Mosquito Blues

Today is one of those days where you wake up and find yourself up to your armpits in pee.  Not your own mind you…the kind of pee that accidentally made it’s way onto the floor instead of the potty (aka: toddler) or onto the bathmat instead of the lawn (aka: dog). You find that the smoothie you were making is actually leaking all over the counter because the bottom wasn’t screwed on tight and that when you walk outside you are virtually carried away by mosquitoes.  It is the aftermath of a thunderstorm.  A thunderstorm with dogs…and a toddler.

If you are from Vermont, visiting Vermont or you’re passing through Vermont the thing that may stick out the most to you is the massive amount of mosquito’s that are the size of mini coopers and ruthless in their attempt to stick their little biters into your skin and steal your precious blood.  I think they have literally driven people insane and certainly driven countless BBQ’s, Birthday parties, pool parties and any other type of party, indoors.  No amount of bug spray, tiki torches, bug zappers, natural remedies or even not so natural remedies are enough to fend off these little evil doers.  They are a pest, a nuisance and to put it mildly, the bane of my existence.

Last year little bean turned one and we had a celebration.  It was fall and the weather was beautiful, and the mosquitoes were in FULL force. It was like walking through a thick fog just to get to the house and although it isn’t that far, it felt like an agonizing marathon.  You couldn’t escape without swatting and swinging like a madman just to find the safety of the porch where they were bound to squeak onto but at least in smaller quantities.  Not only do you look like a fool flailing your arms and hands wildly and frantically over your head while juggling six bags of groceries and a toddler, there is just no possible way to come away from such a battle without a few wounds to show for your efforts.  Bug Bites.  I should have offered some sort of sting salve as party favors because I imagine not one party-goer escaped without at least one bite.  Instead of pin the tail on the donkey we could have just aimed for mosquito bites.

I have to remind myself sometimes that summer is a short season and although the thunder storms keep me awake all night due to the howling and whining of the dogs and the excited exclamations about thunder from a toddler, it is also packed with amazing adventures and joy.  Summer brings bonfires, s’mores, BBQ’s, swimming, hiking, biking, playgrounds without a thousand layers of clothes, and the list goes on and on.  Although I have yet to find a way to run into the house without looking frighteningly mad and swallowing at least one nasty little bugger a year, I can at least make the mad dash in flip-flops!

I know that winter will soon be upon us and I’ll probably have some ranting over slipping on ice while shoveling the most recent 10 inches of snow that we got (at least…I HOPE I can write about getting ten inches of snow. What happened last winter???). Mom Nature knows no bounds when it comes to the extremes here and her extreme for summer tends to be the battle of the bugs. Forget the bulge, you can’t walk outside without a protective layer of clothing fending off the little bloodsuckers anyway so you don’t even have to worry about showing to much skin. Admit defeat and cover up or risk looking like you nailed the chicken pox as an adult. To have a mosquito-less summer would be pointless though because then what would we have to complain about? Summer in Vermont is practically perfect and my absolute favorite season minus those little needle nosed heat seeking missiles. So if you see someone running haphazardly through a parking lot flailing her arms endlessly, rest assured I am happy to be running without a scarf flapping behind me and slush splashing onto my jeans.

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