Random Thought of the Day

[Scheherazade]

Whatever might yellow jackets be?

[JuniperWoolf]

It's the name that some Americans use instead of "wasps." I couldn't imagine being swarmed, let alone repeatedly. Maybe Sancho has developed an immunity over the years to whatever venom it is wasps inject.

[papayahed]

A guy at work ran over a nest while bush hogging and got stung 4 times on the head. Poor kid swolled up like nobody's business.

[Gilliatt Gurgle]

Whatever might yellow jackets be?

It's the name that some Americans use instead of "wasps." I couldn't imagine being swarmed, let alone repeatedly. Maybe Sancho has developed an immunity over the years to whatever venom it is wasps inject.

A guy at work ran over a nest while bush hogging and got stung 4 times on the head. Poor kid swolled up like nobody's business.

This might help.

From my Peterson Field Guide:



Many people confuse the Yellow Jacket wasp with the "yellow" paper wasp.
The term paper refers to the composition of the nest that has the look and feel of paper.

Yellow Jackets tend to nest in the ground or just above ground, while the paper wasps nest high above ground.

Here's a picture of a Yellow Jacket:



and here is a picture of a Paper Wasp on our window sill:



Here is a picture of an active paper wasp nest. This picture was taken about half an hour ago and is about 20 feet above ground under the soffit:

[Darcy88]

Music makes me happy. Doesn't matter what is going on around me and inside me, if I am smart enough to pick up my guitar and start strumming and singing it puts me right at peace.

[Sancho]

Hey, I’m getting a strange sense of déjá vu all over again. This is from an ’05 thread about Flannery O’Connor’s Wise Blood:

I finished reading Wise Blood over the weekend. I was expecting to read a story about another Blanche DuBois, told from a female perspective, possibly quite femininely.

Well, I was wrong.

O'Connor's style of writing 'had me from "Hello"':I loved her acute observations and almost raw, painfully realistic style. As much as I love the way she tells her story, I won't be able to say that I understand all she has to say. The misery and sadness of the characters left me quite upset and I am wondering if I am able to appreciate it as it should. Maybe being a Southerner or a Christian would have helped.

All said, I loved the book. I will re-read it again sometime soon, along with her short stories.

*edit*

Also, does 'yellow jacket' mean something special here?

Hi guys,
I finally picked up my copy of Wise Blood today and I’m anxious to sink into my big ‘ole reading chair tonight and get started but first I have to paint a bedroom - yuk.

Scheherazade, I’m assuming that by “yellow jacket” she was simply referring to a type of native bee. Yellow jackets build their nests in the ground and they are angry and aggressive. They’re sort of a miniature version of a hornet (we’ve got them here too).

My last encounter with a yellow jacket nest was last summer. I was digging a hole in my yard to plant a Japanese maple when my shovel bisected a yellow jacket nest. After running around my yard, swatting and hollering for about five minutes, I went into my house, took a Benadryl, laid down on the floor, and waited to puff up like Michelin Man. I did.

Also, as far as Blanche DuBois is concerned, Atlanta is a long ways from New Orleans in both miles and attitudes.

Looks like I haven’t learned much since 2005 – I’m still harassing the local insect population with hand tools, and they’re still making me do the Saint Vitus Dance across my property (this time I was digging out a pine stump rather than planting a Japanese Maple). And Scher is as inquisitive ever.

Also I notice that in ’05 I thought a Yellow Jacket was a bee, but as we’ve all determined here – it’s actually a wasp. Vespidae not Apidae (I love Wikipedia). At any rate, those little suckers are FAST. My Springer Spaniel found a nest a couple of years ago. She showed up whining at the back door with a puffy-droopy face, looking like a Basset Hound.

They’re also a popular mascot in the South Eastern US. It was the mascot for my High School as well as for an institution of higher learning right here in Hot-lanta:

[Scheherazade]

Thanks for the explanations everyone

And Scher is as inquisitive ever.

Much obliged that "inquisitive" is your choice of adjective.

Also in the same thread:

*revels in her ignorance*

Somethings never change...

Gilliatt> Since Sancho's explanations were lost on me in 2005, I really appreciate the visual aids you supply to educate this Rita this time round!

[JuniperWoolf]

Somethings never change...

Haha, it's okay it's a US word, yellowjackets. They talk funny, the rest of us can't be expected to understand.

(actually I think "yellowjackets" is a cute name for them, way cuter than the vicious little things deserve)

[KCurtis]

Haha, it's okay it's a US word, yellowjackets. They talk funny, the rest of us can't be expected to understand.

(actually I think "yellowjackets" is a cute name for them, way cuter than the vicious little things deserve)

You Canadians talk funny too, eh?
We do have weird words here, I think especially down south.

[Sancho]

I should paint my house.

[Monamy]

I should think of a random thought of the day... or... hmm~

[lilimarlene]

I need to stop this....

[crusoe]

I waited for a train that never even started...

[Maximilianus]

One might have left upon someone else's arrival, though not necessarily

[Helga]

Most people suck, but one or two are OK