Sunday, September 26, 2010

They're Baaaaaack!

No.....this isn't Poltergeist revisited. What I'm talking about, is the return of the flies! Every year in late September I am visited by a horde of zuzu flies. I call then zuzu flies, for lack of a better word. They are a small, but extremely aggressive and very vexing breed of fruit flies. They are fearless little buggers, that buzz about your face while you are eating. They fly into your nostrils, and aren't the least concerned with your attempts to swat them away! They are truly little flies from hell!

They are attracted to the remnant morsels of meals left behind in the trash can. I take my trash to the dump once a week, but there are always a few flying about the house to repopulate the trash can, as new material is added. I think I am going to have to resort to chemical warfare. Maybe a daily spritz of Raid will bring on their demise.

Another day in the 90's today! On the eleven o'clock news, I heard that this was the 77th day since last spring, that we have had temperatures of 90°F or higher. If this summer hasn't set a record, it certainly has come close to one.

I was re-reading this wonderful poem today:



JABBERWOCKY
Lewis Carroll
(from Through the Looking-Glass and What Alice Found There, 1872)

`Twas brillig, and the slithy toves
Did gyre and gimble in the wabe:
All mimsy were the borogoves,
And the mome raths outgrabe.

"Beware the Jabberwock, my son!
The jaws that bite, the claws that catch!
Beware the Jubjub bird, and shun
The frumious Bandersnatch!"

He took his vorpal sword in hand:
Long time the manxome foe he sought --
So rested he by the Tumtum tree,
And stood awhile in thought.

And, as in uffish thought he stood,
The Jabberwock, with eyes of flame,
Came whiffling through the tulgey wood,
And burbled as it came!

One, two! One, two! And through and through
The vorpal blade went snicker-snack!
He left it dead, and with its head
He went galumphing back.

"And, has thou slain the Jabberwock?
Come to my arms, my beamish boy!
O frabjous day! Callooh! Callay!'
He chortled in his joy.

Does anyone know where I can obtain a vorpal sword? I haven't seen any signs of a Jabberwocky, but I think there might be a frumious Bandersnatch or two roaming the tulgey woods out back. And who knows, It might even help me slay a zuzu fly or two!

Melissa XX

6 comments:

Amy K. said...

"`Twas brillig!" I myself have been known to spout that out on occassion. I know... it means nothing, or does it?

I'm all out of vorpal swords, but how about a sphere of annihilation? You just have to concentrate really hard on where you want it to go (towards the stupid flies). If you get distracted, then it heads towards you. :O

Here: http://www.dandwiki.com/wiki/SRD:Sphere_of_Annihilation

Now I'm not sure how I would send it to you, since any packaging placed around it would be utterly destroyed. Hmmm. I may have to get back to you on this one.

Caroline said...

Melissa, your garden is nearly the size of some national parks, could you not find a place some way off to breed your flies.

I can just see you in biohazard suit tackling these brutes.

61 / 42 here today, not fly weather but fine for us with no wind.

Caroline xxx

Anonymous said...

Be careful how you broadcast your intentions on the internet...you don't want to be visited by PETA or ASPCA now do you? Besides...those flies don't eat much when they fly up your nostrils. They're just looking for a nice home to bear their young. FLY KILLER!!

Maybe you could sic the Jabberwocky on them. :)Suzi

Stace said...

Ack, there are very few things that really annoy me more than a buzzing / flying thing buzzing around!

Hope you find the solution soon. Seeing as you still have nice warm temperatures (I don't know how cold it was here today, but I was shivering in a t-shirt cleaning the rabbit hutch this morning) moving the bin seems an idea...

Stace

The Crossdresser's Girlfriend said...

At no point have I found a bug problem here in eastern nc but i've been hearing about bed bugs and now you with flies...

Melissa said...

@ TGC

Bed bugs are very scary! You can pick them up simply by staying in a place where they have infested. They will cling to your clothes and luggage and hitch a ride home with you! Once in your home they can be nightmare to get rid of! I hope you never get them Joni! You are way too sweet to be bitten by bugs!

Melissa XX