I spent the morning working with my pond plants. I had on long jeans, socks, croc knockoffs, a tee-shirt and a baseball cap. I sprayed my jeans, shoes and hat brim with a Deet insect repellent and used a sun screen with a milder repellent for all the bare skin. I was covered one way or the other or so I thought.
I am not excited about all these chemicals. Depending on what you read they cause all kinds of side effects but I don’t want to get another tick bite or any other kind of bite.
It was a glorious day. I started early while the pond was shaded. So did the gnats. They were attracted to my teeth. Perhaps they were trying to suck up the remnants of my mocha latte. I had to keep my lips shut or my teeth would look like a windshield at 100 miles an hour. Not a look that works for me. It’s far worse than that piece of parsley stuck there.
Then there were other thingies hovering around my tasty body. I confess that the sunscreen had expired but it hasn’t been a year yet. It should be good. Isn’t there a grace period?
Don’t worry I put my normal sunscreen on first. My dermatologist gets cranky when you came in with a tan. I saw her this week. Despite the fact that I am a very pasty white she loaded me up with pamphlets on the sun, suntans and skin cancer. It’s August. If I’m not a golden bronze at this point, it won’t happen. In another two to three weeks I’ll be cranking out my flannels and the sun won’t see my legs for at least six months!
Back to my ongoing fight with the bugs – After more than three hours, my pond plants were right where I want them. I was not sweaty because it didn’t heat up yet but a bug found one square inch of my body that wasn’t plastered with chemicals and chomped on it.
I have an enormous welt and it itches. It itches a lot!
Insects have been around a lot longer than people and I know why. They are tenacious little goobers that will feast on any bit of tender skin no matter how you try to protect it. I must taste like chocolate.
In my next life, I’d like to be a really annoying insect. I have a list of tasty people to see.
Clipart is public domain
Views and Mews by Coffee Kat 
I believe bugs were here before us and, if you saw the movie “Walle,” they’ll be here long after we’re gone.
Kate … My theory is that the bugs view insect repellant as the aperitif to the main meal. They just smile, lick it off, and go for that tasty treat – we humans. Try aloe – straight from the plant – for that pesky bug bite. It seems to work on burns OK.
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You are right. Insect repellant is a condiment!
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My mum used to say that it’s because I am such a sweet girl that’s why mozzies love me. Now I am a grumpy old bitch and they still find me!!! I drench myself in those things too… but I think they don’t block out my sweetness enough to deter the bugs 😀
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Grumpiness isn’t a good repellant anymore!
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😀 Thank you so much, Kate, for bringing laughter to my morning. And for the record, Insects are definitely smarter than us. I think I taste like honey. At least to all those creepy crawly or flying buggers. LOL.
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Hmmmm…..honey!
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I love the gnats and your mocha latte…your description of yourself made me think of the Lucy episode when she got a loving cup stuck on her head and looked like a bee keeper…see how you inspire? Might even Google to see if I can watch again. As far as chemicals go, that ship has sailed. We’re surrounded I’m afraid. Insect repellent is the least of it.
I do love your pond stories…miss that frog you post once in a while, the one on his back in the sun 🙂
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We’ll have to get that frog to make an appearance!
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Oh, hope he’s available.
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Bummer! The solution of not going outside doesn’t really work either. On a happy note, there will be snow on the ground before long and all those little buggers will be dead – dead I say!
MJ
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Well, that’s a cold and cheery thought!
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I just read somewhere that mosquitoes can fly between rain drops and never get wet! I think you are right Kate. They are smart lil buggers.
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Splat! That’s what I say! Where is my swatter?
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I’m convinced that these sprays and repellants are like sugar to pests. I’m currently covered in bites after using half a can of repellant before going out on the back patio to write. I’m a bug magnet!
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Me too. We must have sweet blood! Or we are an easy target.
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OUCH! Or as Gilda Radner’s alter ego, Rosanne Rosannadanna, used to say, “If it ain’t one thing, it’s another!”
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Ouch, itch!
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I’ve been a mosquito magnet all my life, so it makes perfect sense that I live in Texas, where the mosquitoes look more like small birds than pesky little mosquitoes. Sorry to hear someone found that one tiny micro-inch of unprotected skin, and decided to much on you. Cold compresses. Better yet, a piece of chocolate. It won’t help the itching, but your mouth will be happy. 🙂
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Chocolate sounds good! I can’t visit you or I will take all your buggy admirers away from you.
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