Today’s post has been published in remembrance of Pastor Kelly Caldwell, of West Lake Christian Church, who passed away last week, after a long, hard fight against the covid virus.
I first met Pastor Kelly about two years ago. When visiting my (now) fiancee, Bobbie, at the Lake of the Ozarks, we would attend the church every Sunday we were in town. Kelly was a wonderful person … caring, loving, genuinely interested in each member of the congregation. Pastor Kelly and I hit it off immediately … we both are nature lovers and both of us were avid gardeners. One of Kelly’s main outside interests were his bee hives, and the honey he was able to collect from them.
So, to honor Pastor Kelly, I’m dedicating this blog to his love for bees!
Honey Bees love Virginia Bluebell wildflowers:
A Honey Bee on a Butterfly Weed wildflower:
A Honey Bee on an unidentified prairie wildflower:
Although Honey Bees (above) were Pastor Kelly’s interest, I’m quite sure he would have been quite happy to have these other bee species around, to help pollinate his veggie and flower gardens:
A Bumblebee collecting nectar from an Aster wildflower:
A Bumblee at a Spiderwort wildflower:
A Bumblebee with his head entirely inside a Virginia Bluebell wildflower:
A Green Metallic Bee looking for nectar on a prairie wildflower:
After moving to the Lake this past February, I continued to attend the church and ended up transferring my membership to Pastor Kelly’s church. I asked, and received permission to put in a Prayer/Healing Butterfly Garden at the church. Many times this past summer, I would be working in the church garden when Pastor Kelly either arrived at, or left the church for his many community activities. He would always stop and chat for 5 to 10 minutes with me, asking what new butterflies I had seen, or ask me what that new plant in the garden was. And he would always excitedly tell me what butterflies or insects he had seen around the garden. I’m going to miss those fun, little chats!
RIP, Pastor Kelly
Photographic Equipment Used:
- Various Canon bodies and lenses were used to capture these images