Juxtaposition, synchronicity, and pesticides

摘要

I admit two things: I like big words with their thought-provoking dictionary definitions, and I pay attention to coincidence. For the high-priced words, my selections for today are juxtaposition and synchronicity, meaning "placing side by side for comparison or contrast," and "coincidence of events that seem to be meaningfully related." The coincidence that seemed too interesting to ignore were two e-mails I received last Summer, one a frantic request for help and the other a press release. The call for help was from Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, while the press release was issued by the American Beekeeping Federation out of Jesup, Georgia. What connected them was that they both concerned pesticides and bees. The call for help came from theSwan Lake Nature Sanctuary, where the local beekeepers maintain an observation hive. Observation hives in science museums and nature parks are popular attractions, so it was with considerable concern that the program manager discovered a massive loss ofbees one morning.