Memorial Day Marked By Battle of the Bees

THE BACKYARD IS STARTING TO TAKE SHAPE!

The Sweetwoods spent Memorial Day building their new patio gazebo. The reviews on this metal and canvas beauty warned that this was a two-person, two-hour project.

And that would have been accurate except: Bees.

Not just any bees, mind you. Carpenter bees.


FROM WIKIPEDIA

Ever heard of carpenter bees? Neither had we. Until, as we were organizing the parts for the gazebo construction, a giant bee bumbled its way over the patio and went through a small, heretofore unknown hole in the door that leads to the garage!

Carpenter bees are often mistaken for bumble bees or yellow jackets. The key difference, explained the guy at Home Depot where we had fled both for safety and for advice, was that carpenter bees are harder to kill.

Awesome.


ANOTHER WIKIPEDIA IMAGE

He sold us a bottle of industrial-strength bug destroyer which was so powerful, you only mix one tablespoon per gallon of water. He also sold us one of those pump sprayers that also had to be put together, not that the instructions were any help. To get an idea of how much the Chinese truly hate us, build something from their instructions.

I decided to use a lot more that the recommended tablespoon of bee killer and then sprayed down the door and even sprayed two suspicious holes near the garage roof. It should be noted that this bee invasion could have gone on unnoticed forever as this door is never used and is blocked by the tractor mower on the inside of the garage and the grill-that-can't-be-used-because-a-part-fell-off-during-one-of-the-moves on the outside.

We then set about our original task: Building a gazebo. This set of Chinese instructions, frankly, was quite good and the gazebo – a killer Target deal – was soon under construction. However, we barely had the first set of screws in when a couple of the bees returned.

I sprayed them directly. One fell to the ground and got stomped for his trespassing. And then the pattern was set: Attach some screws; scan for incoming bees; Mark would flee off of the top of the ladder screaming like a girl; grab the sprayer; kill bees.

I hate bees, especially large bees that can easily bore through wood. Gnawing an entire arm off would be easy for these satan spawns...

Soon, despite much screaming, the gazebo was done.


THE GAZEBO AND ITS AWESOMENESS...

We added the outdoor bar set we bought way back in Crystal Lake and a couple of chairs so we can gaze out over the Back 40...

Note the bricks stacked on the gazebo side panels. This model had cool little built-in ledges, probably for flowers or some other decor. Our second trip to the hardware store of the day yielded a dozen pavers, my ingenious idea for making sure the gazebo was not going anywhere anytime soon...


AWESOME VIEW...

We have been slowly but surely transforming the backyard. We took out nine trees and added the patio shortly after moving in. Mary landscaped around the patio and the side of the garage last year and added new plants. We resealed the deck last summer, too. This spring, I used the Preen with plant food additive around the entire perimeter of the house (I usually just use the plain Preen to ward off weeds). One of the unintended consequences was that some dormant rose bushes exploded back into life for the first time since we moved here in 2008.


WE HAVE ROSES!

It was a busy day. But we triumphed over bees and the gazebo sure looks great. We celebrated with a couple of frosty pints.

More later,

Mark

Goodbye, LeBron James ©

Goodbye, LeBron James ©

(With apologies to Elton John/Bernie Taupin's "Candle in the Wind.")

Goodbye LeBron James
Though I never knew you at all
You had the grace to slam dunk the ball
While those around you stared.

They made you a Cavalier
And they surrounded you with stiffs.
They set you up to fail
And then they dared give you the blame.

[chorus]
And it seems to me you spent this time
Like a king without a throne.
Never trusting who to pass to
When the lane wasn't clear.
And who are they to judge you?
You're just a local kid
Who's talent looms much larger than
A city's desire to win.

Shaq was all used up
Everybody but Cleveland saw it.
Mo, Anderson and West can't hack it
And you can't win games alone.

And when you failed
Oh the press really hounded you.
All that Pluto had to say
Was Dan Gilbert did all he could.

[repeat chorus]

Goodbye LeBron James
Though I never knew you at all
You had the grace to slam dunk the ball
While those around you stared.

Goodbye LeBron James
All the fans in the other towns
Will see you as a team's nucleus
And not just a Q Arena draw.

[repeat chorus]

"That's Your Song, Youngstown!"

ELTON JOHN, AS SEEN ON THE GIANT SCREEN AT THE COVELLI CENTER

Boy, we swore we'd never go to another concert after we were wowed by Green Day last July in Pittsburgh. Little did we know, Elton John would be coming to Youngstown.

Yes, THAT Sir Elton. In Youngstown. Ohio.

He's a legend. You have to go see a legend.

Well, we scored great seats and were among the lucky 7,000 or so fans who filled the Covelli Centre Saturday night as Elton performed his classic hits for nearly three hours.

Green Day? No. But I gotta tell you, that 63-year-old icon gave them a run for their money. He was absolutely the embodiment of Capt. Fantastic. We had heard he was performing two-and-a-half hour shows as he wound his was to Youngstown after stops in Grand Rapids, Mich. and Toledo. He was just nine minutes away from an even three hours when he finished in Youngstown.

I won't bore you with the set list – if you can think of a top Elton John hit, he probably played it. I was just happy to be there to watch this city come absolutely alive. We hung out a bit downtown before the show and it was, to borrow an express, hopping and bopping. This Valley, which has yet to battle back from the destruction of the steel industry back in the late 1970s, let alone the current economic mess, is in need of a boost and this year has seen some positive business developments: The home of the GM Cruze, a third shift, a growing business incubator, hundreds of call center jobs, a top ranking from Entrepreneur magazine, etc.

But while these developments help with the economic morass, the soul needs nourishment, too, and the Covelli Centre and Eric Ryan are working hard to improve our quality of life. Elton John, "Walking with Dinosaurs," the WWE, etc. It's going to be an interesting summer for the small arena.

I'll have some video later (that was not mine up top - that guy was a lost closer than me!) but here are some pics of a truly magical evening:


THE VIEW FROM OUR AWESOME SEATS!


WE ENDED UP SITTING NEXT TO THE FRANKOS THANKS TO TODD'S SCHEMING!


AFTER THE FINALE, THE CROWD WENT WILD>


THIS FAN GOT HER GIANT EYEGLASSES SIGN SIGNED BY ELTON.

During the encore, after a rousing rendition of "Your Song," Elton told the crowd, "That's your song, Youngstown!"

And it really felt that way! A special night, indeed!

More later,


Mark