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Published: Tuesday, Jul. 10, 2012 / Updated: Monday, Jul. 09, 2012 06:06 PM

Summer ‘bugs’ me here

When we lived in Seattle, we had the benefit of no bugs or humidity during the summer. Of course, “summer” was a relative term out there, since it did not get above 85 most days and those temps lasted about two weeks.

I love that we can enjoy warm temperatures starting in March (or in this year’s case, December, 2011), but I do not enjoy the bugs! I’ve heard that because we’ve had such a mild winter, the bugs are out in full force this year, and I would have to agree.

First, we have the flies, moths, and gnats. I like to sit outside and read my iPad at night after the kids go to bed. The light from my device attracts everything and I feel like they are all over me after about 10 minutes. Needless to say, I have stopped reading outside. Next up are the mosquitoes, and I really don’t think anyone likes those. However, I am one of those people who they love to nibble on, and my nibbles get huge when I scratch them.

Needless to say, I have been very uncomfortable this summer as I get eaten alive at outdoor events. I always forget the bug spray. I never needed it in Seattle, and even after three years, I still don’t remember to put it on before leaving the house.

I have a screened in porch that I have retreated to a few times this summer, but the bugs are getting in somewhere, so that really isn’t working. The beetles and large carpenter bees enjoy getting in and then slowly dying when they realize they cannot get out. Weekly, I have to vacuum up the husks from the floor.

Ticks are something new for me. I usually do not find them on me, or my kids after a day out in the woods. However, the other day I was unpleasantly surprised by one. I had just finished a run outside and felt what I thought was sweat dropping down my forehead near my hairline. I went into the bathroom to check on one of the kids and noticed that what I thought was a sweat droplet, was actually a tick crawling along my hairline. Thankfully I got to him before he had attached anywhere and I killed it. However, I must have washed my hair vigorously three or four times in the shower than evening, and still felt like they were crawling all over my head.

Lastly are the spiders.

I HATE SPIDERS.

While on a camping trip a few weeks ago I found a black widow in my tent and killed it with prejudice, but it made sleeping very difficult as I felt like these spiders were crawling all over me. On another camping trip my husband sent me a photo of a garden spider with his hand behind it to show just how large it was. I nearly dropped my phone when I opened the picture. Lastly, I walked into my kitchen and saw a nice big brown spider (brown recluse, wolf spider, giant house spider – who knows?) and I stomped on it as fast as I could before it could scurry off and hide in the recesses of the house.

There is nothing worse than going for a spider and missing. When this happens, I think of the cartoon I saw online once that shows a nasty spider saying, “remember when you tried to kill me and missed? I do too…”