As some of you possibly might know or not, it was my Birthday the other day. Not that I’m counting, but in Human Years, I’m 47 Years Old. Somebody asked me what that was in Bee Years; of course, since it was my Birthday, I totally wasn’t in the Mood to do Math, so I asked my Illegitimate Nephew, Kevin, to figure that out for me. Just this morning, he Informed me that I am approximately 407.33302 Years Old in Bee Years. Geeeeeze.

I haft’a say that even though I might not feel as Young and Enthusiastic as I did the week I was born, it seems to me that Kevin needs to check his Math. I think he Over-Calculated on this one.

Anyway.

By the time my Birthday showed up, all those Heavy Storms we had every day during the Warm Season finally stopped, and I was finally able to get the hell out of my Shoebox where I’d been stuck with Potato (my Sensory-Impaired Certified Emotional Support/Service LadyBug). (Beecause of the Weather, she and I spent the entire time either Streaming all of our Stories on BeeFlix - usually more than once - or having Deep and Meaningful Conversations about how much more Dangerous and Often Crazy the World Outside is these days and how we feel about it. As Interesting as that was, we’d pretty much run out of Conversation, so for sure I needed to grab some Fresh Air.)

Of course, before I left, I asked Potato if she wanted to come with me, but she just said, “No, but thank you. I’m going to just stay here and take a nap. But before you go,” she said, “I have a Birthday Surprise for you which I very much hope you like.” Then she gave me a Huge Box which she had Festively Wrapped in a Non-Recyclable Plastic MostlySafeWay Bag. Much to my Surprise, the Box contained the complete, Unabridged 12-Volume, Fake-Vinyl-Bound Set of the “Partially Annotated Encyclopaedia of Industrial Applications of Unprocessed Bees Wax, Second Edition” translated into Broken English from the Original French Edition.

I don’t know how she Knew I’d always Wanted that, but I guess that’s one of the things that makes her so Special.

Anyway, I thanked her, she said, “You’re Welcome”, then I left.

So after I spent some time sampling some Nectar from the Healthy Crop of Flowers that were blooming, I decided to go by Great Grandma Gee Gee’s BootBox and Cookie Factory to see how she was doing. When I got there she said, “Oh my, I heard that today is someone’s Special Day!”

“Really?” I said, “Whose?”

She gave me a Funny Look and said, “Why YOURS, of course, dear. And in honour of your Special Day, I have a case of some of my Freshly-Baked Royal HoneyChew Krisp™ Cookies for you, which you can either eat here, or take with you.”

Of course I decided to eat them there (it’s hard to fly when you’re carrying a bunch of Stuff). They were Delicious.

After I finished up all the Cookies, I thanked Gee Gee, and decided to make my way over to the Hive. I thought maybee somebody there might be throwing me a Surprise Birthday Party for me. Nobody was. In fact, Nobody was even there, so I figured everybody was either out Working in the Far Meadow, or they had all gone to what I hoped was a Surprise Birthday Lunch at Lousy Louie’s (it was right around Lunchtime… in case you didn’t know it, Lousy Louie’s has a great Lunch Special - one free order of Pollen Puffs, one Pollen Salad Sandwich, and one Non-Fermented Nectar Fizz, all for just a Quarter Pound of Honey - and if it’s your Birthday, you get the Special for Half-Off).

Of course, nobody was at Louie’s, either, and there weren’t any Parties going on. After eating all those Cookies, I skipped the Birthday Lunch Special and just ordered a Nectar Fizz - Fermented - then I left, and headed toward the Near Meadow to see what might bee going on.

When I got to the Near Meadow, the only thing I saw Going On was that there was a House Fly I didn’t recognise who was buzzy working on what was left of an Od, Rancid, Moldy Waffle…it looked Highly Unappealing, but the Fly seemed to bee Enjoying himself. I thought I’d just stop for a minute or two and visit with him.

“Hello,” I said. “I’m Georgie Bee, and today is my Birthday.”

“How Special for you,” the Fly said in what kind of sounded to me like a Sarcastic Tone.

“Yes, it is,” I agreed with him. “You haven’t heard of any Surprise Birthday Parties for me somewhere around here, have you?” I had to know.

“You’re kidding, right?” the Fly asked me.

“No, not at all, I was just thinking that…”

“Do you honestly beelieve that if there was a Party going on anywhere around here that I’d bee Invited?” he asked.

“Well, I…” he Interrupted me again.

“No. Anybody that knows Anything about House Flies knows that we’re Never Invited to Parties. Or Barbecues. Or Picnics. Or Concerts in the Park. Or even inside anybody’s House, even though we’re called House Flies - which never made sense to me, but oh well. So no,” he said.

Then he said, “If there were any Parties around here, don’t you think I’d already know about it?”

“Well, I…” I started to say, but it turned out he wasn’t done talking.

“ … and don’t you think I’d bee at that Party enjoying myself with some fresh HoneyCakes instead of Here, trying to choke down what’s left of this Rancid, Moldy Waffle? Do you, bee?”

“I suppose that…” I wanted to answer his question.

“Don’t bother answering. I’d bee at the Party. But in the meantime, I think I’ve spent quite enough time trying to Explain things, bee, and if you’ll excuse me, I want to get back to this Waffle. I would advise you Turn Away. What I’m about to do isn’t Pretty,” he said.

So I Turned Away.

There was part of me that Seriously Considered sticking around and following that House Fly just in case he found out about a Surprise Birthday Party for me, but it was getting Late, so I left him to his Waffle and flew back to my ShoeBox, where Potato was waiting for me.

“Did you have a nice Outing?” she asked.

“Not really,” I told her. “It seems I’m not getting a Surprise Birthday Party this year, which I find Highly Disappointing.”

“Would you like to Talk about it?” Potato asked.

So we did that.

By the time we were done, she had me feeling Significantly Better about beeing Stiffed on the whole Surprise Birthday Party thing. She helped me Understand that, when bees get Older - like me - Surprise Birthday Parties were usually reserved for Even-Numbered Birthdays. She told me that it was her Opinion that the next time I get a Surprise Birthday Party, it would bee when I turn 50 (in Human Years). “Fine,” I said. “I suppose I can wait the 1,095 Days ’til then.”

“That’s my Bee,” Potato said. “In the meantime, I found a new, 87-part Series that’s Streaming on BeeFlix. It’s about a Butterfly that gets tangled up in a web of its own Lies.”

“That sounds interesting,” I said. “I suppose we could do that while we wait for the Hot Season to Officially Beegin.”

So for the next, ten days, Potato and I Beeinged all 87 Episodes of, “Monarch: A Butterfly’s Story”. (If you haven’t watched that yet, I Highly Recommend it.) By the time we finished the day beefore yesterday, the Warm Season was over.

So now, it’s already Day Two of the New Hot Season.

I hope it’s a good one, without too many House Flies.