When Yellow Jackets Attack.... Ouch!

John and I were in the forest this afternoon gathering firewood when I heard him yelling and slapping his arm.  He said he had been stung.  I became concerned when he started grabbing at his shirt near his chest.  I began running toward him when I crossed over the source of the problem; a yellow jacket nest.  They immediately began stinging me.  I had gloves and long sleeves on but they managed to get at my wrists.  Unfortunately, John had a short sleeve shirt on and the first sting got him on the inside of his bicep.  The part that freaked me out the most was when they got into my hair.  I had it clipped up and believe me, that clip went flying somewhere deep into the Fremont National Forest. I must admit, I heard the word "Damn" coming out of my mouth a couple times as I was scrambling around slapping at my head. I must have been quite the sight. My immediate thought was for us to climb up the bank and hit the road, but John had initially been down there wrapping a chain around a dead tree and there was no way he was going to leave his chain behind or pass up the opportunity for a nicely seasoned piece of fir.   

I must say, that true to our natures, we carried on.  We both ended up with multiple stings.  As John put it, "We didn't let those stinkin' wasps keep us from getting our firewood."  I agreed!  He and I are definitely cut out of the same pioneer type of mold.
 

Tune in tomorrow for another episode of..... 

Aren't you glad you don't live on the Haven Homestead?