I’m sometimes surprised by what I see after I upload photos – things I can’t see without the benefit of the zoom lens. Today I noticed that Lincoln was holding up his left arm in many of the photos I took of him.

I went back outside to see if I could get some better closeups and see if he had a hurt arm.

In the meantime he had gone to the filbert tree to help himself to more nuts and shortly after I snapped a picture of him in the woodshed with his stolen lunch, my camera’s battery went dead. But here is what I saw on the photo I managed to get.

Does it look to you like he has swollen pads on his left hand? Could it be that he got a yellow jacket sting? These wasps are everywhere just now, gorging on overripe plums that have fallen from the trees.

If that’s what it was, he will probably feel better in a day or two, and it doesn’t seem to be slowing down his theft of the filberts.

Lincoln hurt his little hand,

A wasp was hidden in the sand,

As he ran across the lawn,

Lincoln’s peaceful day was gone.

Zap! The wasp attacked his palm,

Lincoln chattered, no more calm,

Darn that stings, it downright pains,

Setting back his daytime gains.

He had much more work to do,

Stashing food away for two.

Girlfriend Della to impress,

Winter stores must be the best.

Swollen hand, he just can’t stop,

Has to harvest this big crop,

While it lasts with food to find,

Late in winter, he won’t mind.

Anne-li tells him, worry not,

See the owie that she got,

Clearing thorny berry vines,

Wasps hid there, she heard their whines.

Out they came from bushes thick,

Stings of fire and very quick,

Near the eye and on the thigh,

Almost made this grown girl cry.

Sorry for your owie, Lincoln,

Tears of pain you’re surely blinkin’,

But tomorrow you’ll feel fine,

And on filberts you will dine.