Dear Reader:

Yesterday morning when I went out into the garden to water everything ‘real good’ (Summerville hasn’t gotten any of the late afternoon thunderstorms the past two days so the high temps and humidity have already started drooping leaves and blooms) the flying insects were lying in wait…anticipating biting my feet and arms with total abandon. I returned to my house around 9:00 a.m. covered in welts and itching all over.

For a long time mosquitoes left me alone….it was if they knew I had cancer and didn’t want any part of me…but last summer and now this summer they are chewing on me the way I attacked those corn cobs Anne served the other evening. Maybe it is a good sign but it sure is painful.

As I sat examining all the welts…I realized that some of them were not mosquito bites but remnants from their smaller cousins…(best known in the south as) ‘no-see’ums but you feel ums.’ 

They have several other names too such as  Biting Gnats, Punkies or Sand Flies. With grayish or yellowish bodies, the adults resemble mosquitoes, although they are smaller than mosquitoes. In fact, they are so small they can get through screens on windows and doors. (I really don’t like that!)

The remedies are pretty much what one uses on all kinds of insect bites-your preference…Hydrocortison 1% or Calamine Lotion, or Aloe Vera or Benadryl. It usually takes about a week to two weeks for excessive bites to heal. Welcome to the great outdoors…right?

Thank goodness mine are minimum and should disappear in a couple of days…but only if I stay out of the garden…which isn’t going to happen and it is so hot to wear long sleeves and fitted shoes or boots to water the garden…Still it might be what it takes for awhile…at least “I reckon so.”

Here are some interesting facts about “No-see-ums.”

Both No-See-Ums and Gull Midges are the only pollinators of the cacao tree, from which we get cocoa beans for our chocolate. (*Next time I scratch I will go get something chocolate to eat in their honor)

In tropical and semi-tropical regions, larvae can even be found in rotting fruit and flowers, like tulips that hold water/moisture.

Scotland is known for its “biting midges,” as these pests are called there.  The most prevalent midge in many parts of Scotland is the Highland midge which prefers to breed in woodland, pastures and areas with particular moor grasses. There is concern that these biters can affect outdoor workers as well as tourists. 

There are screens which are of a much narrower weave that can be used on windows to help prevent no-see-ums from entering a home. Regular size screens have too wide of spacing between the weaving to prevent the entry of these tiny pests.

Midges have been found on Mount Everest!

No-see-ums are known as “knotts” in Norway, “Moose Flies” in Canada and “meanbh-chuileag” (tiny fly) in Gaelic-speaking countries.

It is believed that biting midges are drawn to mammals, including humans by detecting certain odors we emit, particularly the odor of carbon dioxide and the odor of lactic acid. 

Yesterday afternoon Luke stopped by to help put on some address numbers on my front steps…I am tired of chasing the UPS driver down the street.

While he was working on this project (sitting on the front steps of the porch) we hard a loud thump on my glass storm door. It was a baby carolina wren (our real state bird) trying to get inside my house. As we watched…the poor thing flew across the porch and thumped into the other glass storm door.

We both jumped up trying to wave it away. Chelsey drove up just about that time and was able to get it off the porch and flying away to the Bradford Pear. Poor little thing…it was too confused.

*With my blue ceiling to keep the ‘boo-hags’ and other bad spirits  away…it looks like the sky to flying creatures. It prevents wasps from building nests but unfortunately tricks little birds into thinking they are flying under the skies still on the porch. Poor baby…hope it’s okay.

So until tomorrow…It is times like these when I must remind myself that in life we must take the bad with the good and to especially remember one of my favorite hymns. “All Things Bright and Beautiful.” 

All things bright and beautiful,
All creatures great and small,
All things wise and wonderful:
The Lord God made them all.

*Story behind the song: The hymn was first published in 1848 in Mrs Cecil Alexander’s Hymns for Little Children. It consists of a series of stanzas that elaborate upon verses of the Apostles Creed.

It may have been inspired by Psalm 104, verses 24 and 25: “Oh Lord, how manifold are thy works! in wisdom hast thou made them all: the earth is full of thy riches. So is this great and wide sea, wherein are things creeping innumerable, both small and great beasts”.

The hymn also sought inspiration as well by a verse from Samuel Taylor Coleridge’s The Rime of the Ancient Mariner.  “He prayeth best, who loveth best; All things great and small; For the dear God who loveth us; He made and loveth all.”

Take a couple of minutes and start your day off beautifully!

All Things Bright and Beautiful, by John Rutter – Mormon … – YouTube

• Murphy’s Law: If you get up early and water your garden while getting eaten alive by mosquitoes and ‘no-see-ums’…  it will rain. The dark clouds started rolling in around 2:00 and to date (6PM) it is still raining and completely overcast. So ….guess who doesn’t have to water and get eaten tomorrow….happiness is!

Here’s our latest little “do-see-um” grandchild….Eloise. She is such a happy baby. She starts her mornings chewing on her toes (quite athletic) and is so happy to greet the new day!