Sneak Attack

Yesterday, I did it again, walked outside on a lovely summer afternoon, unprotected. I didn’t forget my sunscreen, and it wasn’t a guy in a black mask who attacked me or a couple of pit bulls. I was assaulted by villains made bold in their invisibility.

I had strolled into my own backyard to check on a newly planted fig tree. I stopped to admire my latest horticultural interest, a group of sedums in my grandmother’s antique urns. Then I continued on around the garden, pulling a weed or two and dreaming of changing the once sunny garden into a shady one, a necessary project caused by tremendous growth of neighbors’ trees surrounding my little green space and blocking the sun.

A stabbing pain hit my ankle, and I hurried inside, knowing I had been discovered and was considered fair game. Before I could collapse into my recliner, I realized I’d been ravished by unseen carnivorous creatures lurking in secret, primed to attack any warm-blooded being in the vicinity.

I thought I’d escaped with a single bite, but before I could douse it with alcohol, a burning sting erupted up and down both arms around my ankles and my feet. I’d stupidly worn flip-flops and a short sleeve shirt. It was all my fault. I broke my number one personal rule. Never go outside in the summer without spraying or rubbing on insect repellent. Not for a second.

As I sat there watching welts the size of nickels pop up on my arms, I scratched like crazy and wondered why life is so unfair. Some people, my husband Frank for example, are not bothered by mosquitoes. Then I thought how fortunate I am to live now with DEET repellents available and mosquito controls in effect. Not that they always work, and who wants to constantly contaminate our air and water with chemicals to kill mosquitoes?

In the 1800s Memphis was nearly wiped out by Yellow Fever spread by mosquitoes. So few people were left that they had to give up the city charter. Recently we had a scare of West Nile Virus carried by mosquitoes. The vile creatures can carry any number of diseases, but I have to think the ones who bit me are innocent, just hungry.

News flash! Frank just informed me that my bites probably didn’t come from mosquitoes, but from no-see-ums, the tiny, almost invisible flies that set a person or an animal on fire with their bites. I guess I’m luckier than many. My itchy bumps were completely gone in about thirty minutes. Whew! What a relief!

Oh, well, I guess mosquitoes have to eat, and no-see-ums too.