(Howell Creek Radio address for April 7, 2012, by Joel Dueck -- http://jdueck.net/radio) Bees in the Air =============== Trixie and I are planning several trips this year. We're planning a return drive to Niagara Falls, so that's an east coast trip. We're planning a visit to Vancouver to visit Jacques and Pepper, and possibly hopefully several others, so that's a west coast trip. A cousin is getting married in Arizona, so that's a long drive south with hopefully a stop by the Grand Canyon thrown in to boot. And of course, there's still the north shore of Lake Superior, the closest and therefore (to me) almost the most tantalizing destination of them all. That will hopefully be next weekend or not long after. If anyone has any tips for editing a podcast on the road, I'd be obliged. Maybe I'll title them after the four winds or something similarly poetic. We're eager to be on the road again. We now have a comparatively quiet and fuel-efficient ride -- one in which you can actually hear the stereo -- and we've stocked up on several extremely long and involving audio books: Les Miserables, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, The Pickwick Papers, and Master and Commander. For yet a little while longer, though, we remain on the old homestead, snacking and working and doing our best to stay ahead of entropy. The brush was indeed removed from the lilacs last weekend, but now it mostly sits in a pile in the yard. I can get rid of some of it by breaking it down and fitting it in compost bins for pickup, but for the larger stuff I'm praying that it will soon disappear inexplicably -- and, thanks to the nearby presence of the Burlington Northern Sante Fe railroad, I'm confident this prayer will soon be miraculously answered. * * * I told Trixie that I don't *think* this will be the year of the bees. I'm keen to start a suburban apiary, and although realistically it won't happen this year, I still indulge myself by watching beekeeping videos online and sneaking peeks at city ordinances to figure out the legal requirements. One of these requirements appears to be the need to get the written consent of all your neighbors within 100 feet. I'm hoping I don't have to promise away too much of my as-yet unharvested honey in order to get this consent and that people will be reasonable. Perhaps this will be the year we establish diplomatic relations with neighboring countries in order to lay the groundwork for beekeeping negotiations. "Hello, I'm your neighbor from across the street," I'll say eventually, "and my wife and I will be driving all over the country for the next week or so. Would you mind watching our bees while we're away?" * * * Synopsis: ----------- Radio address for April 7, 2012, in which Trixie and I make plans to fly or drive all over the continent in every direction, and groundwork for the suburban apiary is contemplated. The poem is _The Tuft of Flowers_ by Robert Frost -- read from p. 5 of [_The Road Not Taken_][1], published by Henry Holt and Company. Music cues are [_The Brain of the Purple Mountain_][2] by Leo Kottke, [_Flight of the Bumblebee_][3] by Bobby McFerrin & Yo-Yo Ma, and [_Time to Ring Some Changes_][4] by Jim Henry & Brooks Williams. [Download the transcript][5] [1]: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0805069836/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&tag=joelsimprpers-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=0805069836 "The Road Not Taken: A Selection of Robert Frost's Poems" [2]: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000UB08K6/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&tag=joelsimprpers-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B000UB08K6 "6- and 12-String Guitar" [3]: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0014KA0KK/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&tag=joelsimprpers-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B0014KA0KK "Hush" [4]: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B002SP6Y50/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&tag=joelsimprpers-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B002SP6Y50 "Ring Some Changes" [5]: http://jdueck.net/files/hcr-2012/hcr-2012-04-07.txt "Transcript for Apr 7 2012 in plain-text (Markdown) format"