life's a lot like honey


My father-in-law was a self-taught bee keeper.  He took up the hobby late in his life but experienced enough harvests to become a quick expert on the subject.

In every case, there is a queen bee who demands the attention of her many worker bees. These bees fly for miles and miles, collecting pollen from all types of different flowers to please their queen. These travels and the unique flowers each bee encounters adds to the complexity of that particular harvest.

So, if you ever decide to become a honey connoisseur, you'll quickly find that the honey each hive produces is unique to the flowers the bees frequent.  The color and flavor will vary from delectably mild to distinctively bold depending on where those particular honey bees buzzed, but the results are always the same - a sweet honey.

Life's a lot like honey.  The best events are sweet.  A new love, an exciting trip somewhere foreign, clean sheets.  These events are often so sweet you can hardly appreciate them fully without experiencing their not-so-sweet counterparts. The reality of heartbreak, the monotony of everyday life and long-neglected linens.

Honey is the same way.  At times, so sweet that you can hardly appreciate it wholeheartedly without an (dry, spicy, tart) accompanying counterpart (wine, cheese, fruit).

We lost my father-in-law late this summer.  It was very much unexpected and we were nowhere near ready to live this life without a man that meant so much. We've been busy grieving this loss, reminiscing about the past and trying hard to jot down the memories we won't soon be ready to part with.

In this process, I got to thinking about how life is a lot like honey. The result is insured to be sweet, but the flavor always influenced by the experiences which we each endure.  So in times of sadness, when all else seems hopeless, try to remember that no matter how dark it gets there will be light.  And that light will only shine brighter because of the darkness endured.

*images via kinfolk

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