ellen 
I hope you all made it though the weekend of fireworks and BBQs in one piece. The evening of the Fourth, there was so much smoke in the air. I thought it was certainly from the war zone of fireworks that had been going on for hours and hours. It appears that, along with all the fireworks, the smoke from a forest fire in Canada was creating an extra haze in Chicago.
Pondering smoke, I thought about how it could be useful in my garden. Smoke masks the “alarm” pheromone in bees. Bee keepers have used smoke to get into hives for ages. I have a lot of bees, and my garden is very wild. Getting to my water faucet requires having to push a few things aside. To try to soothe the bees a bit, I have been lighting incense and waving it around the path before I charge in. It helps disperse bees and wasps while I make my way into their domain. An added benefit is, the early morning work in the garden feels like a ritual, a special time in the day in the garden.
