ANTS AND OTHER PERILS

I guess I could tell you that it’s spring in southeastern Indiana just by looking at my countertop or desk top.

“What???” I can year you asking.

Well, it seems that every year there comes that day when I look at my kitchen countertop – a speckled Corian – and it appears to be moving.

“Huh???” you say?

It appears to be moving because some of the moving specks are actually little black ants. Where they come from and how they get in, I have no idea. They just appear about this time every year.

They also appear on the desktop in my office, no where close to the kitchen.

I squish them as I see them. Then, just as suddenly as they appear, they disappear.

Who knows.

They are just one of those mysteries of nature that we must accept.

We have also had an infestation of strange green and gold striped bugs about the size and shape of a wasp, with long antennas. They don’t appear to fly, at least not yet (thank goodness). I have never seen anything like them and have been searching the internet for them. They were all over our garage, so I’m blaming the stove wood for them.

I spent a happy 10 minutes the other day crunching them underfoot. 

I tried to get a photo of one, but my camera refused to comply, no matter what setting I put it on.  Apparently it also has an aversion to bugs.  (Since my husband found lots of holes in the wood and wood dust in the wood bin recently, after an internet search I think they might be metallic wood borers - I must show them to my future son-in-law, the arborist, for confirmation!)

It’s also time for the mating of the bumblebees, or so I call it. Again, early spring every year the bumblebees that live in the deck roof begin going crazy, flying around each other in circles. Since they are large insects and rather ungainly, these bee “dances” can sometimes interfere with human activity on the ground. And, for me, this is a particularly frightening time, since:
(1) I hate bees in general;
(2) I am terrified of bumblebees in particular – I mean, come on, have you seen the size of these things? Some are as large as a hummingbird for goodness sake;
(3) bumblebees home in on me like moths to a flame – they follow me, I’m not kidding.

Prior to exiting the house, I carefully look through the kitchen window and survey the vicinity of the door before I open it so as not to allow a bee inside. Once outside I’m ever mindful of that “bzzzzz” sound and am particularly fearful when it gets louder – “BZZZZZ” – since I know they are heading in my direction.

As if that’s not enough to keep a girl inside all day, there’s also the pollen count. We here in the Greater Cincinnati area are known for our allergies and sinuses. This is because our area is a perfect “bowl” to hold all of the pollen and mold spores, which the wind then picks up and blows along the entire Ohio River Basin. Lucky us.

And here in the country, we can add to that mix the fertilizers and pesticides that the local farmers shoot into the air. Yummm.

And then, let’s not forget the “spring rains” (spelled m o n s o o n) that create lots of mud, flooding and hydroplaning on the roadways and you realize just how dangerous it is “out there”.

I prefer to stay inside during these dreaded times, waiting for the inevitable drought that appears mid-July.