It’s that time again…

The invasion has begun. Love bugs. They’re everywhere. This little guy was hanging out on our kitchen window. Don’t worry–he wasn’t alone. He had plenty of his little love bug friends with him to keep him company (or them, I guess, there are two of them…I don’t want to know what they’re doing). And apparently our kitchen window was where the party was happening. Although, I must say, I’ve seen much worse. Hang out anywhere near fields or farms around this time of year and you basically won’t be able to breathe without sucking in one of the stupid bugs. And they are stupid. So it’s not that bad here, but it’s bad enough to be annoying. It’s bad enough that if we ever drove anywhere (we don’t do much driving at $3.54/gal.) the love bug carnage would cover the front of our car. It’s bad enough that anytime I walk outside and then back in again, I’m still brushing at my arms making sure one of them hasn’t stowed-away on me. It’s bad enough to remind me that I hate them. I didn’t always hate them. There was that time when Andrew and I were much younger, and we decided to see how many we could catch and trap inside the car while Mama was in her classroom working on a Saturday. I think we definitely set some kind of record. Mama was really excited, too, when she found out…

As much as I now hate love bugs, I’m even more nervous about this “swarming of the termites” business that I’ve heard tell of. I am NOT okay with termites, especially the swarming variety. I’d never heard of such a thing before moving to New Orleans. I’m told that some years it’s so bad that in the evenings, it’s best to keep all the lights off in the house (or most of them) because the termites are drawn to light, and they will come in through closed doors and windows. I’m told that you can watch them at the windows struggling to burrow underneath the pane to make it inside. Sounds a little dramatic, I know, but I’m just telling you what I’ve heard. And I’m not excited about it. Some people are optimistic, and say that since it was so bad last year, the swarm might not be as bad this year. My vote is with the optimists. I think I’d be okay with more love bugs for a longer period of time, as long as I didn’t have to experience the “swarm of the termites.” Sounds like a horror movie. Ugh…