Behind the Name

So, when I was thinking of the name for my blog, and I came up with 'chunkybumble', I Googled it just to make sure there were no other blogs with the same name - I think I would have been a little amazed if there had been. 'Chunkybumble' did yield several references to the Bee Girl from Blind Melon's classic video for "No Rain," and while this was not my inspiration, I feel enough of a kinship with the Bee Girl to be more than ok with the reference.

No, 'chunkybumble' is short for 'Chunky Bumble Bee."

When my sister and I were quite small, and my parents were still married (they divorced when I was five), they would go out on the weekends a lot. Enough to have a babysitter over often enough for my sister and I to become terribly attached to her. Her name was Elaine and I think she also babysat for my cousins who lived nearby. Elaine was only in high school but she had a confidence about her well beyond her years. Elaine would play with us and make us laugh, and she was a master at getting my sister and me to go to bed like no other babysitter before or since. We were the masters of the "I'm thirsty," "I'm scared" and the vague but often most successful, "I just can't sleep."

Elaine somehow crafted this tale about a man named Henry Cuesta, who was the lead clarinist for The Lawrence Welk Show. This timeless classic was on every Saturday at 7 for an hour. Elaine dubbed this man, "Chunky Bumble Bee" and sort of infused him with this magic vibe. He was a tall man, with a thick head of curly black hair and very thick black Clark Kent-type glasses. He would sway to the music and bring, dare I say it, a little soul to Lawrence Welk. I always thought he was a magical kind of guy.

Since he was the lead clarinist, there was a high likelihood that he would have a solo at some point each week. Elaine managed to convince my sister and me that he was playing for us, and that it was a lullaby of sorts. Once Chunky was done doing his thang, it was time for bed.

So then when I was thinking of the name for this blog I was trying to think of quirky, individualistic-types like I have become and strive to be. So I guess the Bee Girl fits, too. Mr. Cuestra died in the 1980's but I choose to keep his memory alive as the namesake for my blog. Here's to you, Chunky...