Bees!!

I got stung for the first time when I was about 10, and I think the incident scarred me for years. My family and I were out on a hike with some friends of theirs. We were walking and a yellowjacket somehow flew up my pantleg and stung me on the back of the leg. Well I went into a panic attack and spazzed. I know better now, but that was not the thing to do. Being Mama's little boy still, she whipped off my pants and put some mud on it, right in front of their friends. I wonder if they remember that?

A neighbor and I used to play sports together all the time. In the summer, winter, spring and fall you would have probably seen us shooting hoops, fielding groundballs, or tossing the pigskin around. IN the summer was the time of year when you could also see us running inside to get away from a bee. I know I probably brought the fear onto him, but he caught on quick. "A bee, a bee!!" Inside we usually did manage to get a glass of Kool-Aid, so we made it a habit. Thinking back to that, I find it hilarious that I would pretty much freak out when I saw anything flying.

I currently am not quite that scared of them, but I still avoid getting near them if I have the chance.

I've gotten stung in some pretty funny ways as well. One time I was riding my bike and I got stung right on the inside of my leg near my crotch. Talk about a sudden burst of pain, and in that area. I lost focus on the driving and steered right into the bushes on the side of the road.

Golfing, what a great sport. I've been stung twice golfing. One of the incidents would probably be one of my brother-in-law's funniest moments. We teed of on number 4 and as we were approaching the green the ranger told us to "be careful about a hornet's nest on the side of the green on the next hole. Someone had hit the nest or the tree it's in and they're mad!" We tee of on number 5 and I hit my second shot just right of the green. Of course that's where the nest was near. I run over to my ball and was going to play it quick and there were hornets zooming all around. As soon as I was about to hit the ball one stung me on the calf. I jumped away and high-stepped across the green, to his amusement. I didn't get stung any more, but that sure got my adrenaline pumping!

I've been stung several other times in my life. I've never been stung multiple times at once though, thankfully.

I guess I have apiphobia, or melissophobia, although it has gotten better.