I didn’t get a lot of sleep last night. We all have nights like that. Now, today, just as I relax into my recliner and am drifting off for a little snooze, all of a sudden there is a tickle on my arm, or face, and I jerk awake again.
There is a fly in this house, and while I chase it down with a fly swatter, it seems my aim is off, or the fly is quicker than I am, and away it goes on its merry way, only to dive bomb me the next time I drift off.
I am not bothered a lot by bugs in this house. In fact, I didn’t even have an ant invasion this year. But, like most people, those flies sneak in occasionally.
At some of the outdoor activities, I was pestered by mosquitoes. They came to the ball games, the outdoor campfires. I keep chopping the low branches of the trees in the yard, so when I mow under them, I don’t get bugs down my neck. Every fall I have the outside of my house sprayed for Asian beetles; so, for the most part, bugs don’t bug me too much.
Of course, the years I lived on a farm, life was different, with pesky insects. The natural smells of farm animals draw flies and more. When my children were growing up, they were constantly in and out of the house, and the insects gained access with every swing of the door.
In the later years on the farm, we used to hang things called fly traps outside. The barn got a bug zapper, and if things got too bad in the house, I would hang those curly, sticky fly rolls.
I no longer need to be up on the latest in insect control. I am simply trying to swat the fly that moved into my house. It somehow knows when I have a swatter in hand and stays away, or else it will fly as the swatter is coming down.
Right now, there is no doubt, the fly is winning, and I am being pestered. It doesn’t seem to bother me at night, so at least I am safe at that point. Now I just have to make sure I get my sleep at night and don’t need daytime naps.
As a rule I don’t take naps in the daytime, not on purpose anyway. However, since I was up late last week Friday night, due to the Western Shawano County Relay for Life, benefiting the American Cancer Society, in Bowler.
Normally, a Relay for Life, late in the month of July, would assure hot weather, with perhaps a rain shower thrown in. However, this year, it was cold. It was so cold that by 10 I was no longer walking to keep warm, I was wrapped in a blanket.
By 11 the fireworks were over, and we were waiting for the tickets in the drop buckets to be drawn so we could claim any prizes won and be on our way home. I hadn’t planned on staying overnight anyway, which was good, considering the cold.
The other reason for lack of sleep was the World of Outlaws stock car race in Shawano. Even though it wasn’t too late when I got home, I couldn’t fall asleep right away, and then I was dragging all the next day.
Meanwhile, the fly swatter is at hand. I only need to swat the pesky fly.
Categories
