alfvaen | Vector

Well, the rain that we had a week or two ago(and are still having--it rained yesterday afternoon, and we've had a few evening thundershowers)has produced its expected fruit--mosquitoes.

The last couple of years, which were very dry, we were fortunate on the mosquito front. Which means this will be our first big mosquito season since the whole West Nile thing blew up.

I'm one of the fortunate ones that is not bothered much by mosquitoes. They don't bite me that often, a trait I believe I inherited from my mother, and I'm not allergic to the bites so they don't swell up. Nicole is not so fortunate, and she hates the things. I'm not sure about Simon, but Luke, at least, seems to have inherited his mother's ability to attract them.

So that means that every time Luke goes outside, we have to spray him with bug repellent. Unfortunately, Luke has gotten into a routine of having to go outside onto the patio for five-ten minutes, either just before or just after supper. So he gets the spray, goes out for a few minutes, and then comes back in. Still reeking of bug spray. It doesn't bother me that much--I can hardly smell it, for some reason--but Nicole can't stand it.

If it weren't for West Nile, I wouldn't even bother about it...but we won't take the risk. I'm sure the media is inflating the risks as much as they did for SARS, but at least it cuts down on the chances of it spreading too quickly.

And remember, kids, don't kill mosquitoes on your skin--crushing the bug parts into your flesh apparently can spread other diseases that mere bites wouldn't. So flick them off, and then, I don't know, smash them in midair between two books or something.

The Jain religion apparently holds mosquitoes sacred because of the myth where they were the only animal who didn't want humans destroyed. Those wacky Jains.

Of course, maybe it would help if I mowed the lawn once in a while. But that's hot, sweaty work, which holds little appeal on a hot, humid day. And of course on a wet, rainy day, it's not a good idea either. Not to mention that I don't want to do it on a weekday evening, so if the weekend's not temperate...

There were a couple of teenagers last year who came around and would mow the lawns for a few bucks. They're annoying scarce this year. Probably graduated or something. Or got a better job.