Angelkeep Journals intended to make December a Christmas series. While unboxing old holiday décor, the aging brown of some of the items, like a century-old Santa, brought back memories of one insect unique to Angelkeep.
Red Paper Wasp was no replacement for Jolly old St. Nick, but, with a stretch, and much Christmas grace from readers, correlations between a red wasp and Christmas could be made. For example:
Paper. It’s a paper wasp. Red. It’s a red paper wasp. Sure there are an abundance of colors of gift wrapping paper utilized in the exchanging of presents during the Christmas season. But let Angelkeep make a Christmas wager. Whatever day, Christmas Day, Eve Day, Boxing Day, whichever the large family gathering takes place, and once the uproar of diving into gifts has ended, gather and sort the remnants of wrapping paper. Angelkeep’s Christmas Buck is placed on the fact that the biggest pile is the paper heap that contains the hue of red.
Warning, do not accept that wager. That form of gambling is illegal in Indiana. Not only is it against the law, but it could place you on Santa’s “naughty list.” Save the betting buck for March when the Basketball Betting Madness begins, also illegal, but for some reason, law enforcement turns a blind eye. Probably because all of the deputies have their dollar bet in the Jail House pool.
As its name implies, a red paper wasp comes in a variation of red. True enough, it’s not a Santa red, at least not the one promoted today to unsuspecting children, or for that matter, to adults quite like Angelkeep, who enjoy the ambiance related to the jolly old sole whose belly giggles as jelly. Red paper wasp wears a red reflecting the older, wiser, more subtle Santa of historical times.
There are two species of red paper wasp. Polistes Carolina and Polistes rubiginosus are both social wasps, so being social would fit right into any family gathering, especially at Christmas. They love crawling in and about the wads of Christmas wrapping paper tossed all over the carpet. They live in a paper nest. For the person gathering up the mess after all gifts are unwrapped, outward flutters red paper wasp. Who doesn’t like a good Christmas surprise? Think of red paper wasp as an elf in red.
So, what if the wasp’s wings are black? Even Santa has a black belt and boots. Mostly red though, accessorized with black. Is it about time Christmas has an official iconic insect? It has its own tree. Its own pudding. Historical fruit cake screams Christmas. Christmas has a Grinch, a Scrooge, a silver bell, plus a favored Rudolph, the red-nosed mammal. It has its own cane, for Pete’s sake. Why not a red paper wasp?
P. carolina red paper wasp females do not dote over their own eggs in the family paper nest. This group remains one happy family, the type of Christmas family Norman Rockwell made famous, although not necessarily commonplace. Carolina red paper wasp’s counterpart, rubiginosus, like most paper wasps, tend to favor their own progeny and feed them preferentially. Angelkeep remembers back-in-the-day when Mom pushed the completion of the Christmas meal. No gifts would be handed out until all plates were clean. P. carolina feeds mostly on caterpillars. Angelkeep also remembers being forced to eat all those green beans on the plate, or face no gift exchange participation. Those final beans sure looked like green worms.
Red paper wasps are supposedly non-aggressive. It’s true the males have no stinger to inflict pain. Not so in Angelkeep’s childhood household. If Mom caught her boys in disobedience, her sting was to make us wait all day until Dad returned home from work. Dad doled out the punishment, leaving quite a sting and a bit of red on the posterior of the offending lad. More than one yardstick met its demise, snapped in two with naught but a thin layer of worn out jeans for cushioning. Spare the rod, spoil the child. The Proverbial Biblical punishment, when relied upon, was always well deserved.
Angelkeep received an early Christmas gift via that day red paper wasp appearing a few weeks past. God sends new critters often, a way in which Angelkeep unwraps Christmas year-round. Red Paper Wasp deserves a carol. “We three stings of Orient are…”
Mr. Daugherty is a Wells County resident who, along with his wife Gwen, enjoy their backyard and have named it “Angelkeep.”
