The Whine of the Night
It begins downstairs, in the kitchen. Something seems to pass by in the air before your eyes. You hear the whine of a chainsaw. It stops. Suddenly, you feel an itch on your upper arm. You pass a hand over the area, and the chainsaw begins again. A mosquito.
It's that time of year again. With the warming spring all sorts of creatures wake up, including the blood suckers. Some would argue those exist all year. But I'm talking about those little critters that appear when the world starts to look tempting and green, and you start to look tempting and warm blooded. They take the joy out of good weather.
It's even worse when the days are sultry, like last week. On a couple of days the temperatures went above 90ºF/32ºC, just like on one of those impossible days in July. The nights were mild, perfect for sleeping with the windows open. The bombardment began upon going to bed.
You wake up with a maddening itch somewhere on your body, generally in an out of the way place. You thoroughly wake up as you turn around to scratch it and placate the madness. Then you notice another itch, on a finger or an arm. So you scratch again, pushing sleep away just a little further. You hear that familiar whine, getting closer. You wave an arm around. It goes away. It starts again, and gets closer than before. You notice something land on an arm. You slap yourself. Of course you haven't killed it, just scared it off to try another offensive tactic. You realize you're wearing six citronella scented patches that someone had recommended to keep those bombardiers away. They had sworn up and down and around that those patches kept those critters at bay. You scratch the patches to release the scent. The scent gets in your nose, but the mosquito gets in your ear. You wonder if the person who recommended the patches had stock options in the company that made them.
That's enough. You tear off the patches, get up and go plug in the chemicals you didn't want to breathe in. Slowly, the sickly-sweet liquid of the plugged-in diffuser brushes against your nostrils. The bombardment slows. The whines become scarcer and then stop. Dow, Monsanto, and Bayer have saved the rest of the night for you. Are you being poisoned by them? Probably. But I also get to sleep undisturbed.
It's that time of year again. With the warming spring all sorts of creatures wake up, including the blood suckers. Some would argue those exist all year. But I'm talking about those little critters that appear when the world starts to look tempting and green, and you start to look tempting and warm blooded. They take the joy out of good weather.
It's even worse when the days are sultry, like last week. On a couple of days the temperatures went above 90ºF/32ºC, just like on one of those impossible days in July. The nights were mild, perfect for sleeping with the windows open. The bombardment began upon going to bed.
You wake up with a maddening itch somewhere on your body, generally in an out of the way place. You thoroughly wake up as you turn around to scratch it and placate the madness. Then you notice another itch, on a finger or an arm. So you scratch again, pushing sleep away just a little further. You hear that familiar whine, getting closer. You wave an arm around. It goes away. It starts again, and gets closer than before. You notice something land on an arm. You slap yourself. Of course you haven't killed it, just scared it off to try another offensive tactic. You realize you're wearing six citronella scented patches that someone had recommended to keep those bombardiers away. They had sworn up and down and around that those patches kept those critters at bay. You scratch the patches to release the scent. The scent gets in your nose, but the mosquito gets in your ear. You wonder if the person who recommended the patches had stock options in the company that made them.
That's enough. You tear off the patches, get up and go plug in the chemicals you didn't want to breathe in. Slowly, the sickly-sweet liquid of the plugged-in diffuser brushes against your nostrils. The bombardment slows. The whines become scarcer and then stop. Dow, Monsanto, and Bayer have saved the rest of the night for you. Are you being poisoned by them? Probably. But I also get to sleep undisturbed.
Brilliant Maria, also in Italy the mosquitoes can spoil the summer, I often wonder which is more harmful, the chemicals or the bites..
ReplyDeleteMy mother-in-law plants lavender, basil, geraniums to keep them at bay. I find I'm ok as long as I don't scratch the bites,
Have a lovely summmer!! Xx
Last year we had tiny, tiny sneaky bugs. Can barely see them, they keep their whines low and then they get you.
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