Hell Bent Bugs Risk Broken Necks To Enter My Home.

My back lit windows must be very inviting targets indeed, for the spring and summer night fliers. Sitting here typing at my keyboard, they are nearly driving me to distraction with their daredevil attempts to fly through the glass panes of my windows. What a rude awakening it must be for them to realize, that there is an invisible shield between them, and the golden glow emanating
from my windows out into the surrounding darkness.

Because the lower sash has been raised to accommodate a window air conditioning unit, occasionally some of the brighter ones will find their way inside, by way of a small gap between the upper and lower sashes. Once inside, drawn to the upward shining beam of the torchère lamp, they go stark raving mad, flying ever more dangerously close to the hot bulb, until they eventually succumb to its heat, or until I get annoyed with them and resort to chemical or kinetic warfare.

Bugs are something one must put up with when living in the woods. I have already encountered three yellow jackets in the house so far this spring. All three met an untimely death. They never fail to realize that they are entering a death trap, when they find their way inside my home. I learned my lesson, when I was stung by a wasp, while reaching for a towel the first spring I lived out here, and was stung again a few years later, when reaching my fingers underneath of the handrail going down my deck steps. The sting of a wasp is much worse than the sting of a honey bee. It feels feels like a hot, acid dipped needle being thrust beneath your skin. Definitely not something you want to have happen more than once. Wasps, yellow jackets, and bumble bees are always buzzing around the house in spring and summer. The most interesting of all are the bumble bees. They actually bore perfectly round holes into the wooden deck timbers, to nest in. I first noticed this, when I saw a little pile of sawdust on the deck, just outside the balusters. I went down off the deck to see the other side, and noticed the perfectly round hole in the wood, where I had seen a bumble bee flying around a few days before. The mud daubers are also fun to watch. They are a species of brown wasp, that flies off in search of some fresh mud. Once they find said mud, they scoop up as much as they can carry, and then fly back to my house where they fashion the the mud into tubes to house their larvae. Then there are the paper wasps and hornets. They are miniature pulp mills, chewing up microscopic wood fibers, and regurgitating them as a paper pulp, that they build their nests with.

Then there are the black widows spiders. They love to hangout under the vinyl siding and especially around my trash cans. I may have told you all this, but once when taking trash to the dump, a black widow spider descended from the bill of my cap, down to in front of my nose while I was driving out of my neighborhood. This was possibly one of the most frightening experiences of my life, and I immediately slammed on brakes, jumped out of my truck, and began what must have looked like a St. Vitu's dance, jumping and flailing at myself until I was sure the spider was gone!

Spring is in full swing now, and summer can't be far away. We have had exceptionally warm weather, and it has truly awakened all of the hibernating vegetation, not to mention my hibernating feminine spirit. Not that it was ever totally asleep, but by late winter for some inexplicable reason, it often seems to go into the doldrums . I always hate that, and I'm glad to see the spring usher in a return to more feminine sensibilities .

I received some wonderful news this weekend. Two of the people I care the most for here on blogger, actually got to physically meet up with each other, and if reports are to be believed, they had the most wonderful time together! It's so nice that we can go on-line and give each other our love and support, but when sisters can actually commune in person, that's extra special! A big shout out goes to sweet Caroline, and to the very lovely Lisa! Apparently they were able to have a great time together, without being buried in volcanic ash, like the victims of Pompeii and Herculaneum! Lots of love to both of you girls!

Melissa XX