Wednesday, June 17, 2020

Uncertainty


The phlox are beginning to bloom, dotting the yard with lavender everywhere. That always makes me happy. I will tell you what does NOT make me happy and that's the freaking mosquitoes which the  rain brought along with the greening of everything. They are fierce this year and there are multitudes. We seem to have a new breed of them which I do not recall seeing before but my memory, being what it is, could just be failing me.
Our usual mosquitoes are quite small and fast and they can land and suck enough blood to leave a small stain of it on your skin before you register their presence and slap them. Going out to pick the garden at the end of the day is an exercise in torment. If you're going to be out for long you simply have to use bug spray. And those are bad enough.
However, this new (to me) mosquito is about ten times as large as the usual ones. At least. And black as Satan's toenails. They have a proboscis on them that's about as big as an insulin needle and I read that because of this they torment cattle as well as humans. I looked them up and they appear to be commonly called "gallinippers" and are not unusual. The larvae can be in a state of suspension for years before the elements all come together at which point they develop and hatch. The good news is two-fold: They don't carry disease and they are relatively slow.
I'll tell you what though- they're a lot tougher than the regular skeets and the other night I almost decided that the one I was trying to kill was a vampire, seemingly dead and then arising and righting itself over and over again as I slapped at it.
And yes, I do slap them. Buddha himself would do the same if set down in rural Florida after a good rain. When I took my walk this morning and stepped into the woods to pee, one attacked me and I killed that sucker.
Haha! Sucker.

So the point is, when I was taking the picture you see above, I was being bitten by many, many mosquitoes and when I hung the clothes on the line I was being bitten by many mosquitoes and when I was working in the garden I was being bit by many mosquitoes and this, too, is Florida.

I didn't can anything today but I did pull kale that was completely stripped of leaves by bugs. Also some collards. And I did a little weeding and mulching too but honestly, not much of any of that. I picked a few more green beans and tomatoes. I am not weary of them yet but that day may be coming. I've picked two cucumbers so far and more are blooming and forming and I've picked a about two handfuls of crowder peas and put them in the refrigerator, waiting for more to shell and make a meal of.
That is always something to look forward to.

I was going to go into Publix and Costco today but after my walk I decided to stay here and attend to things and go tomorrow. I am still as anxious as ever about being around people. Jessie says that everyone she knows is mingling with family like crazy and so many of the mothers in her mothers' group are inviting her to play gatherings with all the kids. Meanwhile, Lily reports that two Publix employees (not at her store) have tested positive for the virus, and cases are going up dramatically in Florida.
You know what I wish?
I wish we had a government that would give us the actual facts and make advisements on them. Did you see the news about the bar in Jacksonville opening and sixteen people who had gathered there for a birthday all came down with covid? They had to re-close the bar. And yet our governor is parroting the administration saying that the reason the numbers are going up is that there is more testing.
Right.
But I really want to know what the risks actually are for me to hug and kiss on my family. I want to be able to weigh the pros and cons with accurate information and advice from people who know what they're talking about. Trump seems to have decided to just completely ignore the whole situation except to put out statements about a possible vaccine but he thinks that there's an AID's vaccine and I wouldn't trust him to tell me that we need oxygen to breathe.

Well, once again- this is what it's like in the year 2020. Uncertainty, unhappiness, unemployment, unrest, unbelievable.

Meanwhile, I need to make supper.
I hold on to that which is constant. It gives me some comfort.

Love...Ms. Moon

13 comments:

  1. ewww mosquitos- they are lethal up here, A bite turns into a major event, If there is no standing water near by they do not seem to bother, I am not adverse to using FROG or a gun or anything to eliminate them. There is no reason for them to exist.

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  2. Trump has turned his back on Covid. He will fake-Covid it all the way to election day.

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  3. We all wear masks as a matter of course now. We long to see our son. Perhaps we shall have to risk it soon. Covid has not gone away. But on a brighter note that ketchup you made yesterday looks divine.

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  4. I couldn't stand it any longer and I broke down and let my 24 year old granddaughter spend the night last weekend and yes I did hug her a couple of times. She is healthy but she also works around and sees other people. We have several family birthdays and one graduation this month and we will get together for at least three of them. We have not been with or seen any family for three months and I simply couldn't stay away any longer! My family is my weakness and I guess three months was my limit!

    Watch out for those big, bad bloodsuckers! I hate mosquitoes and swell up when I get bit. Good luck!

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  5. Oohhh mosquitoes. I hate the buggers but they LOVE me. I always end up a blotchy mess when I go on holiday, even after applying Deet liberally!

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  6. oh yeah, we get those big black mosquitos. I hate those bastards. they hurt! as for the idiot-in-chief and his idiot governors, well, yeah, more testing means we know of more cases, more cases means more people out there spreading the virus. I do not understand why they poo poo the increase in cases due to testing as if those people wouldn't be sick if they weren't tested and so don't really count. our own idiot governor in going full steam ahead giving the green light to open to 75% even though Texas has moved from the #5 position to the #2 position for most new infections.

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  7. I had to look up "gallinippers." I've never heard of them and I don't remember ever seeing them, but they seem to be indigenous to the eastern USA so I must have at some point.

    I agree about the dearth of accurate information coming from the government. It's so frustrating.

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  8. Living in a temperate maritime climate I declare that I have never once been bitten by a mosquito in Great Britain. Insects rarely bother us but up in the highlands of Scotland in the summer there are often clouds of midges - millions of them. They are horrible. They get in your hair and you breathe them in. You just have to get away from them.

    Trump didn't know that Great Britain is in possession of nuclear weapons. I can think of a residence in Florida we should nuke - not in Lloyd but down in Miami Beach!

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    1. They've come to Ireland! They breed in my pot pond, and I saw them one very mild December!

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  9. We seem to be the land of tick-fest. Horrible numbers. Mosquitos, yes, but we have a device called a Dyno-tr@p (not advertising) that seems to be handling them. It is a lamp-like device that hangs on a pole and has a bulb that emits a blue light. Bugs are attracted; then they fall into a catch place at the bottom where they die. Periodically empty it (we do it near the bird feeders--dessert). Think Costco sells them. It works for us. We keep it just below our above-ground deck. Doesn't make any zapping sound either and doesn't attract honey bees who are happily feasting on my lavender not far away.

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  10. Mosquitoes, we only get midges here but they are bad enough, but I simply hate mosquitoes.


    I had a long talk with our works physician about home office and social distancing and what to do and she said, it's simple, act as if you carry the virus and act as if every person you meet carries it.
    I just don't dwell on it, it's not forever.

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  11. I'm so glad to have a screened porch, because if I didn't I'd spend very little time outdoors. I despise mosquitoes, and with my allergies and eczema the last thing I need is another thing to make my skin itch.

    I miss seeing my friends most of all. I'm not used to seeing much of my family anyway so they're harder to miss. :(

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  12. I completely agree that uncertainty demoralizes. And the complex effects of a pandemic, such as unemployment, are simply incredibly complex. But most importantly, that it will someday end ...

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