05/31/2026
You know, my impulsivity is usually my superpower—until it isn’t.
Last Wednesday afternoon, it made me a hero. I was driving up Indian Line north of Hagersville and spotted a native snapping turtle stranded right on the centre line. Without a second thought, I pulled over and rescued it. Total success. Leaping before looking honestly works out for me more often than you'd think.
But just four hours later, the darker side of that same trait caught up with me.
It was just before 8:00 PM when I noticed one of my beehives had swarmed. To be completely honest with you, I was already harbouring this simmering, impulsive anger at my partner because she hadn't checked the four hives that had overwintered and were showing obvious signs of overpopulation. Fueled by that irritation and rushing against the fading light, I made a totally reckless choice: I grabbed the net, bypassed my protective suit, and went in completely unprotected.
The bees did exactly what bees do. They attacked me, getting hopelessly tangled in my hair and delivering six stings straight to my temple and scalp.
It got bad, fast. I went into immediate anaphylaxis. Even after I deployed an EpiPen, my partner still had to call an ambulance. I ended up spending the next several hours hooked up to a four-hour potassium drip, and I didn't finally get discharged from the hospital until 3:30 AM.
Don’t feel sorry for me, I knew better. But lesson learned: I absolutely must wear a bee suit and full protection from now on, and I have to carry an EpiPen with me at all times.
I guess when I act fast out of instinct and empathy, I save a turtle. But when I act fast out of anger, I end up in an ambulance. The moral of my story is clear: I leap before I look. I just need to start making sure it's not into a swarm of bees.
Irene
