I’m currently sitting out in my garden.. I have lit the lanterns for the first time. I can see the moon, though it’s still light outside.. The weather is perfect. I have bug spray. And a citronella candle.
My life is pretty wonderful, you know?
It’s pretty charmed, I have to say. (i don’t have to say. but it’s a nice feeling when i realize it.)
This morning, I had planned a trip to Saukville to hike on the trails at The Cedarburg Bog.
I rallied some troops at 8am.
When we got to the bog, we parked at the trail head, and gathered our things.
Flies. Flies attacked our car.
They seemed to dissipate, so we headed toward the trail.
About 20 feet into this trail, the flies descended upon us. Billions of them.
There was no way we could make it through.
We ran back to the car, actually.
Later, we looked up what kind of flies they were, and though none of us had been bitten.. (we were saturated with bug spray)..They sound pretty nasty.
“These flies cut through the skin with their knife-like mouthparts and suck the blood for several minutes. When they fly away, a drop or two of blood usually exudes from the wound, permitting secondary feeding sites for other nuisance insects. The flies are potential vectors of such diseases as anthrax, tularemia, anaplasmosis, hog cholera, equine infectious anemia, and filariasis. Also, deer and horse flies are suspected of transmitting Lyme disease (New England Journal of Medicine 322:1752, 1990). Biting deer flies frequently attack humans along summer beaches, near streams, and at the edges of moist, wooded areas. Some people, when bitten, suffer severe lesions, high fever, and even general disability. Symptoms are allergic reactions to hemorrhagic saliva poured into the wound to prevent clotting while the fly is feeding.”
Wonderful little creatures, aren’t they? It seems as though right now is peak season for deer flies. It ends in two or three weeks.. Just in time for Horse Fly season.
I have a feeling I’m going to have to wait until fall to see the bog. Which makes me kind of sad, but I’ll manage.
Instead, we drove a few miles to Port Washington.
I had never been, but had heard about it over the years.
I never heard how charming it was, though! It was absolutely adorable.
There were ducks.
We walked on the break wall to the lighthouse..
We saw a surfing dog.
We went for a walk down on the beach.. (located directly below the water/sewage treatment plant..? I…? Maybe?)
WE MET THE GREATEST DOG ALIVE.
The water was so clear, you could see the fish.
I bought a few more plants for my garden, planted them, and transplanted my dying tomato. I left it for 45 minutes, and when I came back, MY RED TOMATO HAD A BITE TAKEN OUT OF IT. A BITE. A MOTHERFUCKING BUNNY BITE.
I hurried to the store and bought chicken wire, and SECURED THE GD PERIMETER.
When I was seven years old, I watched our cat(Play-Dough Foonmin) play with a wounded chipmunk in our yard.
I approached the pair slowly. The chipmunk had a hole at his temple, where blood was slowly oozing out. He was sort of propelling his legs around, dying in front of me.
I turned to find my neighbor, BB gun in hand.
He set down the rifle, and disappeared into the garage to retrieve a shovel.
In front of me, the man stepped up, and beheaded the chipmunk with the shovel.
He explained that the chipmunks ate his crop, and burrowed under his house into the basement.
I cried for days.
Dude, I swear to god, I understand the war now.
I UNDERSTAND IT.
I WANT TO MURDER THOSE TINY BUNNIES.
I WANT THEM DEAD.
(no i don’t. i totally let them eat all my lettuces and spinach.)
(those things were going to poison me anyway.)
(i really do want them to stay the hell away from my garden.)
