In Ohio, springtime means a constant exchange between gloomy weather and perfect, sunny days. So I thought I’d share a picture that is quintessentially spring: A bee pollinating fresh buds.

It’s a reminder in these troubling times that all things pass–nature reminds us of that every day: Good and bad will all eventually be nothing but memory, making way for yet more good and bad, which will then turn into even more memories… and on and on. Bare trees bloom, grow fruit, and then turn dormant again.

But so much of it begins with the bee: With the pollinator, spreading and sharing and gifting the ecosystem with vibrancy. I wonder how much like bees we are: How what we choose to share affects the world around us.

After all, stingers or not, bees are a kindness. They give more than they take, an all-important cog in the machine of life.

I hope to be a kindness. To be like a bee. To be a part of what makes a person smile at the beginning of a bright and beautiful day–and to only sting when absolutely necessary.

Spring is on the way. So are the flowers. And so, thankfully, are the bees.