Going Buggy

I think most of you know by now that I am irrationally terrified of bugs. Lately I've been doing great - the only thing I really try to avoid is wasps, which we have tons of, but I think that's reasonable. But now that I have a garden, I've come to see other bugs differently. I smile at spiders and welcome them in, knowing they'll eat some of the bad bugs. Crickets, grasshoppers, none of those things bother me too terribly. I've come a long way in a short amount of time.

But there are some bugs that really just make life miserable. The other day, I was unwinding the hose to water, and I screamed as I realized there was a black widow hanging on my wrist. Yep. It was hiding in the hose box and I disturbed it, apparently. I shook it off, and got some bug spray to spray it with. That was awful. Now I'm paranoid that our hose box must be a black widow breeding ground, so I watch every inch of the hose as it comes out to make sure I don't have any more run-ins with one of those. They're so creepy looking, and I really don't need to deal with a black widow bite.

And then there's the barrage of little tiny, but thoroughly annoying insects. For whatever reason, we have an ant infestation. Not so much in the house (thank goodness) but outside, everywhere, are ants. You can't stand still in one spot for too long in the yard or garden without ants climbing onto your legs. The pavers and stepping stones are just sort of black because the ants are so thick. I'll be walking through the yard for one reason or another, and see a big black spot on the lawn. At first it looks like something's there - a piece of trash or something - but then upon closer inspection, I realize it's a pile of thousands of ants. Cora is no longer blanket-bound; she has no problem crawling on grass. I can't let her crawl around out there though, they'll eat her alive.

Then add in swarms of gnats and mosquitoes, and yeah, it's pretty darn miserable to be outside now. I'm covered head to to in little bites - ant bits, mosquito bites, gnat bites. Cora's got several on her legs, though I've been making her wear long pants and sleeves if we got outside at all (which is splendid, let me tell you, since it's 96 degrees out at 7:30 in the evening.) Blah. I still hate bugs.