This might seem like a strange subject to write about. However, I have recently had one bad experience after another with biting and stinging insects. I am a baby boomer, and when I was a child growing up in New Jersey, we all looked forward to Summer vacations. Unfortunately, New Jersey was a hotbed for mosquitoes during the Summer. And the number of biting insects did not decrease despite the mosquito truck that drove through our town, spraying DDT in Maple Shade, New Jersey, all Summer long, every night.

In fact all the kids in town would stay out late in the dark just so, we could follow the mosquito truck that was sprying DDT and we would all ride our bikes right behind the mosquito Truck until it was late at night and we would hear ours mothers yelling,” time to come in now.” We would all have bites from head to toe, and there wasn’t a whole lot that could be done about it.

In addition, we didn’t have air conditioning. My parents had fans in their bedroom windows. But we just had windows, some had screens to keep the bugs out, but some didn’t. In the morning, we would wake with mosquito bites from head to toe. But that wouldn’t keep us from going out every night after dinner in the dark to play with our neighborhood friends.

I came from a family of six siblings. My twin and I slept in the same bed. My next-oldest siblings slept in the bed next to us. My eldest sister, Jeanie, had her bed, and my big brother had his own room. Their rooms were sweltering as well. Believe me, Summer was rough on all of us. Some of our neighbors had window air conditioners. Eventually, my parent got a window air conditioner. But the rest of us continued to sweat and scratch mosquito bites. I kid you not. It was rare for a family to have air conditioners. My father and mother eventually got a window air conditioner. Over time, my older siblings got married and moved out. My twin and I remained at home until we were twenty. 

So, this is all old news, but just yesterday, I walked out to our greenhouse, which is located in our backyard. We live in North Carolina now. And as it turns out, North Carolina has its share of biting and stinging insects. And for some reason, I can not determine that they constantly hone in on me. My first experience here in North Carolina was somewhat of a highly unpleasant surprise. A small bathroom joins my bedroom. And I had a small dresser next to the window. And one morning, I went into the bathroom and looked into the top drawer, and without any warning, I was overrun and bitten by Red Ants. And if you haven’t experienced them, it is a whole new level of pain. The ants had somehow entered the side window and then infiltrated my top drawer, and when I stuck my hand in the drawer, hundreds of red ants ran up my hand and arm and began biting me nonstop. The only solution I had was to jump into the standing shower and wash the little Fer’s off. The bites were everywhere and burned like crazy and hurt for many days. This was my welcome from North Carolina.

I have to remember that New Jersey is the most mosquito-laden place I’ve ever been. So, everywhere you go, there are negative experiences. Life is struggles, but we all learn to adapt to sometimes difficult conditions, no matter how big your house is, or how nice it is. There are always experiences that are not pleasant at times. LIFE IS A CHALLENGE. I lived in New Jersey, Florida, California, and now North Carolina.

I loved the people in New Jersey, where I grew up. The people are friendly and outgoing, and California was like that, too. And the weather in California is wonderful. And it is a beautiful place to visit or live in. I loved Florida as well; it’s gorgeous, however, it’s hot, hot, hot, and you’d better have central air or air conditioners in every room, or you’ll cook. I kid you not. And don’t let me forget to mention that Florida has Palmetto Bugs. Palmetto bugs, commonly known as Florida woods cockroaches, are a frequent sight in Florida homes. These large cockroaches, while not typically considered pests like their German or American counterparts, can still enter homes and become a nuisance. They are attracted to moisture and decaying plant matter, often finding their way indoors through cracks and openings. And let me tell you folks, these “bugs” are giant, and if you don’t make every effort to keep them out of your house, they will overwhelm you. Just gross, they are very similar to the Cockroaches in New Jersey—those who live in damp places. In New Jersey, most people have cellars, and beneath almost all NJ homes are streams, and the streams promote the Cockroaches, and if you don’t eradicate them, your home will be overwhelmed by them.

But, as I mentioned, the mosquitoes in New Jersey are evil and will make your life miserable if you don’t get rid of them before they start reproducing. You will find them on your kitchen counter, on the floor at night, and pretty much everywhere.

So, I guess you are wondering why I am writing a story about biting insects. Well, as I was trying to explain earlier, I had a bad experience. We have a greenhouse in our backyard, where we grow most of our vegetables. The greenhouse is located right next to the vegetable garden.

I walked into the greenhouse and was getting bird seeds for all the birds I feed in the front and back yard. So, I wasn’t paying close enough attention, and suddenly I felt a painful sting on the heel of my left foot. I had sandals on. And my foot started to burn, and itch like crazy. I looked down and a wasp stung me. Let me tell you that I smarted. And here it is, forty-eight hours later, and it is still burning and stinging. And the heel of the foot is swollen and stinging like hell, and this was twenty-four hours ago.

And believe it or not, this is not the first experience I’ve had with biting insects here in North Carolina. I’m not blaming NC. Bugs are everywhere. When we first moved to our current home, I put a small dresser next to the window in our bathroom. About a day later, I was on the receiving end of a couple of hundred red ants swarming all over me. The ants had infiltrated the top drawer of my dresser. I had welts and bites all over. It was a nightmare. I was sore for weeks. And let me tell you, I would never want to experience that again.

However, it happened to me again just yesterday. I went into our little green house and was looking at the plants and getting some birdseed out to fill up all my bird feeders. And out of the blue, a WASP flew over to my foot and stung my left heel. And it swelled up like a balloon in no time, and here it is, a full twenty-four hours later, and my ankle is still swollen. All I can say is OUCH.

I know that insects have bitten everyone over their lifetime. But let me tell you, people, insects really seem to have it out for me. They have some vendetta, I assure you. Take care to carry bug spray with you at all times. Better prepared than not..

A bit of advice, if you find a few ants in your house, there are more somewhere else in your home. Get rid of them asap. Luckily, here in North Carolina, we have Anoles and Skinks, which reduces the sheer amount of biting insects. And let’s not forget the Japanese beetles that arrive at the end of the summer, and they gorge on all our plants. 

What can I say, folks, the birds, the bees, the mosquitoes, all a part of nature, take it or leave it. However, we all love summer and going to the beach, as well as taking long walks in the pleasant weather. By the end of Summer, we have had enough of long, hot, and humid days and look forward to Fall. Life goes on.

 

Once upon a time in a land far, far away from here lived a little girl named Susie. She looked similar to all the other little girls in the neighborhood. But she was different in many ways. She had a different perspective on life than the other girls her age in her neighborhood. She had several girlfriends on her street. But her true friends were all the cats and dogs, squirrels, and birds with whom she spent many hours sitting out in the backyard, observing what the animals did. And sometimes she pretended to be a bird and attempted to fly, but unfortunately, she could only fly in her imagination.

Her parents would often ask Susie what she had been doing all day, and she would tell them she had talked to all her animal friends and told them stories. Her parents would look at each other, and her mother would say,” Don’t worry, she just has an active imagination. She will outgrow all these crazy ideas that she can talk to the animals. Susie especially liked talking to her neighbor, Mrs. Collins, who had over twenty cats as pets, and they would climb out the cellar window into a fenced-in area that went the length of Mrs. Collins’s large backyard. Susie would often spend all day talking to the cats and Rudy, Mrs. Collins’ dog.

Mrs. Rice, who lived in the house next to Susie’s home, often asked Susie, “Who are you talking to, Susan? And Susie would say, “To the cats, of course.” Mrs. Rice would shake her head and say,” What a strange child.”

Susan didn’t care what Mrs. Rice said about her or what anyone said about her. She loved animals and she always would. She didn’t care what anyone said about her. Even her sisters thought she was weird. But, Susan didn’t care what they or anyone else thought about her.

Susan liked to tell people stories, sometimes she made up the stories, and sometimes they were things that happened to her. Susie was truly a unique little girl. She had a wonderful imagination. And she often told her family far-fetched stories. Sometimes the stories were true, and sometimes the stories were a product of her imagination. But it seemed real to her.

In addition to Susan’s imagination, she had a sense of humor and was always telling jokes or making up wild stories of things she had done or wanted to do in the future. Susan loved to hear stories, and once she learned to read, she would visit the town library and borrow as many books as the librarians would allow her. Sometimes, when she was in her classroom she would start daydreaming and not pay attention to the teachers (who were nuns.)

And they would call out her name, and if she didn’t respond, the nun would come down the aisle and tell Susan to put out her hands, and the nun would hit Susan’s small hand with the sharp metal edge of the ruler. Susan would never allow herself to cry in front of the class or the nun.

Susan was a highly imaginative child; she tended to make up wild stories about all of the adventures she had when she wasn’t in school. Everyone would laugh, but the fact was that many times her stories were true. But her friends would listen to her stories, transfixed, but unsure whether they should believe a word she said. But, still, they were attracted to her because of her wild imagination. And they never got bored because Susan would suggest going on a bike ride where they had never been, or going to the clay pits on the outskirts of town, and they would dig in the clay and find really weird and interesting objects in the muddy clay.

As Susan grew older, she began to ride her bike farther and farther away from her home. Even crossing a highway. One hot summer day, Susan decided she wanted to go swimming, and she remembered that there was a hotel right off of Route 73, only about a mile away from her house. She talked her best friend into going with her, and they both rode their bikes down to the hotel. Susan had told her friend to wear her bathing suit under her shirt and shorts.

And after a twenty-minute bike ride and crossing Route 73 to the hotel, they arrived, and Susie and Joanie opened the gate to the built-in pool and spent the afternoon swimming in the deep end of the pool on floats. Neither of them was an excellent swimmer, and at one point, the lifeguard told them they had to get out of the deep end because they were in danger of drowning. So, they did. And they still had fun, until they realized that both of them were sunburned from their heads to their toes. And they knew that the rest of the week, they were going to experience some sunburn pain, not a good thing.

Neither one of them went outside for the rest of the week unless it was dark out, since they were sunburned from head to toe. Their parents didn’t even ask them where they had been. As long as they got home on time for lunch or dinner, their parents never asked them where they had been or where they went. They just said, “Don’t be late for dinner or lunch.”

Susan’s parents never questioned her whereabouts. If she got home in one piece, that was good enough for them. Susan had a childhood filled with friends and adventures. No one ever questioned where she had been or what she had been doing. She must be home for lunch or dinner on time. And she always was on time.

Susan was quiet at home and rarely got in trouble, although she and her sister didn’t get along too well and avoided one another. Her older siblings pretty much ignored her as well. And told her to stay out of their rooms.

Susan’s childhood was generally fun, as she had many friends in school and the neighborhood. She tried not to get in trouble at school. However, she didn’t put much effort into her homework or classwork. Nonetheless, she moved from one grade to the next with little difficulty. Over time, her teachers recognized that she was a gifted child who excelled at telling stories, drawing, and coloring better than her peers. They knew she was capable of doing better in her classwork, but didn’t try very hard.

As Susan grew up, she realized that she truly loved reading books. And she loved to tell stories.

And as time moved forward, Susan did as well, by the time she was in high school. She put more effort into her school work, but no more than she wanted to. Susan graduated from high school with no clear idea of what she wanted to do. She was offered a job as a dental assistant by Dr. Edward G. Wozniak, whose wife had attended St. Mary’s of the Angels Academy, where Susan had also attended high school.

And sure enough, Susan was hired and spent the next five years of her life working as a dental assistant. She was quite good at it. And she made enough money to put the down payment on a 1970 Volkswagen, which she drove for many years. And that yellow Bug was one of the first loves of her life.

At some point, Susan decided that although she liked working at the dentist, she didn’t have any time left to have fun, go out with boys, go to the beach, and so on. She applied for another position selling high-risk auto insurance at the Ellis Brothers in Haddon Township, NJ. And a new chapter of her life began.

Stay tuned for part two. I will post the next chapter of Susan’s life next Wednesday.