Monday, May 18th .Victoria Day in Canada. Note that it is NOT Queen’s
actual birthday. I am not sure when that is. It is a holiday that supposedly
celebrates our sovereign. And it is the weekend to open the cottage, or buy
bedding plants or … stay inside lest you be eaten alive by little black flies.
I did not grow up with blackflies. Mosquitoes, yes,
and deer flies and shad flies and deer flies (more later on these not dear
devils), all of those. And my parents opened the cottage on what was then often
called ‘The Queen’s Birthday’, so I had an intimate holiday meeting with some
of those listed above. But I lived too far south to grow up with the little
black miseries. And so, when I get bitten by one, I get a big red welt at each
bite spot. A mosquito bite’s evidence does not last for more than a few
minutes; I am acclimated to them, annoying as they are. My daughters, who did
grow up with them, do not react this way. But I am really sensitive to the
blackflies and they are, presently, thick.
I am not the only person to hate the pests. If you do
a control/click on the link here Blackfly -
NFB it should take you to a really wonderful short song
about them. (If that doesn’t work, here is the link to the Wikipedia website The Blackfly Song - Wikipedia. Even if
you know this short animation of the song, playing it is a pleasant few
minutes.
Anyway,
my first encounter with the little devils was in Deep River in 1962. We were
driving to the west coast, and we decided to camp for the night in the town’s campground.
By morning I had a ring of red itchy welts around my neck, my wrists and my
waist and I was really, really glad to leave. We left the bugs behind about the
Ontario/Manitoba border but the itchies stayed with me until June.
If you can’t leave them behind, if you are
working outside with both hands occupied, it can be pretty miserable. I have
seen some of the neighbours, when they were cleaning up from sugaring, with
blood dripping behind their ears. The flies are looking for a blood meal and
they have, in fact, sharp jaws.
While
we are here whining about wildlife, the other fly in the ointment is the deer
fly. This is a much bigger insect, delta-winged, and it really bites hard. They
are controllable with repellent, but miserable if you are stripped down to swim
as they seem to like wet skin. They leave a welt on everyone. When I was a kid
at my parents’ cottage we had horseflies, similar but bigger, that attacked us
when we swam in the lake. I learned to swim underwater, as if you did that for
a distance, you could lose one that was trying to take a chunk out of you.
We
have an open field behind our house and at this time of year, if there is a
windy day, the deer will come out and lie in the field to chew their cuds. I
think the wind reduces the number of flies following them.
We
had our first hot day today. Not enough to put the air conditioner on, but
pretty warm. That will bring on the leaves and flowering trees, but anyone out
and about this weekend should be covered up, in spite of the heat.
Friday, May 22nd
As predicted. A warm week has produced blossom
everywhere, starting with ED’s cherished magnolia, and the blossom has enticed
the female hummingbirds north. We appear to have a dominant male, at least one
other male and at least one female being courted by the male’s swinging U flybys
that, with our window feeder, we see close up. Also for sure two and possibly
three pairs of Rose-breasted Grosbeaks. And a robin that has decided I should
be scolded off the screen porch and who, accordingly, has a chipping fit
whenever I go out there. Robins can be very opinionated. Back in the archive
somewhere is a description of persuading a robin that nesting on the light fixture
outside our bedroom door was not a good option. This may be her great-grandkid
that is bugging me. Fair trade, turnabout. Hmm.
Just to mention, blackflies are rampant. We have a
neighbour who got his garden in, he says, because the day was windy enough to
blow them away. I am not sure I buy that, but we do have a heavier tree cover to
cut the wind and allow the evil little things to lurk.
JG is off to do a dump run and pick up prescription
meds en route. Up until the start of this year we had a ‘transfer station’ on
the next concession over where all of our trash could go and where recyclables
were collected. It closed down and now we have about a twenty minute drive to
the station outside the village. Annoying. I know the township wants to save
money wherever possible, and the transfer station had to have a keeper and the
deposits sorted and moved, but it was lovely to be able to drive a bit down the
road and unload it all. We have a lot of recyclables, paper being the premium
but plastic a close second. I hope people in this area will stiffen their
spines and keep doing the clean thing, even if it is more time and trouble. It
is a real blow to our community hall, as it generates a lot of trash when we hold
a function.
Rats and all that. It is now the 23rd and I am ending this babble. Goodness knows why anyone would read it this far. Except I have to to proof it.
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