Bee Memory 3

This is my third bee memory. It happened to Chris. It must have been at least 15 years ago, because he was working for Munn's Lawns.

It was summer. He came home at the end of the day with a terrifying tale.

I was driving to Murray Bridge, he said, in the Munn's van. It was hot, so I rolled down the windows. I was driving past paddocks of dry grass. Suddenly I felt a sting on my neck. It hurt a bit, but I rubbed the spot and kept on driving.

It's a long way to Murray Bridge. After a while he began to feel quite strange. He was sweating, his head was swimming, and he was having trouble breathing. But he didn't connect his symptoms to the sting.

By the time he got to Murray Bridge, he was hardly capable of driving. Somebody asked him what was wrong. He remembered the beesting then. They took him to the local doctor who gave him an antihistamine injection, and made him lie down for several hours. Later someone drove him home.

These bee stories are more about memory than bees. I don't really remember if he was going to Murray Bridge. It may have been Willunga. or McLaren Vale. What I remember most clearly is him coming home and telling me the story, and how my mounting horror was only mitigated by
the fact that he was standing there in front of me perfectly fine in his khaki work shirt and shorts.