To save the bees, we planted a garden crammed with inviting color. Zinnias, coneflowers, asters, lavender, fuchsia, sunflowers. They buzzed in, purring, and lugged away bags of pollen. Bonus: later, the neighbor with a hive brought a dripping honeycomb, saying thanks.

Grandma, deaf and blind now, could taste, and smile.

Marilyn McFarlane is a travel writer and the author of Sacred Stories: Wisdom From World Religions. She writes poetry and fiction and occasionally explores memoir. She lives in Oregon, where there is a lot of scope for the imagination.