In that case, I might be as stinky as the masses of stink bugs
that entered our little home a few weeks ago. My stink bug strategy is to either
vacuum them up or pick them up and whisk them outside before they give off
their sickly sweet stinky aroma they emit when threatened. I’m not afraid of
stinkbugs, but I’m not crazy about their odor.
When I was a girl sleeping in
the upstairs of our farmhouse with my two sisters, I sometimes awoke in the night
to the strong aroma of stink bug. I’d turn on the light and discover a stink
bug lurking on my covers, and I’d freak out a little. I no longer freak out at
the sight or smell of a stink bug. But I still don’t want them in our house.
It’s a good thing I’m not the kind of woman who is afraid of
bugs. Before the stink bugs showed up, waves of wasps sought refuge from the
cold in our little home. We sucked them up in the vacuum as soon as we
discovered them. We also bought two fly swatters and strategically placed them
at either end of the house to arm ourselves to battle with the bugs.
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| We've been invaded by lygus bugs! |
Next, we were invaded by lygus bugs, which were unfamiliar
to me. Like stink bugs, the small, winged lygus bugs give off an unpleasant
smell when disturbed. These plagues of lygus bugs, flies, stink bugs, and wasps
sometimes have occurred simultaneously this fall. Several times a day we sucked
them up with our efficient canister vacuum or swatted them until the buzzing
ceased—at least temporarily.
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| I'm thankful Aragog hasn't descended from our ceiling. Illustration from Aragog: Harry Potter Wiki |
Our current plague is tiny spiders that descend from the
ceiling right in front of our faces. I have met people who are terrified of
spiders, but I am not one of them. We recently watched the Harry Potter and The
Lord of the Rings films. If these tiny spiders were the size of Aragog or Shelob,
I’d be alarmed. But they are simply one more annoying creature invading our small
living space. When I was a girl, we sometimes discovered black widow spiders crawling
in our old farmhouse. Mom trapped them in a jar so we could get a closer look
and learn how to identify them. Thankfully, these dinky spiders invading
our space are no threat. They are simply seeking refuge from the cold.
Nonetheless, they are not welcome here.
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| Thankfully, I don't have to battle Shelob as Frodo did! Illustration from Shelob: The One Wiki to Rule Them All |
As I write this in the early morning hours, the living room
is dark. An insistent fly is seeking the only light source—my computer screen.
He’s buzzing around my head and dive-bombing into my hair. Perhaps it’s time to
get out the canister vacuum and begin the battle of the bugs in this new day.
Is living with these annoying insects worth it, you might
ask. Yes, it is. Without a doubt. Even faced with plagues of flies, spiders,
stink bugs, and wasps, life is very good. I’m waking up to views of fresh snow
on the Elkhorn Mountains. At night I watch the stars splattered across the big,
big sky. Most of all, I’m sharing my new life with the Mountain Man. We’re
hiking, kayaking, dancing, playing music and laughing. Each day brings a new
adventure, including battling with bugs.
It could be worse. Aragog could be lurking in the closet, ready to pounce on me. But here's more good news about living tiny: Neither Aragog nor Shelob could squeeze into our tiny closet.