Hell on Earth, Intolerance, Heaven on Earth

The days have been brutal. Hot, sticky, humid, rainy, and freakin hot. You name it and Chicago has had it in the last few weeks. I've been running on the fumes from the heat of the day, half-heartedly hoping that it will break, and at times loving every degree and what it does to my soul. It's difficult to begin to describe the hell on earth that I've experienced, and the fact that I partially and secretly enjoyed it.

I have a friend who hates infestations beyond almost anything else. On Thursday, Friday, and Saturday of last week I worked in East Dundee on moving almost 100,000 pounds of concrete forms back to West Chicago, each form weighing nearly 100 lbs. I was excited, hard work means more pay and time goes faster the more you do and the harder you work . The problem became the unbelievable amount of bees. Millions of bees had made there homes in the forms, and when we started moving forms, they got pissed. They were EVERYWHERE. Every minute of the 12 hour days were spent with 100 bees in my face, and a good 15 bees on my body, at the minimum. It was impossible to look 5 feet in front of you without seeing hundreds of bees, and millions in the background. This is not an exageration. I have bee stings everywhere, and it just became part of my day to get stung and try to ignore the bees in front of my eyes. I HATE BEES, and could not ignore them. Along with the 100 degree heat, it quickly became what I describe as Hell on Earth.

I've realized more and more lately that I am a very intolerant person. I cannot handle bad drivers, red lights, and workers who endanger me by not knowing how to best do something. I drive our trucks around, and have to deal with these drivers who just can't drive....and I get agitated. Then I get a red light and along comes more agitation and more of the realization that I am super intolerant to the basic everyday happenings. And then I come across the guy that can't use the bobcat forks to load my truck up. Just let me do it, so I can get back on the road, get angry at the red lights, and more agitated at the drivers that can't make the right move. That way I can get back to the yard quicker, drop off the load, pick up another load, and get back on the road . I want to do it quickly, as if the agitation will be less if it happens quicker. It's really a beautiful system in my head, except it doesn't work out on the practical side because I just end up spending more time on the road, and meet more people with the inability to load a truck. But I can't slow down because I'm intolerant. What a terrible attribute to have developed in the past few weeks.

Now I'm hanging out with my brother, Nickie, Mikey Krone, Hannah, and Kristen in Cincinnati, and I have tolerance again. Everything is relaxed, everything is fun, everything is just perfect. These are the times I enjoy, and people that I love. I got to see the Wende family from Bolivia yesterday up in Dayton, OH. We talked, and I played with the kids. Dasha sat on my lap and told me stories and secrets, while Ian and Michael tried to shoot me with their BB gun. Now I can't tell what are bee stings and what are the BB shots. They run together and now I smile as I look down at my legs and think of them. This is Heaven on Earth. People make this place beautiful, the very same people who I have the audacity to get angry at every day. Reality and the people that bring me to this clarity is my Heaven on Earth.