The Northeast US has had five time more rain than this time last year – 34 days out of 40 – and the ecosystems around here are going berserk. Mosquitoes, those damned and pernicious pests, have thrived in all the murk, and come unbidden and unwelcome into my house.
Where they bite me at night.
Preferring ME to the equally delicious male specimen on the right side of the bed, mosquitoes have taken my blood 2 nights out of three this week. This morning, I awoke with a one side of my face sporting a puffy welt right under my left eye, making me look like the loser in a bitch-slapping contest.
At least I hadn’t woken up for the partial exsanguination. Not like two days ago.
We had gone to sleep around 11 and at 12:59, I awoke scratching both my shoulder and underneath my chin, where huge bites were beginning to flower. I tried not to scratch and then couldn’t stop wondering how I had managed to get a bit under my chin – had I been sleeping with my head all the way back? Had I been snoring?
Then my mind tried to kill me; was it still in the room? Should I listen intently? Could I NOT listen intently. What was THAT? Should I get up and try to find it, risking waking Bob? Should I hide under my covers in case it came back for more of my tasty blood, but risk suffocating? Could I possible calm my revved up nervous system enough to sleep again? Um, yeah, but it took me nearly 2 hours.
My kids always bring mosquito netting to camp with them and I found myself wishing for some. I’m such a weenie.
The sun came out yesterday and I got to take photo of actual dry flowers while Shem lay in the sun. I was, of course, wearing insect repellent. Maybe it’s really an attractant…
I like the photo too!
Having mosquitoes in the house sounds really rotten. I’m sorry.
Despite the wet weather, we haven’t been plagued with mosquitoes . . . yet.
As with your situation, my Honey gets the bites, and reacts more strongly to them than I do. I wonder if there is a correlation, i.e., does the same chemistry which makes one more reactive act as the attractant which makes one more bitten?
I also react less to spider bites, poison ivy, etc.
They find me exclusively delicious and what’s more, the bites aren’t little inflated pillows of crazy itchy anymore – now, they turn into welts and the damn things hurt! Maybe I am just more tasty – like your honey – to the buzzing, bitey nuisances. Bob doesn’t react like I do, and he’s a bit smug about that.
Of course, he’s anaphylactic about bees, though…
We don’t have mosquitoes. Almost never. One or two after a lot of rain, but that’s so rare. When we travel, we forget about them. I can’t tell you how many bottles of insect repellent we’ve bought on trips. Horrendous little beasts. (Winnipeg was the worst.)