“As Gregor Samsa awoke one morning from uneasy dreams he found himself transformed in his bed into a gigantic insect.”
I woke to the sound of rain, a gentle rain. I could even hear the individual drops falling on the leaves. I wanted to stay in bed, comfy and warm, but Henry had other ideas. He ran downstairs, and I had to follow to let him out. The rain has since stopped leaving a damp, dark, cold day. We’re back to sweatshirt weather.
The other day I lived through the first plague. When I got into my car, it was filled with flies. Some were in the back on the window, some were on the front console and a few were at the side windows. I started opening windows and waving the newspaper. A few flies left immediately. Others took a while, and yesterday, a day after the plague, a few were still in the car, but I think they have all since flown to freedom. I have a guess as to where they came from. Last week, if you recall, one of my trash bags had some maggots. I thought I got them all when I was at the dump. Obviously I hadn’t.
When I was a kid, very little scared me. I didn’t mind spiders or most bugs. I remember watching a praying mantis for a long time. It fascinated me. Darning needles were another bug I loved to watch. They flew back and forth just like sewing needles moved. We told my little sister they could sew lips together. She believed us. It wasn’t until I was older I found out they are also called dragonflies.
My father was a mighty hunter. On hot summer nights with his chosen weapon in hand, a rolled up newspaper, my father hunted mosquitos. I remember him standing on my bed walking back and forth while trying to kill the ones on the ceiling. Every room in our house had blotches on the ceiling, testaments to my father’s prowess with a rolled newspaper.
When I was in Africa, I saw a centipede. I didn’t get too close, but I watched for a long time. The centipede was quick, and its legs moved in all different directions in sort of a timing pattern. It was mesmerizing. The other neat insects I saw were a parade of ants. They walked in a wide swath. I remember putting a leaf in the middle, and a bunch of them grabbed onto the leaf and it moved up the column. That column of ants was so long I had to jump over it to get to my training student teaching class.
The only thing only dance card today is the first play of the season at the Cape Playhouse. Until then, I’ll just hang around, read a bit and eat some more Necco tropical wafers. That’s more than enough to make me content.
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June 15, 2018 at 5:00 pm
I have a complete distaste for all insects, arachnids, snakes and lizards. Mosquitos carry West Nile virus and other pathogens that make folks sick and cause numerous deaths annually. In the summer the city sprays neighborhoods from the air or from trucks to keep the mosquito population down.
During the 1950s I had nightmares after watching all the sifi movies which were thinly veiled soap operas of the supposed coming communist threat. The Russians were replaced by alien monsters and giant insects by Hollywood. I still can’t watch any version of “The War of the Worlds”. The 1954 version still gives me nightmares. I could watch the “Thing” and “The Blob” because they were so over the top they were silly.
Luckily, I’ve lived most of my life in North Texas and living in air conditioning has made most insects total outside creatures. The few bugs that made it inside we killed with Raid or a fly swatter. The cock roaches will be here long after we have obliterated ourselves, they can survive nuclear bomb tests. 🙂
It’s summer in Texas so reporting the weather is pointless. 🙂
June 15, 2018 at 5:37 pm
Bob,
We used to hunt grasshoppers, and I ran into a few poisonous snakes in Africa, not too close though. Lizards are all over the place. I remember seeing my first one and being delighted as it just seemed like Africa should be.
Staying inside just doesn’t seem the option. It is too delightful most nights not to be outside enjoying the evening. I can’t lived afraid of mosquitos. Yes, they do carry disease but the odds are in my favor, and there are ways to keep mosquitos at ay.
Many of those movies were condemnations of the atomic bomb. The monsters, usually bugs, appeared after a-bomb testing in the desert. Movies often reflected the concerns of the time.
I wouldn’t like living inside all the time. I do get a few bugs inside every now and then but not enough to be a bother.
Still damp and cold here.
June 16, 2018 at 1:25 am
Welcome to my world of flies 🙂 🙂 Bad summers I can get my car filled with flies if I leave the door open while fetching the mail and I can only hope it is forest flies and not any of the biting ones 🙂 🙂 🙂
We’re having a cool and sunny morning here, we aren’t supposed to have any sunshine according to predictions so I guess the weather hasn’t checked the predictions at all this morning 🙂 🙂
African insects and bugs can be rather dangerous compared to their northern relatives, our centipedes are harmless while many in Africa or anywhere south of North America and Europe can be very poisonous. Ants are also always much worse south of us but I’ve heard that You too now have Fire ants and their bites are truly nasty.
Have a great day!
Christer.
June 16, 2018 at 10:50 am
Christer,
They were the ugly house flies. I didn’t notice them until I was already on the road. I opened all the windows and was nearly blown away. It did surprise me to see more of them.
It is a warm day already.
The centipede does have a scary bite. I stayed well away. The fire ants too are numerous. I don’t know which ants I watched, but they were fascinating. I did get an infection from scratching a mosquito bite. It was on my foot, a bad spot for dirt and all. The Peace Corps doctor lanced it. It took a while to heal. That was it for insects and.
Have a great day!!