Wasps on Trail

I was enjoying the moderate weather and cool forest conditions of the Michigan Expatriates Run. It was a nice day to be alive and I was following about 10 or 15 yards behind “Cums Happily” when I was suddenly ambushed by a bunch of yellow jacket wasps. The runners in front of me were not attacked, but I guess they annoyed the wasps just enough to put them on the warpath. It was amazing how coordinated the attack was, because a dozen or so wasps hit me simultaneously. I wasn’t sure whether it was bees or wasps, but I was certain that it was painful. I immediately picked up the pace to get away from them while yelling “bees, bees”.
“Momma’s Boy was the next runner behind me and he either didn’t hear my calls or he ignored them because he continued right into the middle of the swarm. I have only heard such swearing on trail once before when FMR was running down hill and suddenly found herself in the middle of acres of poison ivy. “Momma’s Boy” must have used the “F’ word 50 times as he was fighting off the wasps and telling the runners behind him to “go back”.
I ended up with about 8 stings. For the first 24 hours the stings were painful, but after 36 hours the pain had turned to just swelling and itching.
I once read an article that suggested that bee stings could cure arthritis. Between the bee stings that I got on trail a couple of years ago and the wasp stings that I got yesterday, I should now be immune to arthritis.

Sleeping on the same side of the bed

Ever notice how men & women develop the habit of always sleeping on the same side of the bed. I sleep on the left side of the bed and my wife sleeps on my right. We’re very comfortable that way, but how did we develop that habit? I asked my wife if she knew, and she actually remembered the story.
When we got married, we moved into an efficiency apartment near the campus of Lamar University where I was a student. It was a tiny apartment with no central heating system. My wife had already graduated from Lamar and was teaching at a Jr. High School. She had to get up each morning earlier than I did, because she had to drive to school, where as, I had only a short walk to campus.
Our apartment was cold on winter mornings, but there was a space heater located on the wall near the right side of the bed. Since my wife got up first, she got the warm side of the bed….the right side. And to this day, I’m much more comfortable sleeping on what I consider to be “My” side of the bed….the left side. Isn’t it strange how some of our habits come about?