A few years ago, I decided to do a little kayaking on a lake near my home. As normal, I loaded up the kayak on top of my SUV and headed out on a beautiful early spring morning. The SUV hadn't been driven in a few days and when I looked down at the gas gauge, I found that it was almost empty. I made it to the nearby gas station with ease and pulled next to a gas pump.
Interesting, I did not know that this was going to be a life or death situation. I hopped out of the vehicle that I call Abe. Oh yeah, I name my vehicles. Why is it named Abe? Well, my daughter named it Abe, after Abraham Lincoln because it's the color of a shiny new penny. I've had seven vehicles in my life, Old Blue, Red, Comanche, Runner, Goldilocks, Sliver Bullet and Abe. Anyway, back to the life and death situation. I slide my card in the card reader and selected the type of gas, while lifting the gas nozzle and opening the gas door on Abe.
All that I heard was Buzz, buzz, buzz, buzzzzzzzzzzz…… and all of a sudden, big, ugly, yellow jackets were zooming out from behind the gas door. Angry and looking to sting something like me. I quickly realized what was happening. My big problem, I'm highly allergic to bee stings. The only questions that I have, how many stings will I get and can I make it to the hospital before my throat closes? I dropped the gas nozzle and started evasive maneuvers, bobbing and weaving like Muhamad Ali, no rope-a-dope here!
Dang, I made it about 30 feet away with no stings, wasps were flying everywhere. I began to scheme on how in the world am I going to get my vehicle back. I worried about others who might get stung.
Near by, from behind a rusty old pickup truck, an white haired farmer that resembled Santa Claus sort of, but dressed in overalls, was watching. He looked over at me and smiled, while walking over to my SUV. He approached the gas door and reached in with his bare hand and grabbed the wasp nest tossing it to the ground. Wasps were flying all around him. He stepped on the wasp nest with his boot and started smashing yellow jackets against my SVU. Suddenly, almost all wasps where dead with no one being stung. He waved at me and got in his truck and drove off before I got a chance to thank him. Lucky me, no trip to the hospital and still on schedule for the lake.
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