We had been looking forward to a fortnight with only one hospital visit…
The level in the pond is low so I took the pump down to the river and went to get the big hoses from the central shed. I pulled out the long one and went back for the one that dips in the water. It was snagged so I gave it a pull. I heard a buzzing, saw a small fist sized hive swarming with bee like things and then bam it hit me just a centimetre to the right of my left eye.
You can see the yellowish bit close to my eye. I found out that I normally use my left eye to take photos…I had never thougt about it before.
It was damn painful right away. I got the tube out. There was no way I was going back in that shed.
I went down to the house and asked the wife to get the anti stinging beast cream out. The, probably bumble bee, had left a puncture wound which was bleeding. I was surprised with the force it struck, the change in momentum cannot have been all that high. Anyway, my nose swelled up and my eye turned partially red. So, for a change, the wife drove me to hospital to Accident and Emergency to have it checked out. If the strike had been a little to the left, I would have been in serious trouble!!
They gave me paracetamol and antiseptics and said that it will go in a few days. The nose is throbbing as a I write.
The pump is now on, and the pond is filling.
It is a nice little reminder of human frailty. Something which weighs only a couple of grams, can cause something 95kg quite a lot of discomfort. We are so big and “clever”, yet we can also be helpless.
Traou an Dour 