War stories

There's something about adversity that brings people closer together. A certain experience can bond them like no other, whether it's positive, like winning a championship, or negative, as hugely catastrophic as a war or a minor trauma like Saturday's "sting operation."

Sunday, the "day after," was the day we found out more details while listening to the kids compare battle wounds and share war stories -- like one might imagine a group of veterans doing.

Madison, the neighbor girl who is Carter's age, stopped over in the late morning. Between the two of them, I learned they'd all been walking in the dry creek bed -- where they haven't gone before and won't go again -- when one of them must have stepped on the underground bee's nest. Then all hell broke loose. Well they didn't use those words, but that's what happened. And to hear them tell it, I can see it really was traumatic for them.

I took both Madison and Carter with me when I ran to Plover to get some scrapbooking supplies. Afterwords, we stopped for lunch and sat out on the patio. The two of them freaked when there was one hornet interested in our lunches. Carter was jerking out of the way for anything that flew -- whether it was a fly or a leaf floating by. I tried to keep him calm. Madison, meanwhile, says, "Well I'm probably used to getting stung now so it won't hurt as much."

I'm confident that with time they'll all be OK and their brave faces will return. For now, they have an unbelievable tale to tell, survivor stories to share -- and they are counting down to winter when there are no bugs outside!