the only thing he remembered was that we couldn’t spot a single elephant in our safari tour!

@ Anakulam – a “no – show” , when it rains.

After more than one hour, we finally reached the hotel. Mr.Bee, GBee and KBee had dozed off in the jeep but I stayed awake, looking at the deserted roads and sleepy forest, on our way back.

After a quick wash up and change of clothes, we were ready to call it a day. I wish I had seen some of the pukka local elephants, spray eachother with water, but one can’t have everything!

We slept like logs, thanks to the safari trip in the jeep.

P.S :

1. I admire the army personnel who were responsible for the Operation Sindoor. Thank you guys. I don’t know know how you do it, but thanks anyways!

2. I am also thankful that we have a pro active PM and not a meritorious silent puppet, who served the Desh Drohis in silence.

3. Since it is already December and I am yet to complete my April vacation posts, I decided to finish it off first, before writing about anything else. Timing sucks!

4. The photos which were taken by me or Mr.Bee have my blog name in them, but the others I have freely taken from online. Thanks to the kind sources, who let others use their photos, without plastering them with watermarks!

5. I seem to be attracting lots of spam messages. Thanks, but no thanks!

Till the next post, bubye!

For the love of Pizza

December 1, 2025 / queenbee / 0 Comments

My earliest memories of pizza are from my childhood, when my friends and I would haunt our favourite Global Bakery, order a small pizza, eat a slice each and go to our evening tutions.

When one of our friends had their birthday, we would celebrate with a pizza along with 200 ml each of Coca Cola or our desi favourite, Thumbs Up. Those were the best days, of no worries and screen-free childhood!

The nearby, Country Oven was somehow unsuccessful. Everyone preferred the Global Bakery.

Anyway, schooling was the time my love for pizza started.

Once I progressed to college, getting pizza delivered became a routine. Mid Land Bakery got most of our business. These orders grew manifold, once I began earning.

I miss those days when the Technical Division team girls had a fun lunch at the Pizza Hut and ate to our hearts content.

After marriage, when Mr.Bee and I, made Charlotte our new home, pizza had been the go-to lunch or dinner, during our lazy days.

Even though I have been in love with the Pizza, this post is not about me!

I remember my first ever pizza in Charlotte, which had nothing but mushrooms as the topping. (I hated the Mellow Mushrooms pizza, by the way. I am not a fan of mushrooms, even though they are one of the rare sources of protein for vegetarians.)

Then came the particularly soft Papa John’s pizza, who knew my heart and always sent extra pickles for this desi girl, Queen Bee! I could savour their soft pizza, thanks only to their pickles.

Then there was Vapiano Pizza, which had the best ambience and was the true Italian pizza, but I felt no connection! (Sadly, it was shut down during Covid lockdown and now the new pizzeria in it’s place is, the Bella Ciao)

The Pizza Hut pizza was good too, but could hardly conquer my taste buds.

The Fuel Pizzeria’s Garden Fresh Pizza with my all time favourite topping of Basil had me salivating like never before. Mr.Bee loved to have a Margarita Cheese Pizza. At Fuel, we ordered half and half, one half with my choice of toppings and the other half with three kinds of cheese for Mr.Bee. Sweet deal! The added advantage was of the ambience, which was friendly, but not too friendly.

Incidentally, the FUEL pizzeria was close to Mr.Bee’s office and that added to the charm. I also loved their Garlic Knots, which were my “soul” food, they made my soul happy!

The day we landed in Charlotte, we had pizza from Mellow Mushrooms, Mr.Bee got negative marks for this choice of pizza! He didn’t know about my aversion to mushrooms. To compensate, he took me to the Fuel pizzeria for dinner and that saved his neck!

Team lunches and dinners for Mr.Bee always meant Pizza, he must have eaten more than twice of my share of pizzas, but still, this post is not about him either!

During the lockdown, the one person who missed pizza was none other than GBee. Yes, this post is about my elder munchkin and his love for the Pizza.

Thanks to lockdown and the after effects of it, we stopped eating out for a while. To satiate our demanding taste buds, we even made a pizza at home, with the head chef/ baker being Mr.Bee and the sous chef / baker being me!

Once GBee saw that we were making him a pizza, he was excited and I don’t remember how we made him sit for full 45 minutes, till it was done.

He was so excited, he rushed outside to the main gate, as soon as he heard the gate open. He shouted at the top of his voice about pizza being made at home. Sadly, the visitors were confused and were in too deep a conversation to even respond to the kiddo.

GBee sharing his happiness with random strangers!

Since we didn’t have an oven good enough to bake a sinful pizza, we made it with desi jugaad. That weekend had been memorable.

Before and After – Homemade pizza

Credit goes to Mr.Bee for the tasty pizza. Guess who loved it the most? GBee.

Although, he picked out every piece of vegetables on the pizza and piled it onto my plate, he still loved it! If only he ate it with all the vegetables, he would have been a bigger pizza fan!

Some day I would love to go to Italy and try the pizza there, probably made by a nonna . Does anyone have similar dream?

P.S :

1. Down the line, when we wanted to feed GBee to some sandwiches, we would bluff that they were just mini-pizza and he would believe us and eat them. Now, he is old enough to recognize the bluffs.

2. KBee, surprisingly doesn’t like pizza. We always order garlic bread for him to eat. Our choice of pizzeria in Hyderabad is the Pompeii. (The pizza is to die for!)

3. Before our flight to India, when we were finally returning home, Mr.Bee and I ate at the Fuel Pizza, one last time.

Do Not Disturb – Review

November 26, 2025 / queenbee / 0 Comments

On my good days, I can complete a novel of 350 or less pages in a day. But if the story is not engaging and if it’s a week day, which involves picking up and dropping off the kids at their schools, I can finish off a novel in two days, in style!

Luckily, I started this one on a Saturday and by night fall, I was ready to review it. So here goes the review….

Review:

Written By : Freida McFadden

Published On : Self Published in 2021

Read By Queen Bee On : 19 th October 2025

Do Not Disturb, rightly starts with Quinn Alexander, who doesn’t want to be disturbed!

Why?

Because she is busy washing off the blood on her hands. She had just killed her husband Derek Alexander!

Turns out Derek is a giant A**!

Although, Quinn’s ex boyfriend, a cop, Scott Dwyer is at her main door, investigationg the neighbour’s complaint, she manages to send him off, without raising his suspicion.

All the while, the dead body is in the kitchen, blimey!

Quinn could have just used the self defense theory to get out of the murder rap, but she doesn’t.

She is mighty scared and the best idea she comes up with is to run away! (Running away is a clear cut sign of guilt, any reader of crime thrillers and murder mysteries knows it.)

The story would have ended after a couple of pages, if Quinn had just surrendered to the police, showed him the bruises on her neck and proved the abuse, but nope.

Bumbling and painfully amateurish, she manages to reach a dilapidated motel called The Baxter Motel, all the while leaving enough clues for anyone to follow her. Turns out, she has always been lucky, but smart, she is not.

From this instance, the novel turns into a thriller, even reminding me of the classic Psycho by Alfred Hitchcock, which I had watched, as a teen. (Take a bow, Mr.Hitchcock. It is an unforgettable movie, made in 1960, but is still relevant. More on that later.)

We meet Nick Baxter, the owner of the motel, who has an invalid wife, Rosalie, who was once a celebrated chef, but now, she just sits by the window and spies on her husband, through a binoculars.

Then there are other characters like Claudia, elder sister to Quinn; Rob, her husband, who is a plumber. A psychic, who is a permanent guest at the motel etc.

We also get to know the back story of the motel owner and his wife. (I felt the backstory could have been a little short. It completely diverted me from the MC, Quinn.)

Incidentally, the Baxter Motel is infamous for the murder of one of its guest, Christina Marsh. (Two years prior to the current story line.)

Just as Quinn decides to run away from the motel, she is stabbed…

What will happen to her?

Is the motel owner guilty of crime?

Who stabbed Quinn?

Who killed Christina Marsh?

Who is Derek Alexander’s mysterious girlfriend?

All the questions are answered at the end. Some of them may surprise you and some may not!

P.S:

1. The novel is worth a read, probably one of the writer’s initial works. I, for one, loved being reminded of the Psycho. Go ahead and watch it, now! The movie is unforgettable.

2. It is the second novel of Freida, where the ex – boyfriend is a cop!

Till the next post, bubye.

Spice Garden and Rose Garden : c/o Munnar

October 23, 2025 / queenbee / 0 Comments

Day 5 – Part 1:

Mr.Bee and I woke up early in the morning, sat across each other in the balcony, looking at the huge trees of various kinds. The only one I could recognise was that of Eucalyptus. I saw a beautiful red nosed green parrot on the trees and that made my day. (I remember seeing a green parrot in Rajamundry, during my stay at my dodda’s place.)

I woke the kids up and after our baths, we went to have our breakfast downstairs. We met fellow Telugu tourists, chatted with them and parted ways. (Wherever you go, Kerala, Kashmir, Kashi or Kanyakumari, anywhere in India, you will find at least one Telugu tourist! That’s my personal experience talking.)

The kids and I didn’t like eating anything, except for plain old bread and jam. Mr.Bee is surprisingly a non-picky eatery, during travels.

After our breakfast, we decided to pass our time in the playground. I love the swings, it brings back memories of my school days and all. GBee loves playing on the swing, just like me, whereas KBee hates it, like Mr.Bee (Mr.Bee doesn’t mind Bungee jumping, but he can’t sit even for a minute on a swing!) Since it was our anniversary, we asked GBee to take a couple of pics of us. Even though a 7 yr old does not have much experience with taking pics, GBee not only took good pics, he also suggested various poses for us to mimic!

We returned to our room and started planning for the morning and afternoon hours. Our evening plan was already in place.

N, our tour driver suggested the Greenland Spices and Ayurvedic Garden tour. I was like, why not!

We booked ourselves a garden guide, who would show each tree and plant and explain the finer points. She knew Telugu too and it was fun, listening to Telugu in a Malayalam accent and I didn’t mind it a bit.

Red Ginger Lily

Princess Flower Plant

Red Banana plant

Cardamom plant with Inch Plant at its feet

If you wonder how a cardamom looks before being Sun dried, then, this is how it looks….

Queen Bee holding a cardamom, with KBee in the background playing with seeds and what not!

We had a blast, looking at all the plants of Aswagandha, Brahmi, Bringaraj, cocoa, Punarnava plant, red ivy (used to heal wounds) etc. She even showed us plants and the combination of which is used as medication for different health issues. It was an informative tour. (Since I was worried about presence of snakes in the Spice Garden, she assured me that one particular plant repels snakes, the Sarpagandha)

With that, we returned to the car, ready to go to our next destination, Munnar Rose Garden. Once again, we saw many colourful flowering plants and other garden plants, which were cut in interesting shapes and looked ornamental. (GBee and KBee wondered why we were looking at so many plants in a single day!)

My overly enthusiastic (pun intended) chocolate muffins, enjoying their time @ Munnar Rose Garden

We took atleast two dozen pics, spent close to 45 minutes in the garden and got into the car.

Our next stop was the Echo Point, Munnar.

Echo Point – Munnar

We paid the entry fee, stood there at the end of the tiny mound of a hill and shouted out, to hear the echo which boomeranged at us from among the trees, on the opposite side. There was boating option available too, for those interested. If you want to attract the full force of the Sun, boating is the way to go!!

Incidentally, we were yet to eat our lunch and extremely tired from all the walking. We returned to the car, after buying beautiful soveneirs, a.k.a, the fridge magnets and some wooden figurines.

We had originally planned on paying a visit to the Idukki dam, but later shelved the idea. We stuffed ourselves with all the snacks available at various locations.

While N drove us back to the Munnar town, all the 4 of us had a power nap. We woke up refreshed and happy, as we reached the White House hotel.

Since it was well past our lunch time, we ordered snacks and juice and patiently waited for our room service to make their appearance!

To follow our schedule, we had to be out of the room by 4:30 p.m., so we got busy, by getting ready for our interesting evening. The Raga, here we come!

P.S:

1. Long ago, I saw snow white cockatoos in Sydney, not in a zoo, but in the balcony of an apartment and more of them on the streets, where they fly freely!

2. After visiting the spices garden I understood why the spices are costly. The process of picking them and making them usable is a time taking process which takes lots of patience. Even plucking them from the tree needs to be done carefully and requires expertise.

3. We also stopped at a random point on the road, near the tea and coffee estates, saw a couple of deers running about.

4. Dodda amma is a Telugu term used to refer to one’s maternal aunt, older sibling of mom. Pinni is an aunt, who is younger sibling of mom.

5. During our visit to the nursery in Sangareddy district, the admin told us there are snakes and to be cautious when coming with kids. Luckily, Munnar Spice Garden administration knows what they are doing, since they have Sarpagandha too!

6. All the photos except the one showing the Echo Point were taken by Mr.Bee. This post is of the travel series, previous one being Munnar, at last!

The Good Boy!

February 27, 2025 / queenbee / 0 Comments

Thanks to his brother being a second grader and the BBC kids shows, even before KBee can write alphabets, he has learnt the multiplication tables upto 10. He recites them, even during bath, like a bathroom singer!

He is proud of himself and he likes to test me on a daily basis. He asks me questions and when I answer them, he compliments me, the routine I had with him daily to get him to talk. Now that he is talking and learnt tables, he is teaching the teacher that taught him, at the age of ‘almost 4’!

My most important pass time of the day is doing laundry and folding them. If I am not blogging or watching K drama, I must be busy, make a guess, doing laundry! (My KBee enjoys making mess and playing with colours, poor me!)

Anyway, he keeps testing my multiplication skills….

Even a tea break is quiz time for me….

During one such quiz session, GBee had overheard the compliment I got for answering a question….’Good Boy,Mommy’. Now you can see how my KBee is even mimicking the affirmations he gets from me! Lol.

GBee took it upon himself to enlighten his younger brother, about what and how to give positive affirmations!

Gita Upadesam, by GBee to KBee.

Although Lord Krishna taught important life lessons to Arjuna during the Mahabharata war, He had an attentive disciple Arjuna. In our case, KBee was like, I know mom is a girl, tell me something new!

So, at the drop of a hat, KBee manages to throw in a few ‘Good Boy mommy’ throughout the day and I don’t correct him at all.

Who doesn’t like being called a GOOD BOY!

P.S:

1. I had many posts planned, but KBee has begun his schooling and that is like inviting the viruses and other stuff to come home freely. Both the kids were ill and as usual my blogging had to suffer on the back burner.

2. My new favourite track is Apache Apache by Bruno Mars and Rose.

3. On a different note, I want to visit most temples of India and immerse myself in the colourful architecture. The insta reels are making me say this. They are the best. Let us see…

Till the next post….bubyeee.

The Mommy Blues..!

January 30, 2025 / queenbee / 0 Comments

While I have gone through this and keep going through this on a regular basis, I am sure, most moms keep second guessing their own importance at home, mostly among their kids! We keep wondering if we are too strict or too lenient or too harsh or too soft or pampering the kids silly or if we are being a dictator. We also wonder, sometimes, that when we are strict, if the kids resent and hate us!

Yup, story of every mommy’s life.(Mostly of stay-at-home moms)The day progresses with more thoughts….

Weighing the pros and cons..

Finally accepting the choice which has been made and practising positive affirmations..

All the while lots and lots of thoughts bombard you, questioning you, depressing you, reminding you and finally you try to pull yourself up and you happen to hear a tiny bit of conversation……between your kids!

Acknowledgement and praise..

That is when you realise….

Perspective

You think you are a heroine and more, pump yourself up with immense confidence and one little compliment the kids shower on their dad deflates you! (He is mostly away, working)

That my dear friends is Mommy Blues and it comes in all sizes!

P.S:

1. I once caught GBee imparting gyaan to KBee about their hardworking dad! So I have cooked up this post for the blog, with a little masala. (Any thing can be an inspiration for a post.)This is also a shout out to Mr.Bee who works hard for us. We are proud of you Mr.Bee, although I envy you a little!! ( kids admiring you and all..)

2. This is my first post on my Samsung Tab and am happy about it. Watch out for more posts. I found one of my old diary with my cartoons and guess where they are going to show up?

P.P.S:

Behind the scenes….

Scene 5:

Scene 5: After the eavesdropping!

Scene 6:

QB attitude: Something happened, let me blog about it!

Till the next post, adios!

The Home Fun!

August 16, 2023 / queenbee / 0 Comments

Just as GBee began his education this year, Grade 1 and all, we have come across the term Home Fun. Gone are the olden days when we as students in school, were given ‘Home Work’! Kids these days have Home Fun, daily and that too in at least two subjects!

This specific incident happened when I was busy folding the laundry, while instructing GBee on how to go about his Home Fun! Incidentally, I always have to correct myself each time. I begin talking like, ‘GBee, let’s start your home work, I mean home fun!’

Sadly, even GBee says it is his home work! He even wrote GBee working on the wall behind the table! (He is into graffiti, lol!)

Anyway…

And..the conversation starts…

Before I could get my brain back into the groove from all the humming while folding the laundry, to even respond to GBee, KBee, the baby had replied to GBee.

I could hardly believe my eyes, I mean, ears! See, I am flustered!

KBee is a silent guy, who hardly responds to stuff. Sometimes, he prefers giving silent hand gestures to get his point across. So, seeing such a boy, reply voluntarily to his anna, was a bit overwhelming for me.

Surprised and shocked that KBee can even reply to conversations…

KBee even repeated himself, when I expressed my surprise.

Before I could gather my bearings, the kiddos were huddled together in their own private conversation.

Full blown conversation happens….

And that was how I began to see that both have their conversations.

This is the kind of Home Fun I enjoy.

Come on Home Fun, let’s do this!

P.S:

The stuff in GBee’s hand is supposed to be a text book. I hope that was clear, I tried my best to draw!
The moment I heard the word Home Fun, from GBee’s teachers, I found it vaguely familiar. Then I understood what it was. I was reminded of ‘E.T. Home Phone’! I hope you have seen and admired the ‘E.T. – the Extra Terrestrial‘ movie, by Steven Spielberg. (it was released in 1982, well before I was born, but I still watched it!) It is one of the best of the best, a classic!
On an unrelated note, 1990 Tamil movie Anjali and 2003 Hindi movie Koi Mil Gaya, both were inspired by the ‘E.T. – the Extra Terrestrial‘ movie. At least Anjali had good acting!
Lastly, I really enjoyed the E.T. adventure ride at Universal Studios, Orlando.

ET adventure ride – where we can cycle around with E.T. – pic courtesy Google

P.P.S:

I will be back with the remaining vacation posts. GBee has exams this week. Cheerio!

The (Un)Lucky Worm!

August 2, 2023 / queenbee / 0 Comments

It gives me immense pleasure when I see my kids playing outside, with worms and insects no less. I feel satisfied and pat myself on the back, when they entertain themselves with insects and not with the T.V or the much dreaded cell phone. Ya, they take after me.(Though they still have a long way to go) I had the best childhood, playing with all kinds of insects (one of the perks of being an introvert) and I still find it funny how my mom never stopped me from playing with them.(She probably never knew!)

Let me make this clear. Playing with insects involves, observing them from close quarters, seeing what they do when a leaf is placed in front of them or when food is available readily. It also involves checking out their living quarters, like an anthill and trying to understand how they manage to make those! I hope this doesn’t sound creepy, but it is entertaining in its own right.

I had previously written innumerable posts about this, but they are lost in the sea of internet and my back up issues of blogging. I may write about them in future again, but for now, the topic is the kids playing with worms, an earthworm, to be specific, if you are really into details!

We went on our bi-monthly visit to my parents house and the kids were playing in the verandah, when this little incident had taken place.

My parents have a lengthy verandah which kids their age love. They can race each other, listen to the birds early in the morning, run after the lone butterfly or even spray each other with water from the low level tap. Once or twice, some birds may even come after you, to peck your eyes out (or to kill the lice in your hair), if you make any suspicious movements!

So, one Sunday afternoon, GBee and KBee were running after their grandfather, showing him around his own garden! (Ya, they took him to a plant to show its flowers to him. They took him next to the mighty coconut tree to show him the coconuts, as if its something new. It is his own house for Heaven’s sake!)

GBee suddenly found an earthworm on the cement walkway, slowly going about its business, crawling slower than either a sloth or a snail! He called out to us. KBee too came running at once, not to miss out on the fun, whatever that excited his brother.

Spotting the rogue earthworm!

Suddenly, GBee ran away and KBee tried to touch it (or poke it, probably), but I stopped him midway. GBee returned with a tiny bucket filled with water and splashed it on top of the earthworm!

Watering the earthworm or playing with it?

I thought he was intent on killing off the poor earthworm! But I was mistaken. He was in-fact making a swimming pool for the little creepy crawly! Goes to show how much he loves a swimming pool. (He keeps asking me to buy a house with a swimming pool, as if that comes cheap!)

Once he was done pouring water, I envied it, one lucky worm, got itself a swimming pool, no less! But that might be my opinion. Who knew what the worm wanted? (It probably wanted a less adventurous life with no sudden splashes of water immersing it completely!)

Imagine if we had a downpour of rain, just like a bucket had been emptied suddenly on our heads. That would suffocate us surely. So on second thought, the earthworm must have cursed its own bad luck!

Why me?

So what do you think the worm was thinking?

P.S:

In the last panel, I zoomed the earthworm, so that I could show the facial expression better!
My daddy was impressed by GBee’s thought process, about gifting a swimming pool to the earthworm and all! Did such thought ever run in your brain? NO, right! It is so out of the box, rather, out of the bucket!
Watching insects of various sizes surely changes your perspective of life. We begin to understand life, problems and happiness are all relative. We also understand that philosophy also comes to us in bursts and intervals and thankfully, doesn’t engulf us completely. Even philosophical thoughts are temporary like our sorrows and happiness. Food for thought!
I thought my readers needed a change of pace with all the posts about Ooty. The next post will continue the progress of our vacation.

Cheerio till the next post friends.

Happy Birthday GBee!

May 26, 2023 / queenbee / 0 Comments

Wish you a very happy birthday, GBee, my love. May God bless you with healthy, happy, prosperous life and eternal glory! (I sound like Dumbledore announcing Tri-Wizard Tournament!)

P.S:

Although GBee loves balloons, I refrained from drawing them, because I don’t want it to look congested!

Cheerio, till the next post!

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