It is November 10th, 2022, and I spent my lunch sitting on the patio at work, blissfully enjoying a 74 degree day.
That alone is remarkable: November, almost mid-November, and it is warm enough in Wisconsin to sit outside without a coat or long sleeves. Wow.
(Although a cold front is moving in that will restore us to a stereotypical November by this time tomorrow),
Alas, my meal featured numerous attacks by hornets, also a rare sight this late in the year, hornets who seemed as irked by their unusually extended life as I was.
This guy in the picture was unusually aggressive, refusing multiple efforts to thwart his advance on my drink. In fit of manly courage I swatted him, knocking him to the ground, then stepped on him. Sometimes a 700x size advantage helps.
Immediately, however, his buddy dive bombed me, looking for payback. I swung my plate at him, meeting him halfway. There was an audible "thonk," like a tennis ball hitting a racket, and no more was seen of the pesky but loyal-to-his-brethren hornet.
So endeth the tale.
