Julia was in heaven. Not only does Mr. Paul have hornets, he has a whole hornet NEST in the bushes in his front yard. They are, according to Mr. Paul's research, bald-faced hornets. Now, anyone who knows me knows I like flying insects about as much as I like peanut butter. I probably would rather eat peanut butter than be near a potentially stinging/biting insect. The obvious difference between the two is that I don't run away from peanut butter screaming like a little girl and occasionally falling down or running into stuff. So, for me to get close enough to take these pictures is a big step in my recovery from my complete-freaking-out-over-potentially biting/stinging-insects disease.
Julia, who in the insect world is known as "the kid who plays with us until we die, or scares us so bad we wish we'd die", tried to get closer and closer to the nest. Mr. Paul observantly pointed out that there could be several hundred hornets in the nest. Making them mad could bring them all out. This would probably be bad and would totally derail any progress I would have ever made in my insect-tolerance. It could also keep Julia from thinking insects were cool ever again.
I actually just looked it up and they are not true hornets. They are actually from the wasp family, or more specifically yellow jackets. Hmmmm....I also just read that they very aggressively protect their hive and will go for the facial area when they attack (how did they know that's my worst nightmare!?!) I don't think I will be taking any more pictures....
