I was sitting at my post daydreaming at the window, when what to my wondering eye should appear but a man on a unicycle coming down my driveway! Well not a traditional unicycle. It was a motorized wheel with a place for him to put his feet on either side. I came to the obvious conclusion – the circus must be in town!
I happily followed Dad to the door to meet this curious new best friend. He happily introduced himself, and asked for Dad’s name and mine. What a wonderful job going door to door making new friends while inviting them to the circus! But I soon realized my embarrassing assumption. He wasn’t with the circus.
The man said he was going around our neighborhood to invite us to join our neighbors in using his all natural pest control, that’s even safe for dogs! Ruh! Roh! Dad has opinions on that stuff. Is that the same “safe” stuff that our neighbors use that comes with the warning signs not to let dogs, children or pregnant women on the lawn? I feared my friend’s visit would be cut short.
“Not interested.” Dad interjected, “I have bees,” said while gesturing towards our hives. That confused me. We don’t have bees this year. Unless Dad is referring to the wild ones that have taken up residence in our hives this summer.
Undeterred, the man, still balancing on his unicycle, happily responded with, “Our product protects bees!”
“Oh really,” said Dad in the same skeptical tone he used when our little neighbor told him that she met a real life unicorn. It was as if he didn’t believe the little girl, or this enthusiastic new best friend. I, on the other paw, was curious.
The man very optimistically added, “Yes, it targets all the bugs you don’t want, and leaves only the ones you do.” Well that sounds difficult to do. How do you decide out of all the bugs in our yard which ones you don’t want and which you do? That seems a little judgmental to me. But I was surprised to see Dad keeping an open mind.
Putting on what can best be described as a sarcastic smirk, Dad asked again, “Oh really?’
Excited that he won Dad over, the man almost lost his balance on his unicycle, as he said with a Cheshire grin, “Yes! It will kill competitive pollinators from your yard, leaving just your bees!” Kill pollinators?! Why would anyone want to do that! All pollinators are our friends! Dad must have thought the same thing as me, because he politely told the man again that he wasn’t interested.
I can’t fault the guy for his can do spirit, as he gave it one more try. This time he said, “Well don’t you care about your dog’s safety?”
“I do,” replied Dad. “And the pollinators!” Once again, Dad’s tone and smile both reminded me of the afore mentioned unicorn conversation with the little neighbor. And with that we went back inside our home.
As I watched the curious man on the unicycle go down our driveway, I couldn’t help but wonder, maybe that’s why I’ve never met a real life unicorn? Maybe one of the neighbors used a spray that got rid of them!
