So there was a wasp in the bathroom at my girlfriend’s house. When I was flushing, I turned around and I saw him and he startled me and apparently, I startled him, and he flew into the center ring of the toilet paper. I was not super happy about that, but he came right back out and just went back to the window It almost look like he was pleading to get out.

So I told Beth and we were discussing the best way to rehome our new friend. But we got distracted until her youngest daughter came in to announce that there was a wasp in the bathroom.

Beth told her that we had just been talking about how to get rid of it. Having misunderstood the meaning of “get rid of”, the child got really upset. She pled that this wasp was with her friend. It had landed on her and walked all over her hand. She said it seemed like he was asking her to help him.

Beth looked at me and jokingly said in an angry voice, “She was bad enough before you came along.”

She then went downstairs, poured some honey on a plate, and brought it back upstairs. She offered it to the wasp and he gladly accepted the nourishment and allowed me to take some very bad pictures of him.

She then took the plate outside and put it down, and he flew off with gusto.

See, I don’t like killing bugs. I am a huge advocate for the insect relocation program. I actually like most insects. Now, I’m not saying that I like them ON me or in my home but that hasn’t always been the case.

When I was a little girl, I would go outside I would play by myself frequently (this is certainly something lots of only children do) and when I would come in my mom would ask what I was doing out there. I often responded that I was playing with Patty. Mom thought it was an imaginary friend (also a common trait in only children) but she actually had just misheard me. I was playing with Patties.

Patties were my friends. Patties were everywhere so there was always some to play with. Patties were any little creature that I could “pat.” Worms, beetles, spiders, most anything that was on the ground that I could pick up. I rarely patted flying things (hard to catch when you’re 4, thank goodness).

Mom finally understood the day I saw a lot of Patties moving around on the ant pile. So I plopped down in the middle of the fire ant hill to play with my new friends. Those Patties were very displeased and thus mean and bit me all over my body.

Did I mention I had a beauty pageant the next day? I wasn’t a regular in the pageant scene and I never would become one because my mom saw how the other mothers treated their kids and realized this was not for us. Plus, I was swollen and sleepy (had to take meds because of the allergic reaction I was having) so I certainly wasn’t likely to win any awards.

But I think the pageant officials took some pity on my little red, bumpy body and they ended up giving me a little trophy for Most Photogenic. My first and only participation trophy.

Needless to say that I’m not big on patting little friends anymore. But I haven’t lost my fondness for them. I still like to photograph them, especially spiders. And I share them on Flickr and I look at other people’s pictures of bugs as well as a million other things. I saw one photograph that was a great picture of a bird eating a spider. I wanted to make the comment “Your hobby is eating my hobby.” – I even had Google translate it into French for me.

The thing is that I know that everything in this world is what makes it work the way it is supposed to and what makes it as beautiful as it is, even insects and spiders and snakes. It all works together and creates beautiful things. Everything has a role in these intricate systems that we don’t even know about in some cases or understand if we do.

Our world is amazing, from Sophia’s wasp friend to the fluffing fire ants that bit me this afternoon (still allergic, by the way, and the allergy meds are going to knock me out shortly). I am grateful to be a part of it, doing my little part.