#beekind

Today, May 20th, we celebrate these tiny heroes who work so hard to keep our world blooming. Without bees, our plates would be a lot emptier — they help grow the fruits, vegetables, and flowers we all love!

Thank you to all the pollinators for everything you do Let's protect them by planting bee-friendly flowers, avoiding harmful pesticides, and spreading awareness.

Oh Goodness, my first ask! I could be easy and just say stuff like "my family," but that would be boring, so here we go in no particular order:

I Love Love Love hearing my husband's laugh all the way across the house when he has encountered something that has really tickled his funny bone. - just love his various laughs! I swear just hearing his laugh somedays works better than laughing myself.

Being outside, unless the weather is just absolutely miserable, always makes me happy. And frankly, even then, if I have the right clothes I'm okay. The outdoors is my happy place. I find even opening the window/shades/blinds and letting a little outside in can suffice when I can't go out. This is rather vague you say... yes it is because I found it doesn't matter. Outside is outside. Working in the flowerbeds or hiking in a trail is all the same to me, so long as it gets me outside, I enjoy it all the same.

Color - color makes me very very happy. Color has always had a strong pull on me. I had been one to keep a little box of treasures tucked under my bed as kid and in it I would keep paint swatches, sometimes actual little pieces of dried acrylic paint, and little bobbles I held onto because of the color or the color combo I wanted to save for some weird reason. I especially like Blue, Green, and Yellow.

Dogs - I cannot have a list of things that make me happy that doesn't include dogs. There is something about a dog to me that is irreplaceable. They are an immense source of happiness for me. My dogs are my family, the same as my kids or my husband, I love them just as much. I mourn them just as much. For better or worse, I need them in my life and I cannot imagine walking through my life without a four legged companion to go with me.

Seeing what caring, kind, thoughtful, civic minded, loving, critical thinkers I have raised. Seeing them in action makes me super happy. As a parent when you see your grown children act on the things you tried to teach them when they were little, and that translates into positive community action now, that makes me super happy. My kids are stepping up and stepping in for good however they can in their communities. They are even helping me start an NPO so we can work on some of the issues in our area. So my family makes me happy yes, but seeing that my kids want to make the world a better place rather than just coasting along makes me super happy.

Does your Great Dane takeover your shower?

I guess any dog, but Great Dane lovers I am really looking at you? I have to know if this is just my dog, or if other danes do this with regularity? He waits until my back is turned and just steps on in and announces himself with a cold nose on my lower back.

I have let out a few choice words when his cold nose, which seems 20 degrees colder than normal, touches me, but I try to keep calm. That is his request for his turn in the water. Yesterday evening I turn around in the shower and there stands my dog - half in and half out - sweatshirt and all asking for his turn.

I don't need advice or anything, just really curious if other dog owners have this on the regular, or if it's just me. All of my dane mixes have done some version of this. He isn't the first dog I've had to like baths, and not even the first one to come in when I'm showering, but certainly the first one that just comes in with me so often. Is this just me or is this a Great Dane thing?

*PSA incoming and Trigger warning for GI related medical stuff

Knowing me, it's probably not in good form to post pictures of your coffee anymore, but I had to share these. Partly because Mr. Bee Kind and I very very rarely just go out anymore, and partly to showcase this glorious mug. I LOVE moose, and this mug made my day. It was a perfect mug for my mocha. I should also note this little place near us uses all second hand mis-matched kitchenware, so it's part of the fun wondering what cool mug, pretty plate or funky fork you're gonna get. If you're in the Seattle area you should checkout Freshies, it's a tiny little coffee shop/cafe. They make the best soups and sandwiches. They often have local candies like carmels and baked goods. Admittedly, I am not that much of a coffee snob for living in Seattle, but I think they have good coffee too.

In an effort to get out of the house for more than a dog walk, I'm hoping to make this more of a regular outing in 2026. Hopefully I'll get the Moose Mug again soon. I hope you all are having a wonderful weekend!

Bees play a major role in supporting the environment and the food we eat. Pollinators help produce fruits, vegetables, nuts, and flowering plants. However, bee populations have been declining due to pesticides, climate change, habitat loss, and disease. When bees disappear, ecosystems and food systems become unstable.

For this service-learning project, I created and shared an awareness flyer to spread information about pollinator decline and small actions people can take to help. I wanted to focus on education because sometimes change begins with simply understanding the problem.